The annotations for the King Thrushbeard 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 King Thrushbeard Bibliography page. I have provided links back to the Annotated King Thrushbeard 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
From three stories current in Hesse and the districts of the Maine and Paderborn. The last has a different beginning. There is nothing in it about the King's forcing his proud daughter to marry the first corner. A handsome musician, however, comes beneath the King's window. The King summons him upstairs, and his song pleases both the King and his daughter. The musician stays a long time at court, and lives opposite the beautiful maiden, so that he can look in at her window and she into his. Once she sees him touching a little golden wheel with his fingers whereupon beautiful sounds proceed from it; so when he comes again, she entreats him to bring the little golden wheel to her, and he has to show her how to play upon it. She learns, and asks her father to give her also such an instrument. All the goldsmiths in the kingdom are summoned together, but not one of them is able to make it. Thereupon the King's daughter is very sad; and when the musician is aware of that, he says that if she is inclined to marry him he will give her the ingenious bit of work, but she disdainfully refuses. After a while she sees from her window the musician turning a little reel; and while he is doing it the most delightful tones resound; she wants to see it, and asks to have one like it; but the goldsmiths are still less able to produce such a skilful piece of workmanship. And now the handsome musician offers her the little wheel and the reel if she will marry him, and, as her longing for both is so great, she says, yes. Soon, however, repentance comes, and her pride lets her have no rest. She wants to retract her promise, but the King forces her to keep it, and the wedding is celebrated. Then the musician conducts her to the wretched hut in the forest. The rest of the story agrees with ours, and makes it more complete. At the ball when the pan with the food falls down on the ground, she faints with terror. When she awakes, she is lying in a magnificent bed, and the handsome musician is a king. A fourth story has the following peculiarity. The King's daughter made it known that she would give her hand to him who could guess to what species of animal a skin which was stretched out with neither a head nor feet, belonged. It was that of a she-wolf. Thrushbeard learnt the secret, guessed wrongly with great persistence, and then came back disguised as a beggar to guess rightly. Compare No 2. in Pröhle's Kindermärchen. Also (4. 10) in the Pentamerone, Pride punished; in Norwegian, Hakon Borkenbart, Asbjörnsen, part 2.
Thrushbeard (Drosselbart) is also called "Crumb-beard" (Brösulbart), because the crumbs of bread remain sticking in his beard. A "Brochselhart" appears in a song of Nithard (Benecke's Beiträge, p. 291); perhaps it is Brochselbart. The two names are indeed almost convertible, for in Ulfilas a crumb is called drauhsna; we may however also derive Drosselbart from Drossel, Drüssel, Rüssel (snout), mouth, nose, or beak, which also would suit the story.
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Household Tales. Margaret Hunt, translator. London: George Bell, 1884, 1892. 2 volumes.
SurLaLune's Annotations
1. King Thrushbeard: Also known as "Koing Drosselbert". The source of the tale is family Hassenpflug (Zipes, Complete, 731).
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2. Beautiful beyond all measure: Maria Tatar points out that in each Grimm edition of the tale, the behavior of the king's daughter "comes under unceasingly heavy fire" (30).
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3. She sent away one after the other, and ridiculed them as well: This tale follows in the tradition of the shrew, which was very popular during the Middle Ages (Zipes, Great, 668). One of the most famous shrew tales in Western Literature is Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.
Valerie Paradiz sees the character of the princess, before her reform, as Auguste (Franz) Brentano, wife of Clemens Brentano, a folklorist and friend of the Grimms (63). Franz Brentano was "emotionally flamboyant and opinionated" (Paradiz 58) and not liked by William Grimm (Paradiz 59). Paradiz writes, "In 'King Thrushbeard' the heroine embodying good-and bad girl roles, starts out as an opinionated, willful princess who poses a challenge to the institution of marriage, just as Franz Brentano" (63).
