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Iron John | |
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Folk tale | |
Name | Iron John |
Aarne–Thompson grouping | ATU 502, "The Wild Man as a Helper" |
Country | Germany |
Published in | Grimms' Fairy Tales |
Related |
"Iron John" (AKA "Iron Hans" or "Der Eisenhans")[1] is a German fairy tale found in the collections of the Brothers Grimm, tale number 136, about an iron-skinned wild man and a prince. The original German title is Eisenhans, a compound of Eisen "iron" and Hans (like English John, a common short form of the personal name Johannes). It represents Aarne–Thompson type 502, "The wild man as a helper".[2][3]
Most people see the story as a parable about a boy maturing into adulthood. The story also became the basis for the book Iron John: A Book About Men by Robert Bly which spawned the mythopoetic men's movement in the early 1990s.[4] The book spent 62 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list.[5]