| The Robber Bridegroom | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:RobberBridegroom-Crane1886.jpg) Illustration of "The Robber Bridegroom" from Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm, translated by Lucy Crane, illustrated by Walter Crane, first published by Macmillan and Company in 1886. | |
| Folk tale | |
| Name | The Robber Bridegroom |
| Aarne–Thompson grouping | ATU 955 (The Robber Bridegroom) |
| Region | Germany |
| Published in | Kinder- und Hausmärchen, by the Brother Grimm |
| Related | Bluebeard How the Devil Married Three Sisters Fitcher's Bird |
"The Robber Bridegroom" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 40.[1] Joseph Jacobs included a variant, Mr Fox, in English Fairy Tales,[2] but the original provenance is much older; Shakespeare (circa 1599) alludes to the Mr. Fox variant in Much Ado About Nothing, Act 1, Scene 1:[3]
- Like the old tale, my lord: "it is not so, nor `t was not so; but, indeed, God forbid it should be so."
It is Aarne–Thompson type 955, the robber bridegroom.[4] This type is closely related to tales of type 312, such as Bluebeard, and type 311, such as How the Devil Married Three Sisters and Fitcher's Bird.[5]
- ^ Jacob and Wilheim Grimm, Household Tales, "The Robber Bridegroom" Archived 2013-07-12 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Joseph Jacobs, English Fairy Tales, "Mr Fox"
- ^ Hartland, Edwin Sidney. English Fairy And Other Folk Tales. London: W. Scott, 1890. p. 27.
- ^ D. L. Ashliman, "The Robber Bridegroom and other folktales of Aarne-Thompson type 955"
- ^ D. L. Ashliman, "40: The Robber Bridegroom"