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4. Great feast: This is the first of two feasts in the tale. Usually, in dreams a feast "foretells that pleasant surprises are being planed for you" (Miller 237). This may be what the king has hoped for, but it doesn't happen at this point in the tale.
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5. King's daughter: Throughout most of the tale the princess is referred to by this title. It is possible that the heroine is too attached to her father and could be seen as refusing to leave her father. Karen Rowe, when writing about "Beauty and the Beast" states that Beauty's refusal to marry "symbolizes the patient, sometimes problematic oedipal dependency of young girls" (215). It is possible that this tale shows a similar case as seen both in the rejection of the suitors and the description of the princess. In fact, Marie-Louise von Franz points out that " . . . the princess's inaccessibility and refusal of her suitors is evidently related to her father" (170).
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6. She had some objection: Marie-Louise von Franz believes that "King Thrushbeard" is a story about a woman coming to terms or struggling with a negative animus and this is shown by how she treats her suitors (170). An animus is masculine and "draws [a] woman away from life and murders life for her" (von Franz 170). The animus does this by making the woman feel separated from life so she does not participate in it (von Franz 170). See below for further criticism dealing with the animus.
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7. Long and thin has little in: Zipes translates this as "tall and thin, he looks like a pin" (Complete 192).
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8. Short and thick is never quick: Zipes translates this as "Short and fat, he's built like a vat" (Complete 192).
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9. Thrush's beak: A thrush belongs to the family Turdidae and is an insectivore or omnivore ("Thrush"). There are over 180 species (Alsop III 592). The thrushes are sometimes classified with the Muscicapide group (Alsop III 592). The Turdidae group includes the Blackbird, Redwing, Bluebird and American Robin ("Thrush"). The European Robin use to belong to this group ("Thrush").
Thrushes are "some of the most familiar and famous songbirds in the world" (Alsop III 592) and are "found on all major landmasses except for New Zealand and Antarctica" (Alsop III 592).
Strangely, some thrushes have straight beaks, despite the words of the princess in the tale. Thrushes are celebrated in literature for their song (Alsop III 592), but can also be a symbol of sorrow as in Whitman's "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed" or even wisdom as in The Hobbit.
Notice that King Thrushbeard stands high in the row so he is a rich and powerful king.
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10. King Thrushbeard: A man's beard is linked with his dignity (Biedermann 34), so the insulting name is a direct attack on Thrushbeard's pride. Marie-Louise Franz associates Thrushbeard with Woton (Odin) (172), the Norse god of wisdom and as an aspect of the animus (170). Von Franz writes of the animus ridden woman, "the worst condition comes about when a woman has a powerful animus and does not even live with it, then she is being straight jacketed by animus opinions, and while she may avoid any work that seems in least masculine, she is much less feminine" (174). By refusing all her suitors, even the most worthy ones, the princess is not fulfilling what was seen as the proper role of a woman (to marry and produce children).
To dream of a beard "denotes that some uncongenial person will oppose his will against yours, and there will be a fierce struggle for mastery, and you were likely to lose some money in the combat" (Miller 87). This happens to the princess in the tale.
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11. Beggar: A beggar is the lowest level of society (Biedermann 36). In a dream, "to give to a beggar denotes dissatisfaction with present surroundings" (Miller 91). Like King Thrushbeard, a beggar is also an aspect of Wotan (von Franz 175).
The king's oath means that the daughter will marry beneath her class, a blow to her pride. Von Franz considers this a breaking of the stalemate between father and daughter over her refusal to leave (172).
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12. Fiddler: Usually to dream of a fiddle foretells harmony in the home (Miller 234). Marie-Louise von Franz writes, "the animus appears to be poor and often never revels the great treasures of the unconscious which are at his disposal" (173). The fiddler (Thrushbeard) being the animus here.
