Mary's Child: Difference between revisions

Mary's Child
Mary's Child
	Illustration by Oskar Herrfurth
Folk tale
Name	Mary's Child
Aarne–Thompson grouping	ATU 710
Country	Germany
Published in	Grimm's Fairy Tales

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"Mary's Child" (also "Our Lady's Child", "A Child of Saint Mary" or "The Virgin Mary's Child"; German: Marienkind) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales in 1812 (KHM 3). It is of Aarne-Thompson type 710.^[1]

The Brothers Grimm noted its similarity to the Italian The Goat-faced Girl and the Norwegian The Lassie and Her Godmother.^[2] They also noted its connection to the forbidden door and tell-tale stain of Fitcher's Bird.^[2] Other tales that make use of these elements are Bluebeard and "In the Black Woman's Castle".^[3]

Origin

The tale was published by the Brothers Grimm in the first edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen in 1812, and has been only slightly changed in the successive editions. Their source was Gretchen Wild (1787–1819).^[1]

Synopsis

A poor woodcutter and his wife had a three-year-old daughter that they could not feed. The Virgin Mary appeared to the woodcutter and promised to take care of the child, so they gave her the child. She grew up happily in Heaven. One day the Virgin had to go on a journey and gave the girl keys, telling her she could open twelve doors but not the thirteenth. She opened the first twelve and found the Apostles behind them. Then she opened the thirteenth door. Behind it was the Trinity, and her finger was stained with gold. She tried to hide it, lying three times, and the Virgin Mary said she could no longer remain for her disobedience and lying.

She fell asleep and woke to find herself in a forest. Lamenting her misfortune, she lived in a hollow tree, ate wild plants, and tore all her clothing until she was naked. One day, a king found her looking beautiful but incapable of speech. He took her home and married her.

A year later, she had a son. The Virgin Mary appeared and demanded that she confess to having opened the door. She lied again, the Virgin took her son, and the people whispered that she had killed and eaten the child. In another year, she had another son, and it went as before. The third year, she had a daughter, and the Virgin Mary took her to heaven and showed her her sons, but she would not confess. This time, the king could not restrain his councilors, and the queen was condemned to death. When she was brought to the stake, she relented and wished she could confess before she died. The Virgin Mary brought back her children, restored her the power of speech, and gave her happiness the rest of her life.

Variants

In other versions of this tale the plot remains the same but the religious themes are downplayed, and the Virgin Mary and other Christian figures are replaced by fairies.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b Ashliman, D. L. (2002). "Mary's Child". University of Pittsburgh.
^ ^a ^b Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Hunt, M. (transl.) Household Tales "Notes: Our Lady's Child"
^ von Franz, Marie-Louise (1999). Archetypal Dimensions of the Psyche. Boston and London: Shambhala. p. 174. ISBN 1-57062-133-0.
^ Lily Owens, ed. (1981). The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. pp. 7–10. Avenel Books. ISBN 0-517-336316

External links

The full text of Mary's Child at Wikisource
Media related to Mary's Child at Wikimedia Commons
The complete set of Grimms' Fairy Tales, including Mary's Child at Standard Ebooks

[:02-1] Ashliman, D. L. (2002). "Mary's Child". University of Pittsburgh.

[notes-2] Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Hunt, M. (transl.) Household Tales "Notes: Our Lady's Child"

[3] von Franz, Marie-Louise (1999). Archetypal Dimensions of the Psyche. Boston and London: Shambhala. p. 174. ISBN 1-57062-133-0.

[Owens-4] Lily Owens, ed. (1981). The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. pp. 7–10. Avenel Books. ISBN 0-517-336316

