Rumpelstiltskin

Rumpelstiltskin is a fairytale popularly associated with Germany (where he is known as Rumpelstilzchen). The tale was one collected by the Brothers Grimm in the 1812 edition of Children's and Household Tales.

Rumpelstilzchen in German means literally "little rattle stilt", a stilt being a post or pole that provides support for a structure. A rumpelstilt or rumpelstilz was consequently the name of a type of goblin , also called a pophart or poppart, that makes noises by rattling posts and rapping on planks. The meaning is similar to rumpelgeist ("rattle ghost") or poltergeist, a mischievous spirit that clatters and moves household objects. (Other related concepts are mummarts or boggarts and hobs, which are mischievous household spirits that disguise themselves.)

The value and power of using personal names and titles is well established in psychology, management, teaching and trial law. It is often referred to as the "Rumpelstiltskin Principle".

Myths and Legends[]

In order to appear superior, a miller lies to the king, telling him that his daughter can spin straw into gold (some versions make the miller's daughter blonde and describe the "straw-into-gold" claim as a careless boast the miller makes about the way his daughter's straw-like blond hair takes on a gold-like lustre when sunshine strikes it). The king calls for the girl, shuts her in a tower room filled with straw and a spinning wheel, and demands she spin the straw into gold by morning or he will cut off her head (other versions have the king threatening to lock her up in a dungeon forever). When she has given up all hope, an imp-like creature appears in the room and spins the straw into gold in return for her necklace (since he only comes to people seeking a deal/trade). When next morning the king takes the girl to a larger room filled with straw to repeat the feat, the imp once again spins, in return for the girl's ring. On the third day, when the girl has been taken to an even larger room filled with straw and told by the king that he will marry her if she can fill this room with gold or execute her if she cannot, the girl has nothing left with which to pay the strange creature. He extracts from her a promise that she will give him her firstborn child and so he spins the straw into gold a final time (In some versions, the imp appears and begins to turn the straw into gold, paying no heed to the girl's pro s that she has nothing to pay him with; when he finishes the task, he states that the price is her first child, and the horrified girl objects because she never agreed to this arrangement).

The king keeps his promise to marry the miller's daughter, but when their first child is born, the imp returns to claim his payment: "Now give me what you promised." She offers him all the wealth she has to keep the child, but the imp has no interest in her riches.

He finally consents to give up his claim to the child if she can guess his name within three days (some versions have the imp limiting the number of daily guesses to three and hence the total number of guesses allowed to a maximum of nine).

Her many guesses fail, but before the final night, she wanders into the woods (in some versions, she sends a servant into the woods instead of going herself in order to keep the king's suspicions at bay), searching for him and comes across his remote mountain cottage and watches, unseen, as he hops about his fire and sings. In his song's lyrics, "tonight tonight, my plans I make, tomorrow tomorrow, the baby I take. The queen will never win the game, for Rumpelstiltskin is my name'", he reveals his name.

When the imp comes to the queen on the third day, after first feigning ignorance, she reveals his name, Rumpelstiltskin, and he loses his temper and their bargain. Versions vary about whether he accuses the devil or witches of having revealed his name to the queen. In the 1812 edition of the Brothers Grimm tales, Rumpelstiltskin then "ran away angrily, and never came back". The ending was revised in an 1857 edition to a more gruesome ending wherein Rumpelstiltskin "in his rage drove his right foot so far into the ground that it sank in up to his waist; then in a passion he seized the left foot with both hands and tore himself in two". Other versions have Rumpelstiltskin driving his right foot so far into the ground that he creates a chasm and falls into it, never to be seen again. In the oral version originally collected by the Brothers Grimm, Rumpelstiltskin flies out of the window on a cooking ladle.

Variations Depending on Region[]

The same story pattern appears in numerous other cultures: Tom Tit Tot in England (from English Fairy Tales, 1890, by Joseph Jacobs); The Lazy Beauty and her Aunts in Ireland (from The Fireside Stories of Ireland, 1870 by Patrick Kennedy); Whuppity Stoorie in Scotland (from Robert Chambers's Popular Rhymes of Scotland, 1826); Gilitrutt in Iceland; جعيدان (Joaidane "He who talks too much") in Arabic; Хламушка (Khlamushka "Junker") in Russia; Rumplcimprcampr, Rampelník or Martin Zvonek in the Czech Republic; Martinko Klingáč in Slovakia; Ruidoquedito ("Little noise") in South America; Pancimanci in Hungary (from A Csodafurulya, 1955, by Emil Kolozsvári Grandpierre, based on the 19th century folktale collection by László Arany); Daiku to Oniroku (大工と鬼六 "A carpenter and the ogre") in Japan and Myrmidon in France. All these tales are Aarne–Thompson type 500, "The Name of the Helper". The Cornish tale of Duffy and the Devil plays out an essentially similar plot featuring a "devil" named Terry-top.