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13. You may just go away with your husband: Because of the marriage, the heroine's social status has tumbled. Unlike other tales, the fiddler is not raised to her status, she drops to his. Tatar points out that unlike their male counterparts, "women suffer by forced into a lowly social position . . . their female counterparts undergo a process of humiliation and defeat" (95).
Considering the father's later appearance, it is possible to see this as a plot by the father and Thrushbeard to teach the daughter a lesson. It is also worth noting that this is a forced separation (rejection) of the daughter from her father and that the separation comes from the father himself.
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14. Forest: The forest is a place of change, so it is not surprising that it is here that the heroine expresses regret for not marrying King Thrushbeard. In a dream, ". . . a dense forest denotes loss in trade, unhappy home influences, and quarrels among families" (Miller 246).
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15. Belongs to King Thrushbeard: Jack Zipes in his translation gives the follower rhyme which expresses the conversation between the daughter and the fiddler when reaching the forest, town, and meadow. The daughter speaks first.
'Tell me, who might the owner of this forest [meadow, town} be?'
'King Thrushbeard owns the forest and all you can see'
'Alas, poor me! What can I do?
I should have wed King Thrushbeard. If only I knew'
(Complete 193).
The sequence of seeing the lands which belong to King Thrushbeard could also be seen as a reference to Wotan for Wotan refers to himself as owner of the land when he visits households (von Franz 176).
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16. Unhappy girl that I am: The heroine's repentance comes because of her poor status and, perhaps, actually seeing the wealth of King Thrushbeard makes her realize what she refused. Von Franz states that such regret is typical of the animus driven woman, and is "pseudo" guilt and sterile (173).
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17. Came to a meadow: According to Miller, "to dream of meadows, predicts happy reunions under bright promises of future prosperity" (377).
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18. Came to a large town: Zipes translates it as city (Complete 193).
According to Biedermann, "in the symbolgoly of the psyche, the city stands for the regularized center of a person's life, which can often be reached only after long travels, when a high degree of emotional maturity has been attained and the gate to the spiritual center of one's life can be traversed" (72).
In dreams, a strange city, "denotes you will have a sorrowful occasion to change your abode or mode of living" (Miller 146). Both the above meanings are shown within the tale, the daughter's change in statues and the happy ending.
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19. Miserable, mean hovel: Zipes translates is as "Oh Lord! What a wretched house/It's not even fit for a mouse" (Complete 193).
There is a sense of entering another world after the princess leaves her father, von Franz points out ". . . the fact is that such women [animus ridden] have marvelous journeys with the animus-lover, of which they are not fully aware" (172).
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20. That is my house and yours, where we shall live together:A house can represent the family line (Biedermann 179). According to Jung, "What happens inside it, happens within ourselves" (Biedermann 179). Freud associates the house "with the woman, the mother, in a sexual or childbearing sense" (Biedermann 179).
Miller writes that in dreams, "old and dilapidated houses denote failure in business or any effort, and declining health" (297).
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21. What servants?: Marie-Louise von Franz writes, "as compensation for high-flown ambitions, the animus forces a woman into a way of life far below her real capacity" (174). The lack of servants drives home the fact that the heroine's circumstances have really changed. She has fallen very far.
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22. Knew nothing about lighting fires or cooking: Fire is usually seen as male (Biedermann 130) and "in dream symbolism fire is closely associated with the hearth . . . food preparation, as well as romantic ardor" (Biedermann 130).
The fact that the princess does not seem capable of doing any of the housework is not only a symptom of laziness but of the animus as well (von Franz 173). The animus makes the woman lazy or inclined to plot ( von Franz 173).
Any servant chore that princess performs is "a kind of compensation to persuade the woman to become feminine again. The effect of animus pressure can lead a woman to deeper femininity, providing she accepts the fact that she is animus-possessed and does something to bring her animus reality" (von Franz 174).
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23. Weave: "To dream that you are weaving denotes that you will baffle any attempt to defeat in the struggle for the up -building of an honorable fortune" (Miller 597). Weaving is also a womanly pursuit, even done by the upper classes. However, here the princess does not have a loom.