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

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+{{short description|German fairy tale}}
-'''Mary's Child''' or '''Our Lady's Child''' is a German [[fairy tale]] collected by the [[Brothers Grimm]] in ''[[Grimm's Fairy Tales]]'' as tale number 3.<ref>Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. ''Household Tales'' [http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/3ourladyschild.html "Our Lady's Child"]</ref>
+{{Infobox folk tale
+| Folk_Tale_Name = Mary's Child
+| Image_Name = Marienkind 1 Herrfurth.jpg
+| Image_Caption = Illustration by [[Oskar Herrfurth]]
+| AKA =
+| Aarne-Thompson Grouping = ATU 710
+| Mythology =
+| Country = Germany
+| Region =
+| Origin_Date =
+| Published_In = ''[[Grimm's Fairy Tales]]''
+| Related =
+}}
+"'''Mary's Child'''" (also "Our Lady's Child", "A Child of Saint Mary" or "The Virgin Mary's Child"; {{langx|de|Marienkind}}) is a German [[fairy tale]] collected by the [[Brothers Grimm]] in ''[[Grimms' Fairy Tales|Grimm's Fairy Tales]]'' in 1812 (KHM 3). It is of [[Aarne-Thompson]] type 710.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web|title=Mary's Child|url=https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm003.html|last=Ashliman|first=D. L.|author-link=D. L. Ashliman|date=2002|website=University of Pittsburgh}}</ref>
-The [[Brothers Grimm]] noted its similarity to the Italian ''[[The Goat-faced Girl]]'' and the Norwegian ''[[The Lassie and Her Godmother]]''.<ref name="notes">Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. ''Household Tales'' [http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/3ourladyschild.html "Our Lady's Child" Notes]</ref>  They also noted its connection to the forbidden door of ''[[Fitcher's Bird]]''.<ref name="notes" />
+The [[Brothers Grimm]] noted its similarity to the Italian ''[[The Goat-faced Girl]]'' and the Norwegian ''[[The Lassie and Her Godmother]]''.<ref name="notes">Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Hunt, M. (transl.) ''Household Tales'' "[[s:Grimm's Household Tales, Volume 1/Notes#3|Notes: Our Lady's Child]]"</ref>  They also noted its connection to the forbidden door and tell-tale stain of ''[[Fitcher's Bird]]''.<ref name="notes" />  Other tales that make use of these elements are [[Bluebeard]] and "[[In the Black Woman's Castle]]".<ref>{{cite book|last=von Franz|first=Marie-Louise|title=Archetypal Dimensions of the Psyche|year=1999|publisher=Shambhala|location=Boston and London|isbn=1-57062-133-0|page=174}}</ref>
-It is [[Aarne-Thompson]] type 710.<ref name="Ashliman">D.L. Ashliman, "[http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimmtales.html The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales (Grimms' Fairy Tales)"]</ref>
+== Origin ==
+The tale was published by the [[Brothers Grimm]] in the first edition of ''[[Grimms' Fairy Tales|Kinder- und Hausmärchen]]'' in 1812, and has been only slightly changed in the successive editions. Their source was Gretchen Wild (1787–1819).<ref name=":02" />
 ==Synopsis==
-A poor woodcutter and his wife had a three-year-old daughter and could not feed her.  The [[Virgin Mary]] appeared to the woodcutter and promised to take care of the child, so they gave her the child.  She grew up happily in [[Heaven]].  One day the Virgin had to go on a journey and gave the girl keys, telling her she could open twelve doors but not the thirteenth.  She opened the first twelve and found the [[Twelve apostles|Apostles]] behind them.  Then she opened the thirteenth door.  Behind it was the [[Trinity]], and her finger was stained with [[gold]].  She tried to hide it, lying [[Rule of three (writing)|three]] times, and the Virgin Mary said she could no longer remain for her disobedience and lying.
+A poor woodcutter and his wife had a three-year-old daughter that they could not feed.  The [[Virgin Mary]] appeared to the woodcutter and promised to take care of the child, so they gave her the child.  She grew up happily in [[Heaven]].  One day the Virgin had to go on a journey and gave the girl keys, telling her she could open twelve doors but not the thirteenth.  She opened the first twelve and found the [[Twelve apostles|Apostles]] behind them.  Then she opened the thirteenth door.  Behind it was the [[Trinity]], and her finger was stained with [[gold]].  She tried to hide it, lying [[Rule of three (writing)|three]] times, and the Virgin Mary said she could no longer remain for her disobedience and lying.
 She fell asleep and woke to find herself in a [[enchanted forest|forest]].  Lamenting her misfortune, she lived in a hollow tree, ate wild plants, and tore all her clothing until she was [[naked]].  One day, a [[king]] found her looking beautiful but incapable of speech.  He took her home and married her.
 A year later, she had a son.  The Virgin Mary appeared and demanded that she confess to having opened the door.  She lied again, the Virgin took her son, and the people whispered that she had killed and eaten the child.  In another year, she had another son, and it went as before. The third year, she had a daughter, and the Virgin Mary took her to heaven and showed her her sons, but she would not confess.  This time, the king could not restrain his councilors, and the queen was condemned to death.  When she was brought to the [[burning at the stake|stake]], she relented and wished she could confess before she died.  The Virgin Mary brought back her children, restored her the power of speech, and gave her happiness the rest of her life.
-==Commentary==
+==Variants==
+In other versions of this tale the plot remains the same but the religious themes are downplayed, and the Virgin Mary and other Christian figures are replaced by [[fairy|fairies]].<ref name=Owens>Lily Owens, ed. (1981). ''The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales''. pp. 7–10. Avenel Books. {{ISBN|0-517-336316}}</ref>
-The accusations of killing her own child, often because another woman has taken them, is a common fairy-tale motif, as in ''[[The Twelve Wild Ducks]]'', ''[[Bearskin (French fairy tale)|Bearskin]]'', or ''[[The Six Swans]]''.  It is unusual in that the woman who took the child is presented as doing so justly; normally, that woman is presented as a villain, who is punished at the end of the fairy tale.<ref>Maria M. Tatar, "Beauties vs. Beasts", p. 140-1, James M. McGlathery, ed., ''The Brothers Grimm and Folktale'', ISBN 0-252-01549-5.</ref>
+==See also==
+{{Portal |Children's literature}}
+* [[Brothers Grimm]]
+* ''[[Grimms' Fairy Tales]]''
+* [[Calumniated wife]]
 ==References==
@@ Line 20: / Line 42: @@
 ==External links==
+*{{wikisource-inline|single=true}}
-*[http://www.seiyaku.com/lit/grimm/en/003.html Nice old English version]
+*{{Commons category-inline}}
+* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/jacob-grimm_wilhelm-grimm/household-tales/margaret-hunt|Display Name=The complete set of Grimms' Fairy Tales, including ''{{PAGENAMEBASE}}''|noitalics=true}}
-[[Category:Brothers Grimm]]
+{{Brothers Grimm}}
-[[Category:Fictional queens]]
+[[Category:Grimms' Fairy Tales]]
-[[de:Marienkind]]
+[[Category:Cultural depictions of Mary, mother of Jesus]]
-[[fr:L'Enfant de Marie]]
+[[Category:Female characters in fairy tales]]
-[[nl:Het kind van Maria]]
+[[Category:Child characters in literature]]
-[[ja:マリアの子ども]]
+[[Category:Heaven in popular culture]]
-[[pt:A Protegida de Maria]]
+[[Category:ATU 700-749]]
-[[zh:聖母瑪利亞的孩子]]
+[[Category:Folklore featuring nakedness]]

