The annotations for the Golden Goose fairy tale are below. Sources have been cited in parenthetical references, but I have not linked them directly to their full citations which appear on the Golden Goose Bibliography page. I have provided links back to the Annotated Golden Goose to facilitate referencing between the notes and the tale.
Special thanks to Christine Ethier, an adjunct teacher of English writing at both Community College of Philadelphia and Camden County College, for providing the annotations to this tale.
I have included the Grimms' notes to the tale as translated by Margaret Hunt followed by SurLaLune's textual annotations.
The Grimms' Notes For the Tale
After a story from Hesse, and another from the neighbourhood of Paderborn. This last has the following variations: when Dummling has shared his food with the little man, the latter says, "Now lie down and sleep a while; and when thou awakest thou wilt find a sledge, to which a little bird is harnessed; and when it cries 'Kisi,' answer only 'Keifes;' and then thou wilt see what will happen." So Dummling lay down, for he was tired; and when he awoke, the sledge with the little bird was standing before him, and he seated himself in it, drove away, and came to a town. Three girls however were looking out of the window of one of the houses, and they saw the sledge with the little bird; and the eldest exclaimed, "I must have that bird!" but the youngest, who also wanted to have it, could run quicker, and got first into the street, and tried to grasp it. The little bird cried "Kisi!" and Dummling answered "Keifes," on which the girl stuck fast to the sledge, and could not get loose again, but was forced to try to seize the bird continually. And now came the two other sisters, and were held fast. Dummling drove onwards, and they reached a great piece of water, where many washerwomen were standing washing; and when they saw the girls they were angry with them for running after the sledge, and ran up to beat them with their wooden mallets; but they too were held fast, and were still forced to try to strike the girls. Then the parson and clerk came with the holy- water vessel, and they too were made fast, and thus the band grew greater, until Dummling arrived with it in the presence of the king's serious daughter, who laughed at the sight, and whom he now received to wife. The other tasks are not given. See The Golden Duck, in Meier, No. 17; and No. 27 in Pröhle's Märchen für die Jugend. Compare the story, The Miller and the Cat, No. 106.
As in this story, every one sticks fast to the goose, or to those who are touching it, so Loki sticks fast to the rod with which he is trying to strike the eagle (Thiasse). The rod, however, sticks to the eagle, and he is dragged away too (Younger Edda, Dames, 51). Just as the sons are tested by seeing if they are disposed to share a piece of cake, so Engelhart, in a poem of Konrad von Würzburg's, has three apples given him by his father, and is to give one of them to whomsoever he shall happen to meet; if the stranger eats the whole of it without giving him a piece he is to avoid him, but if the stranger gives him some he is to accept his friendship. The third is the first to behave kindly. Compare in Wyss's Volkssagen p. 321; and p. 22, the notes on the test by apples. A man who can drink a pond dry, or eat many thousands of loaves, appears in the Volksbuch of the Pomeranian Kunigund; see the story of The Seven Apprentices who get on in the World, No. 71; and The Six Servants, No. 134.
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Household Tales. Margaret Hunt, translator. London: George Bell, 1884, 1892. 2 volumes.
SurLaLune's Annotations
1. The Golden Goose: The source for this tale is Family Hassnpflug (Zipes, Complete, 731).
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2. The youngest of whom was called Dummling: Sometimes the translations of the tale call the youngest son "Simpleton". Bruno Bettelheim sees the number three as representing the ego, super-ego, and id (102). Bettelheim sees the simpleton character as "the fairy tale's rendering of the original debilitated state of the ego as it begins its struggle to cope with inner world of drives and with the difficult problems which the outer world presents" (75).
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3. Despised, mocked, and put down: Bettelhiem points out that the simpleton's unhappiness in not mentioned or dwelled upon (103) and "his being considered stupid is stated as a fact of life which does not seem to concern him much" (103). It is possible that the simpleton (Dummling) represents or functions as a child's feelings of inadequacy in relation to the world (Bettelheim 103-104).