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24. Tough willows: Willows can mean chastity (Biedermann 381), perhaps a reference to the princess's refusal to marry. The willow is also connected to the Bible because of its seemingly endless green branches (Biedermann 381). Willow was believed to help sick (Biedermann 381), and a weeping willow can symbolize death (Biedermann 381).
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25. Better spin: Spinning is connected to the fates, death, and rebirth (Biedermann 317). It is also seen as woman's work and appears in several fairy tales.
According to von Franz, spinning is connected to wishful thinking as well (172). Von Franz continues, "Both the spinning wheel and the act of Spinning are proper to Wotan, and in our tale ["King Thrushbeard"] the girl has to spin to support her husband. The animus has taken possession of her own properly feminine activity" (172-173).
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26. Sit in the market place: In dreams a young woman in the marketplace foretells pleasant changes (Miller 372).
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27. To buy the woman's wares: Von Franz points out that "vessels are feminine symbols and she is driven to sell her feminity at a low price - too cheaply and too collectively" (174). This is an attempt to regain contact with life and men (von Franz 175). In addition, "she acts out of the vague realization that something is wrong and makes desperate attempts to make up for what has been lost because of her animus-imposed estrangement from men" (von Franz 175).
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28. Drunken hussar: A hussar is a European solider, usually a cavalry officer. Von Franz points out that the hussar, "symbolizes a brutal outburst of emotion. The wild ungovernable animus smashes everything, showing clearly that such an exhibition of her unconscious nature does not work" (175). This is also another aspect of Wotan (von Franz 175). According to von Franz, the horse the hussar rides is connected to the animus and respects instinctive animal nature (176).
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29. Now a kitchen maid: She cannot serve at home or in public, so ends back at a castle.
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30. Placed herself by the door of the hall to look on: According to the I Ching such action is interpreted "as having too narrow and too subjective view" (Von Franz 175). Von Franz writes, "The inferiority of a woman who thinks she must admire others and nurses secret jealousy toward them means being unable to assess one's own real worth" (175). This is the start of her final humiliation. This is also the second feast, see above for the symbolism of a feast.
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31. Cursed the pride and haughtiness: The second example of her repentance.
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32. Velvet and silk: "To dream of wearing silk clothes is a sign of high ambition being gratified and friendly relations will be established between those who were estranged" (Miller 512). Velvet "portends a successful enterprise . . . it denotes that she will have honors bestowed upon her" (Miller 577).
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33. Pots fell down: A broken jar can symbolize deep disappointment (Miller 316). But in dreams, soup is good news and can symbolize a chance to marry (Miller 522).
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34. General laughter and derision: The heroine cannot fall any further. Her humiliation is total and complete. Von Franz writes that "this humiliation is what is needed, for, as we see in the story, the heroine then realizes that she is after all the daughter of a king. Only then does she learn that Thrushbeard is in fact her husband" (175). In other words, she is now whole as a person in a psychological sense.
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35. Now we will celebrate our wedding: Rowe notes "Because heroine adopts conventional female virtue, that is patience, sacrifice and dependency, and because she submits to patriarchal needs, she conquestently receives both the prince and a guarantee off social and finical security though marriage" (217). The tale must end with the heroine because the heroine represents a threat to the "cultural imperative to wed . . . and the social fabric" (Rowe 217) that she must be forced to submit to marriage (Rowe 217).
Paradiz sees the reformed heroine as Friederike Mannel, a source for the Grimms, well liked by William and whose house the Brentanos stayed (63).
The second marriage is sometimes seen as a marriage of equals (Snyder); in this case, the second marriage reinforces the first and shows that the heroine has truly changed.
Jack Zipes writes of "King Thrushbeard" that "such tales . . . are decidedly biased against females who must either be put in their places or have their identity define by males" (Breaking 154).
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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.
