The Raven (Brothers Grimm)

German fairy tale

The Raven

Illustration by Walter Crane, 1882

Folk tale
Name| The Raven
Aarne–Thompson grouping| ATU 401
Country| Germany
Published in| Grimms' Fairy Tales

"The Raven" is a fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, number 93 in their collections.

It is Aarne–Thompson type 401, the girl transformed into an animal.

## Synopsis[edit]

A queen wished her naughty daughter would turn into a raven and fly away, so she could have some peace, and her wish was instantly fulfilled. She flew away to a forest.

In the forest, a man heard a raven tell him she was an enchanted princess, and he could deliver her if he went to a certain cottage and accepted no food from the old woman there. The raven would drive by in a carriage every day for three days. If he remained awake, he would break the spell. Each day, the old woman persuaded him to drink but one sip, and each day, overcome by weariness, he was fast asleep by the time the raven drove past. On the final day, the raven left the sleeping man a bottle of wine, a loaf, and a piece of meat, all three of which were inexhaustible and put a gold ring with her name on his finger. She also gave him a letter telling him there was another way he might deliver her: by coming to the golden castle of Stromberg.

The man wandered, looking for the castle, and found a giant who threatened to eat him, but the man fed him with his magical provisions. Then the giant brought out his map, which displayed all the towns, villages and houses in the land – but not the castle. He asked the man to wait until his brother came home. The brother was able to find the castle on an older map, but it was thousands of miles away. The brother agreed to carry the man to within a hundred leagues of the castle, and the man walks the rest.

As the man approached the glass mountain on which the golden castle stood, he could see the bewitched princess drive her carriage around the castle and go in. But the glass mountain was too slippery for him to climb, and he lived in a hut at the foot of the mountain for a year. One day he met three robbers fighting over three magical items: a stick that opened doors, an invisibility mantle, and a horse that could ride up the glass-mountain. The man offered them a mysterious reward in exchange for the items, but he insisted on first trying them out, to see if they worked as promised. After he had mounted the horse, taken the stick, and was made invisible by the cloak, he hit the robbers with his stick and rode up the glass mountain. He used the stick and mantle to get into the castle and threw his ring into the princess's cup. She couldn't find her rescuer though she searched the entire castle, until he finally revealed himself by throwing off the mantle. They were married.

## See also[edit]

* Novels portal

* Black Bull of Norroway
* Raven Tales
* The Blue Mountains
* The Nine Peahens and the Golden Apples
* The Seven Ravens
* The Three Dogs
* The Three Princesses of Whiteland
* The Twelve Wild Ducks
* What Came of Picking Flowers

## External links[edit]

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The Raven (Grimm)

* SurLaLune "The Raven"

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The Brothers Grimm

Jacob Grimm · Wilhelm Grimm

Works|

* Grimms' Fairy Tales
* Deutsche Sagen
* Deutsche Mythologie
* Deutsches Wörterbuch

Notable
tales|

* "Bearskin"
* "The Brave Little Tailor"
* "Brother and Sister"
* "Cat and Mouse in Partnership"
* "Cinderella"
* "The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs"
* "Doctor Know-all"
* "The Dog and the Sparrow"
* "The Elves and the Shoemaker"
* "The Fisherman and His Wife"
* "The Four Skillful Brothers"
* "The Frog Prince"
* "The Gnome"
* "Godfather Death"
* "The Golden Bird"
* "The Golden Goose"
* "The Goose Girl"
* "The Goose-Girl at the Well"
* "The Grave Mound"
* "Hans My Hedgehog"
* "Hansel and Gretel"
* "The Hut in the Forest"
* "The Jew Among Thorns"
* "Jorinde and Joringel"
* "The Juniper Tree"
* "The King of the Golden Mountain"
* "King Thrushbeard"
* "Little Red Riding Hood"
* "Mary's Child"
* "Mother Holle"
* "Old Hildebrand"
* "Old Sultan"
* "The Queen Bee"
* "Rapunzel"
* "The Riddle"
* "The Robber Bridegroom"
* "Rumpelstiltskin"
* "The Seven Ravens"
* "The Singing, Springing Lark"
* "The Six Servants"
* "The Six Swans"
* "Sleeping Beauty"
* "Snow White"
* "Snow-White and Rose-Red"
* "The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was"
* "The Three Little Men in the Wood"
* "The Three Spinners"
* "Thumbling"
* "Town Musicians of Bremen"
* "Trusty John"
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* "The Twelve Brothers"
* "The Twelve Dancing Princesses"
* "The Water of Life"
* "The White Snake"
* "The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats"
* "The Wonderful Musician"

Other|

* Grimm's law
* Göttingen Seven
* Grim Tales
* The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm
* Once Upon a Brothers Grimm
* Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics
* The Brothers Grimm
* Grimm Tales
* The Sisters Grimm
* Fairy tale
* American McGee's Grimm
* German Fairy Tale Route
* Grimm
* Once Upon a Time
* The 10th Kingdom

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