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4. The forest: The forest in fairy tales functions as a place of change. It has all of ". . . the symbols of all the dangers with which young people must deal if they are to survive their rite of passage and become more responsible adults" (Biedermann 141).
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5. A beautiful sweet cake: The Jack Zipes edition of the tale gives pancake instead (Complete 256).
While wine does have symbolic associations (particularly as the blood of Christ or other sacrifices [Biedermann 383]), it seems used to show preference here. The cake and the wine show how much the mother values her eldest sons.
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6. Little grey- haired man: An old man was ". . . regarded as the personification of the age-old wisdom of humanity or the collective unconscious" (Cirlot 243).
The Jack Zipes' edition uses the term "dwarf" here (Complete 256). [see below for more]
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7. Prudent: While being prudent is usually a good thing, here it backfires. The eldest son is too prudent; he lacks compassion or charity. Because of this he fails what Maria Tater calls "the test of compassion" (284) that the old man offers him.
In addition, the young man's response is rude and dismissive.
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8. Hew down a tree: A tree can symbolize an upward trend (Cirlot 347), which does not occur to either of the eldest brothers.
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9. Axe: The axe is connected to the Saints Joseph and Boniface [see below] (Biedermann 23). Both elder sons lack compassion and charity which the saints exhibited.
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10. Cut him in the arm: The arm is a symbol for activity (Cirlot 19).
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11. This was the little gray man's doing: It is unclear what exactly the little man is supposed to be. Zipes, as seen above, uses the term dwarf. According to Thomas Keightley, who got most of his German fairy information from books by the Grimms (216), dwarfs were considered to be ". . . beneficent and willingly serve those who have the good fortune to please them" (216). Dwarfs also gave valuable presents to agreeable strangers (Keightley 217). Keightley also writes that the dwarfs near Hartz in Germany were not to be provoked because they would injury the offender (224). There is also a theory that dwarfs are related to the dead (Lindahl et al 112).
It is clear that the old gray man is something other than a plain human being. It is possible that he is a Wild (also called Wood, Timber or Moss) person. Keightley writes that the wild people ". . . generally live together in society, but they sometimes appear singly. They are small in stature, yet somewhat larger than the Elf, being the size of children three years [old], gray and old looking hairy men and clad in moss" (230). According to Keightley, however, the women were the ones who were said to appear to woodcutters and beg for food, not the male moss people (230). Most of the stories Keightley has about moss people are about females; however, the stories do connect moss people, trees, and gold. In particular, Keightley relates a story of a human woman who helped a moss woman and was rewarded with a piece of bark (230). When the woman broke the bark, it turned to gold (Keightley 230).
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12. What I give you will be taken away from myself: The response of the middle son is even ruder than the response of the eldest son.
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13. His punishment: The story makes it clear that the sons are being punished for their treatment of the old gray haired man.
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14. Leg: The leg is associated with firmness (Cirlot 181).
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15. You do not understand: The father does not seem overly concerned about his third son. His response conveys that since the smarter ones failed so to must the younger one.
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16. Cinders: A plain, ill tasting, cake with cheap drink. The association with cinders makes Dummling a male Cinderella (Tater 283). However, ". . . he does not have to sit at home in the ashes, and instead, with a little prodding manages to leave home and seek his fortune" (Tater 284).
Ashes are a symbol of mourning, death, as well as a rite of passage (Biedermann 20).
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17. We will sit down and eat: Dummling passes the test that his brothers fail. Tater notes that "a test of compassion posed early on in the tale determines whether the hero is eligible to carry out 'impossible tasks' "(284).
Dummling's first reward is better food than what his mother gave him.
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18. An old tree: Tater connects the tree to Yggdrasil, the world or cosmic tree (285). Yggdrasil and similar trees are common in many legends (Cotterell, Storm 253). Such trees produce magic fruit, water, honey, gold or silver as well as housing magical animals or beings (Cotterell, Storm 252-253).
The use of the axe to cut down the tree, leading to the discovery of the goose, could connect Dummling to Saint Boniface. Saint Boniface, whose symbol is the axe, cut down a tree that was sacred to the god Thor without any harming befalling him (Jones 55). The connection to a saint could be made though the symbolism of gold [see below].
