Rumpelstiltskin

The older I get, the more rereading fairy tales leads me to thinking about them from differing points of view. Just what did Rumpelstiltskin do to deserve his fate. He fulfilled his half of the bargain. It's the miller's daughter who was a cheat (just like her entrepreneurial dad.)

I grew up with the version of Rumpelstiltskin retold by Edith Tarcov and illustrated by Edward Gorey, and I suspect that no other adaptation - even the one by the talented Paul Zelinsky - will ever eclipse its position as my favorite. But this edition of the tale, retold by Alison Sage and illustrated by the Russian artist Gennady Spirin, was quite interesting to examine.

The classic tale of a miller's daughter, caught in the web of her father's lies, is here retold quite faithfully by Sage, who adheres to the traditional Grimm plotline. Spirin's illustrations in this picture book, published in 1991, are unfortunately not the equal of some of his more recent work. I found the overall effect of his "medieval" style somewhat blurry. Still, show more this was a solidly engaging fairy-tale retelling, one I would recommend to fans of the genre, who enjoy comparing different illustrated interpretations of the same story. show less

Although I've always known and enjoyed the tale of Rumpelstiltskin, this is my first time actually reading an adaptation. My first memory ever is from Muppet Classic Theater, where Gonzo plays the title character. Because of this, I never really knew the true ending of the story or how the miller's daughter ever truly discovered Rumpelstiltskin's name.

One of the main themes of the story is to keep promises, which everyone does until Rose promises her firstborn baby to Rumpelstiltskin for the third room of gold. In order to keep her baby, she has three days to guess his name.

a very wonderful book by the Brothers Grimm. The story is very simple yet has a lot of meanings and values that will live for generations. A poor man who has not been fortunate in his life , gets an idea that would change his life and the life of his family forever. The idea was to inform , or rather lie to the king that his daughter can make gold of straws. Later on in the story the daughter is faced with options, either to marry the little man , who can make gold or lose her life. Of course anyone in that situation would agree to this deal. The story tells a very true aspect of human life, the greed , of how we are never satisfied and always want more. This would be a great book to teach in a social studies class about the value of show more what really matters in life. show less

Rose is the daughter of a poor miller who promised the king that his child could spin straw into gold. What he didn't see coming was that the king would soon put his word to the test. Knowing that she was not up for the task, Rose repeatedly exchanged her valuables for the labor of a small old man who could get the job done. Unfortunately, the last deal they made was a bargain. If he spun straw into gold for her one more time, she would have to give him her first born child with the king. In the end the little old man let her guess his name as an alternative, if she guessed right she could keep her baby. It was interesting the way she found out his name. Instead of a riddle, her husband the king, set off to go hunting and over heard the show more little man singing about his name, the king then went back home and told Rose. Its interesting to read how other retelling of fables turn out. show less

The Brothers Grimm are well known as the writers of amazing fairy tales. This is the story of a poor man, a miller, with a beautiful daughter named Rose. His luck was out, his money gone, he decided to set off for the palace of the King and plead his case for the King to fall in love with his beautiful daughter.

Weaving a tale of lies, the miller told the King his daughter could spin straw into gold. Interested, the King told him to return to the palce with his daughter, and if what he said was true, he would be richly rewarded. But, if Rose failed, she will lose her head. The father was shocked and admitted his lie. "Too Bad!" said the King.

He returned home and his daughter and told her what he said to the king. She said there was show more nothing left to do, but she would plead with the King. Seeing the beautiful Rose, while he was captivated by her beauty, he told her that before morning every piece of straw in the room where he was placing her, had to be turned into gold, or else, her head would be chopped off.

As Rose sat at the spinning wheel in the room weeping, there was a strange voice that came from an ugly little man with a funny hat and a long grey beard. He told Rose he could help her. In return she gave him her gold necklace that belonged to her grandmother. Sitting at the spinning wheel, he quickly spun every piece of straw into beautiful gold. The little man disappeared. The King entered and greedily demanded more by the next day.

Placing her in the second room with more straw, he demanded the same to be fulfilled by the next morning. Rose wept. Then, again the reedyly little voice told her he would spin the straw to gold. In return she gave him a gold ring given to her by her mother. The next day the King entered the room to the excitement of piles and piles of stunning gold. But, again, this was not enough, he wanted more, more.

The third night, he locked Rose in the room three times as big as before. Again, telling her to work her magic, or she would lose her head. Suddenly, the screechy sound of the ugly little man was heard as he jumped up and down in excitement, "What will you give me this time?" he asked. Rose had nothing left to give. Sadly, Rose said, "But, if you take pity on me now, I'll give you anything you want when I am Queen!"

Jumping up and down the ugly little man told Rose that if he spun all this gold she must give him her first born child. Rose agreed.
The next day, the room was filled with gold, and the King was excited. Not only did he have the wealth of all this gold, but now he had a beautiful wife.

As The Brothers Grimm write, many months passed, and Rose held a pretty little baby in her arms. So happy, she forgot the ugly little man and the promise she gave him. As she cried, the ugly man told her that she should stop crying. If she could guess his name, all is well. But if she could not guess his name, the baby would be his.

He visited her the first night to hear the names she called him. None were correct. The second night, again the names were wrong, and now the ugly man had gleen in his eyes believing the third night the beautiful baby would be his.

As fortune was in the hands of Rose, the King said while hunting he saw and ugly little man with a long gray beard spinning gold and sing a song saying his name was RTUMPELSTILTSKIN!

When he returned the next day, Rose told him his name. He was so mad he spun round and spun round and round while screaming. He as goneleaving Rose with a baby and the King.

This story has a happy ending. show less

This book tells the tale of a miller who promised the king his daughter could spin gold. The daughter goes to the king and begins to weep because she knows she cannot in fact spin gold. This weeping is heard by a little elf man and he makes a bargain with the bargain that if she gives him her first born child, the elf will spin all the gold she needs. As time went by the now queen forgets about this bargain and is horrified to see the elf once her firstborn child is born. The elf then says that is she can guess his name by three days time she can keep her child. The queen eventually guesses Rumpelstiltskin to be his name and the elf disappears in a fit of rage. The style and tone of this book was very much a classic fairytale. Both the show more language and characters seem to align with the childhood tale of Rumpelstiltskin that I remember when I was younger. Overall this would be an interesting fairytale for a young student to read in order to further study this genre. show less