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Notable tales	"Bearskin" "The Brave Little Tailor" "Brother and Sister" "Cat and Mouse in Partnership" "Cinderella" "The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs" "Doctor Know-all" "The Dog and the Sparrow" "The Elves and the Shoemaker" "The Fisherman and His Wife" "The Four Skillful Brothers" "The Frog Prince" "The Gnome" "Godfather Death" "The Golden Bird" "The Golden Goose" "The Goose Girl" "The Goose-Girl at the Well" "The Grave Mound" "Hans My Hedgehog" "Hansel and Gretel" "The Hut in the Forest" "The Jew Among Thorns" "Jorinde and Joringel" "The Juniper Tree" "The King of the Golden Mountain" "King Thrushbeard" "Little Red Riding Hood" "Mary's Child" "Mother Holle" "Old Hildebrand" "Old Sultan" "Pied Piper of Hamelin" "The Queen Bee" "Rapunzel" "The Riddle" "The Robber Bridegroom" "Rumpelstiltskin" "The Seven Ravens" "The Singing, Springing Lark" "The Six Servants" "The Six Swans" "Sleeping Beauty" "Snow White" "Snow-White and Rose-Red" "The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was" "The Three Little Men in the Wood" "The Three Spinners" "Thumbling" "Town Musicians of Bremen" "Trusty John" "The Turnip" "The Twelve Brothers" "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" "The Water of Life" "The White Snake" "The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats" "The Wonderful Musician"
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