Rumpelstiltskin

Rumpelstiltskin with illustrations by Charles Robinson

Rumpelstiltskin is an old fairy tale from the Grimm brothers' collection. The same story pattern can be found virtually all over the world, with different names for the title character or even focusing on the other side of the conflict.

Charles Robinson created a few illustrations for The Big Book of Fairy Tales edited by Walter Jerrold and published by Blackie & Son in 1911. We'll go through the story with some help of his beautiful black and white pictures.

 

The story starts with the king stopping by the miller. The miller is very proud of this unsuspected visit and starts bragging. It is not an everyday occasion to have so important visitor. So he babbles and babbles and praises everything from his life. Especially his daughter.

She is not only beautiful but very skillful as well. His intentions are obvious. He is trying to present the king with the possibility of having his daughter for his wife. That would be something! Being a father of the queen!

So the miller says his daughter is so smart and skillful she can spin gold from straw.

This makes the king really interested in the miller's daughter. Beautiful girls are great. Rich girls are even better. But having a beautiful girl with so special kind of knowledge would be perfect.

Of course, he doesn't believe just everything he is told. And he definitely doesn't want the miller making a fool of him.

So he wants a test. He will take the miller's daughter to his castle. He will put her in a room full of straw. Then she has to spin it into gold. If she succeeds, she will become his wife.

If she doesn't, she will have to die.

The miller's daughter is in a terrible position. She has an impossible task to do and her death seems unavoidable. The only thing she can do is to cry.

But then a small man appears and asks her why she is crying. She explains the situation and he offers his help. He can spin straw into gold if she can give him something in return.

She gives him her necklace and the job is done.

While the king seems satisfied he decides to repeat his challenge. The next night she has to spin even more straw into gold. Again, she cries.

The little man comes again, she gives her a handkerchief, and she turns straw into gold.

Yet the king wants more.

On the third night, the miller's daughter cries and the little man offers his help.

Unfortunately, she doesn't have anything more to give him.

So he suggests she give him her son who will be born in her marriage with the king.

Poor girl doesn't have a real chance. To die the very next morning or to promise something she doesn't have and she really doesn't know if she will ever have?

She gives her word and the little man spins straw into gold for the third time in a row.

This seems enough for the king. He marries the girl and after one year their son is born.

Of course, the little man comes to the castle and demands the kid. He was promised to have him and a given word should never be broken. Especially if it's given by royalty.

The young queen tries to pay the little man or bribe him with something else but he insists.

He wants the boy.

Finally, she managed to convince the little man of three days of delay. If she is able to guess his name, she can keep her boy.

The little man enjoys this challenge. His name is so special she will never guess it!

But the queen sends people from the castle all around collecting names and she guesses for two evenings.

Nope. The little man only laughs at her futile attempts.

On the last day, the last servant from the castle returns from the woods where he just spotted a little man dancing around the fire and singing a song about his strange name and a baby boy he is going to have.

So the queen eventually gets the name of the little man. It's Rumpelstiltskin!

Rumpelstiltskin can't believe his bad luck! He is so angry he tears himself apart!