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19. Goose: A goose is usually associated with women and the household (Biedermann 156). A foolish person is sometimes called a goose, or a silly goose (Evans 476). Dummling could be considered a 'silly goose".
Jack Zipes considers the goose "a phallic symbol associated with magic powers" (The Great Fairy Tale 678) when used in humorous stories.
The goose can also be associated with perfection and the Holy Ghost (Barley 265).
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20. Feathers of pure gold: Feathers are considered an element of air and are connected to contemplation and faith (Cirlot 103). Feathers are also a characteristic of lightness (Biedermann 137).
Gold is considered to be superior. It can also be viewed as "the essential element in the symbolism of the hidden or elusive treasure which is an illustration of fruits of the spirit and supreme illumination" (Cirlot 120). Dummling gets the goose because he has a generous spirit. Gold is also "the image of solar light and hence of the divine intelligence "(Cirlot 119).
The golden goose itself ". . . leads to what folklorists call incremental repetition in which each new event builds on the previous one" (Tater 283).
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21. Three daughters: Similar to the three sons in the beginning of the tale. They would also be somewhat higher in class to Dummling.
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22. Sticking fast to it: Tater points out that the sisters are punished for their curiosity (284).
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23. Others are there: Neither of the younger sisters has any sense. Instead of questioning or even noticing that the preceding girls are stuck to the geese, the last two sisters reach out to take a feather, even when they are warned.
The youngest sister basically exhibits behavior similar to that of Dummling's at the beginning of the tale. The difference is that the youngest girl, like her two sisters, is motivated by greed and just tries to take.
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24. The parson: The rector (Oxford 600). He is in charge of the church (Oxford 699). The parson is of higher rank and authority than Dummling. Unlike the three sisters, the parson is motivated by a desire to enforce proper conduct (as he sees it).
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25. The sexton: An official who looks after the church (Oxford 764). Like his superior, he is not motivated by greed but by proper conduct or place.
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26. Two laborers: Perhaps the lowest rank, but they have the truest intentions. They desire to help and not to take or enforce conduct.
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27. Seven: A sacred/mythological number (Evans 984). It is also symbol of the perfect cycle or period, and the symbol of pain (Cirlot 233).
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28. City: According to Cirlot "Jung sees the city as a mother-symbol and as a symbol of the feminine principle" (49).
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29. King: Besides being the end point of the man's travels, the king functions "as an archetype in the psyche's great store of inherited symbols of higher power and wisdom" (Biedermann 196).
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30. Should marry her: Zipes points out that wandering protagonist's goals tend to be "money, power, and a woman" (Fairy Tales and Art 70).
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31. Began to laugh quite loudly: Bettelheim believes that making the princess laugh is to "free her emotionally" (186 and that "this is frequently achieved by the hero's making persons who normally command respect look ridiculous" (186).
Tater sees the refusal to laugh as comic relief (286).
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32. Inherited the kingdom: Zipes notes that "Becoming king or prince at the end of a Grimms' tale is a socially symbolic act of achieving self-mastery - as well as mastery over outside forces that include women and nature" (The Brothers 98). The tale could be seen as the advancement of the lower classes. Zipes writes, "Lower-class members become members of the ruling elite but this occurs because the ruling classes need such values that were being cultivated by the bourgeoisie-thrift, industry, patience, obedience, and so forth" (Fairy Tales and Art 71).
In some versions (translations) of the Grimm story, Dummling must do other tasks to win the princess after making her laugh. This occurs because the king does not want Dummling as a son-in-law. The addition tasks including finding a man who can drink a cellar of win dry, a man who can eat a "mountain of bread" (Zipes, Complete, 259), and a ship that works on both land and water. Dummling is able to do this with the help of the man in the forest. After completely the third task, Dummling is allowed to marry the princess. This longer version appears in both Tater and Zipes' editions of the Grimms.
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Special thanks to Christine Ethier, an adjunct teacher of English writing at both Community College of Philadelphia and Camden County College, for providing the annotations to this tale.
