The Hut in the Forest

The Hut in the Forest
The Hut in the Forest
	Arthur Rackham, 1917.
Folk tale
Name	The Hut in the Forest
Also known as	The Hut in the Wood
Aarne–Thompson grouping	ATU 431
Country	Germany
Published in	Grimm's Fairy Tales

"The Hut in the Forest" (also "The Hut in the Wood"; German: Das Waldhaus) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 169).^[1] Andrew Lang included it in The Pink Fairy Book (1897).^[2] It is Aarne-Thompson type 431.^[1]

Synopsis

A wood-cutter told his wife to have his oldest daughter bring him his dinner in the woods. She lost her way and in the night found a house with a gray-haired man and a hen, a cock, and a brindled cow. She asked for shelter. The man asked the animals, the animals said "Duks", and the man agreed, and told her to cook dinner. She cooked for him and herself, and asked for a bed. He directed her to an upper room, where she went to sleep. The old man followed her and opened a trapdoor that let her down into the cellar as her punishment. The next day, the same thing happened with the second daughter.

On the third day, the youngest ended up in the hut. She pet the animals, and when she had made supper for herself and the old man, also got barley for the birds and hay for the cow. She went upstairs to sleep, but at midnight, a sound like the house tearing apart woke her. Still, it stopped, and she went back to sleep In the morning, she found herself in a palace with a king's son, enchanted with three attendants. The king's son had been bewitched by an evil fairy to remain there as an old man until the arrival of a woman who is very kind to people and animals. He summoned her parents to the wedding, and made her sisters servants to a charcoal burner, until they learned not to leave poor animals to suffer hunger.

Analysis

The tale is classified in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 431, "The House in the Forest". In this type of enchanted husband narrative, the old man is actually a prince, and his three animals are his three servants. This type may also appear combined with tale type ATU 480, "The Kind and Unkind Girls".^[3]

Tale type 431 is also found in Turkey, where the "House in the Woods" becomes a "House of Cats".^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b Ashliman, D. L. (2020). "Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales (Grimms' Fairy Tales)". University of Pittsburgh.
^ Andrew Lang, The Pink Fairy Book (1897), "The House in the Wood"
^ Uther, Hans-Jörg. The types of International Folktales. A Classification and Bibliography, based on the System of Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson. Volume 1: Animal tales, tales of magic, religious tales, and realistic tales, with an introduction. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia-Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 2004. p. 257. ISBN 9789514109560.
^ Neuman, Dov (1954). "Review of Typen Tuerkischer Volksmaerchen". Midwest Folklore. 4 (4): 254–259. JSTOR 4317494.

External links

The complete set of Grimms' Fairy Tales, including The Hut in the Forest at Standard Ebooks

[:0-1] Ashliman, D. L. (2020). "Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales (Grimms' Fairy Tales)". University of Pittsburgh.

[2] Andrew Lang, The Pink Fairy Book (1897), "The House in the Wood"

[3] Uther, Hans-Jörg. The types of International Folktales. A Classification and Bibliography, based on the System of Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson. Volume 1: Animal tales, tales of magic, religious tales, and realistic tales, with an introduction. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia-Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 2004. p. 257. ISBN 9789514109560.

[4] Neuman, Dov (1954). "Review of Typen Tuerkischer Volksmaerchen". Midwest Folklore. 4 (4): 254–259. JSTOR 4317494.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

The Brothers Grimm
Jacob Grimm · Wilhelm Grimm
Works	Grimms' Fairy Tales Deutsche Sagen Deutsche Mythologie Deutsches Wörterbuch
Notable tales	"Allerleirauh" "The Beam" "Bearskin" "The Brave Little Tailor" "The Bright Sun Brings It to Light" "Brother and Sister" "Brother Lustig" "Cat and Mouse in Partnership" "Cinderella" "Clever Elsie" "Clever Hans" "Clever Gretel" "The Clever Little Tailor" "Death's Messengers" "The Devil's Sooty Brother" "The Devil and his Grandmother" "The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs" "Doctor Know-all" "The Dog and the Sparrow" "The Donkey" "Donkey Cabbages" "The Elves and the Shoemaker" "Fair Katrinelje and Pif-Paf-Poltrie" "Ferdinand the Faithful and Ferdinand the Unfaithful" "The Fisherman and His Wife" "Fitcher's Bird" "The Flail from Heaven" "Foundling-Bird" "The Four Skillful Brothers" "The Fox and the Cat" "The Fox and the Geese" "Frederick and Catherine" "The Frog Prince" "Gambling Hansel" "The Girl Without Hands" "The Gnome" "Going a Traveling" "The Gold-Children" "The Godfather" "Godfather Death" "The Golden Bird" "The Golden Goose" "The Good Bargain" "The Goose Girl" "The Goose-Girl at the Well" "The Grave Mound" "Hans in Luck" "Hans My Hedgehog" "Hansel and Gretel" "The Hare's Bride" "Herr Korbes" "How Six Made Their Way in the World" "The Hurds "The Hut in the Forest" "Iron John" "The Iron Stove" "The Jew Among Thorns" "Jorinde and Joringel" "The Juniper Tree" "The Knapsack, the Hat, and the Horn" "The King of the Golden Mountain" "King Thrushbeard" "The Lambkin and the Little Fish" "The Lazy Spinner" "The Little Peasant" "Little Red Riding Hood" "Looking for a Bride" "The Louse and the Flea" "The Maid of Brakel" "Mary's Child" "Mother Trudy" "The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage" "Mother Holle" "Old Hildebrand" "Old Sultan" "The Old Man and his Grandson" "The Old Woman in the Wood" "One-Eye, Two-Eyes, and Three-Eyes" "The Pack of Ragamuffins" "The Peasant's Wise Daughter "Pied Piper of Hamelin" "The Pink" "The Queen Bee" "Rapunzel" "The Raven" "The Riddle" "The Robber Bridegroom" "Rumpelstiltskin" "The Seven Ravens" "The Seven Swabians" "The Shroud" "The Singing, Springing Lark" "The Singing Bone" "The Six Servants" "The Six Swans" "Sleeping Beauty" "Snow White" "Snow-White and Rose-Red" "The Spirit in the Bottle" "The Star Money" "The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was" "The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean" "Sweet Porridge" "Sweetheart Roland" "The Tailor in Heaven" "The Thief and His Master" "The Three Apprentices" "The Three Army Surgeons" "The Three Feathers" "The Three Languages" "The Three Little Birds" "The Three Little Men in the Wood" "The Three Snake-Leaves" "The Three Spinners" "The Twelve Idle Servants" "The Two Kings' Children" "The Water Nixie" "Thumbling" "Thumbling's Travels" "Town Musicians of Bremen" "Trusty John" "The Turnip" "The Twelve Brothers" "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" "The Twelve Huntsmen" "The Two Brothers" "The Water of Life" "The Wedding of Mrs. Fox" "The White Bride and the Black One" "The White Snake" "The Willful Child" "The Wishing-Table, the Gold-Ass, and the Cudgel in the Sack" "The Wolf and the Fox" "The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats" "The Wonderful Musician"
Other	Grimm's law Göttingen Seven Grim Tales The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm Once Upon a Brothers Grimm Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics Simsala Grimm The Brothers Grimm Grimm Tales The Sisters Grimm Fairy tale American McGee's Grimm German Fairy Tale Route Grimm Once Upon a Time The 10th Kingdom The Grimm Variations
Category Commons

Synopsis

Analysis

See also

References

External links