Modern Depictions[]

Literature[]

Anne Sexton wrote an adaptation of the Grimm fairy tale as a poem called "Rumpelstiltskin" in her collection Transformations (1971), a book in which she re-envisions sixteen of the Grimm's Fairy tales.
Jonathan Carroll's novel Sleeping in Flame (1988) is a modern variant on the story, which refers explicitly to the Grimms' version.
In Diane Stanley's short fiction, Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter (1997), Rumpelstiltskin falls in love with and marries the miller's daughter and helps her escape from the king. The main character turns out to be their only daughter, Hope.
The Rumpelstiltskin Problem (2001) by Vivian Vande Velde.
In John Katzenbach's novel The Analyst (2002), a man who calls himself Rumplestiltskin threatens a New York psychoanalyst.
Saviour Pirotta's "Guess My Name", published in Once Upon a World (2004), is a retelling of the Welsh version of the story.
Michael Buckley's The Sisters Grimm (2005–2012) series has Rumplestiltskin as the main villain for the second book, Unusual Suspects.
Elizabeth C. Bunce's novel A Curse Dark as Gold (2008) was inspired by the story of Rumpelstiltskin. The miller's daughter is written as a strong female character determined to save the failing mill and the town that depends on it.
The Croning (2012) by Laird Barron.
Rumpel Stiltskin is the main character in J. A. Kazimer's book Curses! (2012).
In Shelley Chappell's short fiction, Ranpasatusan. A Retelling of Rumpelstiltskin (2014) the miller's daughter is a minstrel's daughter who travels to Japan.
In the book Land of Stories by Chris Colfer, Rumpelstiltskin appears as the eighth of the dwarves from "Snow White".
In Tom Holt's novel, The Good, the Bad and the Smug (2015), a former commodities trader escapes to a fantasy world and becomes Rumpelstiltskin.
Michael Cunningham's short story "Little Man" (in A Wild Swan and Other Tales, 2015) is a retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin story told from Rumpelstiltskin's point of view.

Comics[]

Rumpelstiltskin appears in issue 4 of The Muppet Show that was a part of "The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson" arc.
The tale is adapted in the fourth issue of Zenescope's series Grimm Fairy Tales, but it is given an alternative, more tragic ending.
The Priest from the Dark Horse series The Goon is actually Rumpelstiltskin, having escaped from the hell he was cast into he attempts the wrestle control of the town away from The Goon.

Music[]

Spin: The Rumpelstiltskin Musical, Edelman and Fishman's audiobook musical, was published by Harper Audio in 2018.
The song "Split Myself in Two" by the Meat Puppets is inspired and loosely based on the tale.
"Rumplestiltskin" is a song by the Columbus, Ohio underground band Earwig from their album Gibson Under Mountain.
Rumplestiltskin's Resolve is an album by folk-rock musician Shawn Phillips.
Rumpelstiltskin Grinder is a thrash band from Pennsylvania signed to Relapse Records.
The industrial metal band Megaherz released a song named "I.M. Rumpelstilzchen" on their album Herzwerk II, which quotes the original German fairy tale.
The ballet "Rumpelstiltskin" by the British composer David Sawer is based on the tale.
A musical adaptation of the same name opened Off-Broadway in 2012.
One of the starting lines in Ski Mask The Slump God's 2018 album STOKELEY. "Let's make a deal Rumpelstiltskin she wanna see my purple pickle up in the wind"

Television[]

In the ABC television series Once Upon a Time, Rumplestiltskin (also known as Mr. Gold and Detective Weaver) is played by Robert Carlyle and is a central character who commonly switches from an antagonist to an ally of the main characters.
Rumpelstiltskin appears in Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child voiced by Robert Townsend.
Rumpelstiltskin was featured as a creature in NBC's Grimm about a video game.
In an episode of the TV show Star Trek: Deep Space Nine titled "If Wishes Were Horses", Miles O'Brien reads his daughter the story of Rumpelstiltskin at bedtime and then leaves her room.
In the TV show Shelley Duvall's fairyrie Tale Theatre, the second episode, aired originally in 1982, was titled "Rumpelstiltskin".
The character "Rumpledkiltskin" appears in the animated series Courage The Cowardly Dog.
Rumpelstiltskin appears as a cunning dwarf in the animated television series Winx Club, in Season 6.

Film[]

Rumpelstiltskin (1915), an American film, starring J. Barney Sherry and Elizabeth "Betty" Burbridge
A 1940 live action film produced in Germany, directed by Alf Zengerling starring Paul Walker as the title character.
A 1955 live action film produced in West-Germany, but also released in the U.S. by K. Gordon Murray in 1965 and re-released by Paramount Pictures in 1974.
In 1962's The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, a dream sequence featured Rumpelstiltskin (played by Arnold Stang) alongside other Grimm characters such as Hansel & Gretel, Snow White, Cinderella, and Tom Thumb.
Rumpelstiltskin is one of the fairy tales featured in the direct-to-video film Muppet Classic Theater where the character was played by Gonzo the Great.
Rumpelstiltskin appears in the Shrek franchise.
Rumpelstiltskin appeared in Happily N'Ever After and its sequel, voiced by Michael McShane.
A 1987 live-action musical film, a fairly direct retelling of the fairy tale, starring Amy Irving as the miller's daughter and Billy Barty as the title character.
A 1996 supernatural horror B-movie where in Rumpelstiltskin is trapped in a jade rock for five hundred years until a woman is compelled to purchase the rock from an unusual antique shop and makes a wish.
Avengers Grimm - When Rumpelstiltskin destroys the Magic Mirror and escapes to the modern world, the four princesses must fight him before he enslaves Earth.
Rumpelstiltskin is featured as one of the fairy tale characters the Brothers Grimm encounter in Once Upon a Brothers Grimm.

Games[]

Rumpelstiltskin appears briefly in the Dark Parables sixth installment, Jack and the Sky Kingdom, as a stone imp.
Rumpelstiltskin makes an appearance in the first game of the series King's Quest, by Roberta Williams.
In the Ragnarok expansion for Titan Quest: Anniversary edition, Rumpelstiltskin is a Troll mini-boss that has a random chance of being encountered by the player.