Friday, November 23, 2018

Fairy Tale and Folktale Fridays #34: Rumpelstiltskin





Hey there!  Welcome to "Fairy Tale and Folktale Fridays," a new feature on my blog where I discuss about some fairy tales and folktales I have read throughout the years. 







Rumpelstiltskin









 


Type: Fairy Tale

Country of Origin: Germany

Main Character Hero or Heroine: Heroine

Recommend?: Yes! 





The story starts off with with a miller bragging to the town that his daughter can spin straw into gold and one of the king's servants heard about this boast and went on to tell the King about the Miller's claim.  So, the king asked the Miller's daughter to come into one of his towers and spin some straw into gold or else, he will have her executed.  Now, the miller's daughter was upset at this because she had never spun straw into gold before and she started worrying about her fate.  Suddenly, a small little man came into the room and asked the miller's daughter why she was crying.  The miller's daughter told the little man about her situation and the little man said that he will spin the straw into gold if she gives him her necklace.  The miller's daughter does so and the little man started spinning the straw into gold.  When the King came into the room, he saw all the gold and he decided to put the miller's daughter into an even bigger room and ordered her to spin more straw into gold.  Each time, the miller's daughter worried about her fate and each time, the little man would help her with her predicament, until the third and final time, when the miller's daughter had nothing left to give the little man.  The little man then said that he will spin the straw into gold if she gives him her first born child and even though this shocked the miller's daughter, she agreed to the terms.  After all the straw was spun into gold, the King decided to marry the miller's daughter and the miller's daughter became a Queen.  The queen then gave birth to a baby boy (or girl, depending on the version) and for awhile, she didn't think much about the promise she made to the little man, until the little man showed up, demanding she give him her baby.  The Queen then begged the little man to not take her child and the little man decided to give the Queen three days to guess his name correctly, or else he will take her child.






I have always loved this story!  I loved the way that the Queen was able to solve the problem by herself towards the end of the story by trying to guess the little man's name.  I also really enjoyed the intensity that happens throughout the story as I was seriously worried about the miller's daughter either losing her life when she was forced to spin straw into gold or losing her child to the little man.  I will admit that I didn't like the scenes where the King practically threatened the miller's daughter with death if she didn't spin the straw into gold or the fact that the girl's own father put her in this situation int he first place.





1. Do you have any kids?

I don't have any kids myself, but I might one day!

2. Was there an activity that you have never done before, but you tried it out anyway?

Yes, there were many things that I had never done before that I ended up doing eventually.  For example, when I first got my job as a cashier, I previously had never been a cashier and at first, it was hard work since I didn't know what I was doing.  But once I started getting used to the job, it became much easier for me.

3. How wary are you of suspicious looking strangers?

If I met up with a person who is nice, then I do talk to them like I would with anyone else.  But, if the person looks too suspicious or acts in a scary manner, then I try to avoid them at all costs.

4 comments:

  1. Oh, now I'm curious to read this to find out how she figures out his name.

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  2. There are some good YA retellings out there, too. Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver incorporates elements of Rumplestiltskin in it, and A Curse as Dark as Gold (Elizabeth C. Bunce) is a pretty straightforward retelling. Goodreads has a whole list of them.

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    Replies
    1. Ooh! Awesome! I need to start including YA retellings of these stories too!

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