Fitcher's Bird is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 46. It is Aarne-Thompson type 311, the heroine rescues herself and her sisters. A fairy tale is a story, either told to children or as if told to children, concerning the adventures of mythical characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, and others. ... Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm The Brothers Grimm (Brüder Grimm, in their own words, not Gebrüder - for there was a third brother: Ludwig Emil Grimm, the painter) were Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, German professors who were best known for publishing collections of authentic folk tales and fairy tales, and... Antti Amatus Aarne (1867 - 1925) was a Finnish folklorist, who developed the initial version of what became the Aarne-Thompson classification system of classifying folktales, first published in 1910. ...

Synopsis

A sorcerer took the form of a beggar and carried off young women. He carried off an oldest sister and assured her she would be happy with him. Then, he went off and forbade her to enter one room; he also gave her an egg and told her to carry it everywhere and be careful with it. She went into the forbidden room, found hacked-up bodies and a basin of blood, and dropped the egg into it. The sorcerer returned and demanded the egg. Then he said that since she had gone in against his will, she would go in against her own, and killed her there. He carried off the second sister, and it went with her as with the first.

Then he carried off the youngest. She put aside the egg before she searched the house. When she found her sisters' bodies, she put all the parts back together, and the sisters came to life again. The sorcerer returned and was ready to marry her, because the egg was unstained. She told him that first he had to carry her parents a basket of gold without resting on the way, and she put her sisters in the basket and covered it with gold. Whenever he tried to rest, one sister would shout that she could see him resting. The youngest son is a stock character in fairy tales, where he features as the hero. ...

Meanwhile, the youngest prepared a wedding feast, dressed up a skull and put it in the window, and covered herself with honey and feathers, so she looked like a strange bird. Going home, she is addressed as "Fitcher's Bird" by guests and the sorcerer, and tells them the bride is preparing the house. The guests and sorcerer went into the house. But the three sisters' brothers and relatives barred the doors and burned down the house, so they all died.

Modern adaptations

Gregory Frost sets the tale among the doomsday religious cults of 19th century New York in his 2002 novel Fitcher's Brides.

See also

• How the Devil Married Three Sisters
• Bluebeard
• The Robber Bridegroom

How the Devil Married Three Sisters is an Italian fairy tale collected by Thomas Frederick Crane in Italian Popular Tales. ... Bluebeard is the title character in a famous fairy tale about a violent nobleman and his all too curious wife. ... The Robber Bridegroom is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 40. ...

External links

• SurLaLune Fairy Tale site Fitcher's Bird
• Fitcher's Bird with links to variants