Rumpelstiltskin is a story that can be used as an example for a variety cautions. But perhaps it is not about what we should not do but about the power in a name.
Rumpelstiltskin is part of Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm’s collection of fairy tales originally titled Children's and Household Tales, published in 1812, but now known throughout the world as Grimm's Fairy Tales. The story of Rumpelstiltskin is a story that can be used as an example for a variety cautions.
Rumpestiltskin as a Cautionary Tale
It could be used as a caution against bragging. The miller’s bragging was at the root of his daughter’s problem. However, it seems a poor example as the miller is not the one to suffer for his crime.
It could be used as an argument for the woman’s role in marriage. It teaches that a woman’s household skills should have a positive influence on her marriage by bringing her husband riches and by bearing his children. As the king is only interested in the miller’s daughter for her skills, it seems a valid suggestion.
The story of Rumpelstiltskin is reminiscent of those cautionary tales that warned children to remain close to their parents by scaring them with stories of evil spirits and goblins who steal children
The Name of Rumpelstiltskin
Among all the characters in the story; we find only one character with a name, Rumpelstiltskin.
There is a miller, his beautiful daughter, a greedy king, a helpful servant, and the little man who has magical powers along with the unusual name of Rumpelstiltskin. He wants a child. We do not know why, although his song could certainly cause concern for the little one’s safety.
"To-morrow I brew, to-day I bake,
And then the child away I'll take;
For little deems my royal dame
That Rumpelstiltskin is my name!"
Does he intends to eat the child like the witch in Hansel and Gretel? Or does he simply want a child to raise to do his bidding?
Trading on His Name
Whatever the case may be Rumpelstiltskin wants the child. The first two nights he helps the woman in exchange for mere trinkets. He takes her necklace and her ring, knowing that when he has taken all, she will still be desperate and then he can barter for his true desire. Her desperation forces her back into the hands of the one who has helped her before. When he suggests she trade her first-born child in exchange for his help. She accepts his offer thinking that perhaps there will never be a child.
When he calls on the new mother to claim his prize, she tries to offer him anything he wants rather than the child. His refusal and his insistence on the child indicates that the babe is what he always wanted. For some odd reason, the little man decides to wager the child against the chance that the queen can guess his name.
Superstitions around the world claim that to know a man’s name is to gain power over him. Even the Bible ascribes power to names. The Judeo-Christian God has a name that those who know it do not speak. Rumpelstiltskin bets on that power. He loses.
After two nights of guessing, the queen nearly despairs until her servant comes hurrying in with the tale of seeing a little man who mentions his name in an exultant song and dance.
When the queen correctly guesses his name, we see the last of Rumpelstiltskin. Various versions of the tale have him depart in various ways. Sometimes he flies out the window, other times he stomps his foot so hard he disappears into the ground and sometimes he even tears himself in two. It matters little, he is gone. Dead or alive he will not return to a place where someone owns the power of his name.
To learn more about fairy tales read about The Brothers Grimm, two men who collected many of our most well-known fairy tales. To read a review of a picture book based on this fairy tale, try Rumpelstiltskin by Paul O. Zelinsky.
