The Juniper Tree (fairy tale)

The Juniper Tree is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. [Jacob and Wilheim Grimm, " [http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/47junipertree.html The Juniper-Tree] ", "Household Tales"]

It is tale number 47 and Aarne-Thompson type 720, my mother slew me; my father ate me. Another such tale is the English "The Rose-Tree", although it reverses the sexes from "The Juniper Tree"; "The Juniper Tree" follows the more common pattern of having the dead child be the boy. [Maria Tatar, "The Annotated Brothers Grimm", p 209 W. W. Norton & company, London, New York, 2004 ISBN 0-393-05848-4]

ynopsis

A woman wishes for a child as red as blood and as white as snow, gives birth to a son, and dies. Her husband grieves, and gets married again. His second wife gave birth to a daughter, Marlinchen, but was jealous of the son. One day, she tricks the boy into reaching into a great chest, and slams its heavy lid on him, knocking his head off. She then arranges the child as if still living, and tricks Marlinchen into boxing his ear, leading her to believe that she had killed him. She reassures Marlinchen and turns the boy's body into black puddings.

The father eats the puddings, but Marlinchen takes up the bones and buries them beneath a juniper tree. A bird flies out of the tree. It goes and sings a song to a goldsmith, who gives it a golden chain, to a shoemaker, who gives it a pair of red shoes, and to millers, who give it a millstone. It then flies back home and sings its song. The father goes out and the golden chain falls about his neck. It sings again, Marlinchen goes out, and the red shoes fall to her. It sings a third time, the stepmother goes out, and the bird drops the millstone on her, crushing her.

The bird is transformed back into the brother, and they all go back inside.

Commentary

Many folklorists interpret evil stepmothers as stemming from actual competition between a woman and her stepchildren for resources. In this tale, the motive is made explicit: the stepmother wants her daughter to inherit everything. [Maria Tatar, p 161, "The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales", ISBN 0-393-05163-3]

The millstone in the story would have had Biblical connotations for the readers of the Grimms' days, especially as the verse Matthew 18:5 describes anyone who causes a child to sin would be better off to be thrown into the sea with a millstone about his neck; both refer to a millstone as a punishment for those who harm the young and innocent. [Maria Tatar, "Off with Their Heads!" p. 213 ISBN 0-691-06943-3]

In his essay "On Fairy-Stories", J.R.R. Tolkien cited "The Juniper Tree" as an example of the evils of censorship for children; many versions in his day omitted the stew, and Tolkien thought children should not be spared it, unless they were spared the whole fairy tale. [J. R. R. Tolkien, "On Fairy-Stories", "The Tolkien Reader", p 31]

References