The annotations for the Golden Goose fairy tale are below. Sources have been cited in parenthetical references, but I have not linked them directly to their full citations which appear on the Golden Goose Bibliography page. I have provided links back to the Annotated Golden Goose to facilitate referencing between the notes and the tale.
Special thanks to Christine Ethier, an adjunct teacher of English writing at both Community College of Philadelphia and Camden County College, for providing the annotations to this tale.
I have included the Grimms' notes to the tale as translated by Margaret Hunt followed by SurLaLune's textual annotations.
The Grimms' Notes For the Tale
After a story from Hesse, and another from the neighbourhood of Paderborn. This last has the following variations: when Dummling has shared his food with the little man, the latter says, "Now lie down and sleep a while; and when thou awakest thou wilt find a sledge, to which a little bird is harnessed; and when it cries 'Kisi,' answer only 'Keifes;' and then thou wilt see what will happen." So Dummling lay down, for he was tired; and when he awoke, the sledge with the little bird was standing before him, and he seated himself in it, drove away, and came to a town. Three girls however were looking out of the window of one of the houses, and they saw the sledge with the little bird; and the eldest exclaimed, "I must have that bird!" but the youngest, who also wanted to have it, could run quicker, and got first into the street, and tried to grasp it. The little bird cried "Kisi!" and Dummling answered "Keifes," on which the girl stuck fast to the sledge, and could not get loose again, but was forced to try to seize the bird continually. And now came the two other sisters, and were held fast. Dummling drove onwards, and they reached a great piece of water, where many washerwomen were standing washing; and when they saw the girls they were angry with them for running after the sledge, and ran up to beat them with their wooden mallets; but they too were held fast, and were still forced to try to strike the girls. Then the parson and clerk came with the holy- water vessel, and they too were made fast, and thus the band grew greater, until Dummling arrived with it in the presence of the king's serious daughter, who laughed at the sight, and whom he now received to wife. The other tasks are not given. See The Golden Duck, in Meier, No. 17; and No. 27 in Pröhle's Märchen für die Jugend. Compare the story, The Miller and the Cat, No. 106.
As in this story, every one sticks fast to the goose, or to those who are touching it, so Loki sticks fast to the rod with which he is trying to strike the eagle (Thiasse). The rod, however, sticks to the eagle, and he is dragged away too (Younger Edda, Dames, 51). Just as the sons are tested by seeing if they are disposed to share a piece of cake, so Engelhart, in a poem of Konrad von Würzburg's, has three apples given him by his father, and is to give one of them to whomsoever he shall happen to meet; if the stranger eats the whole of it without giving him a piece he is to avoid him, but if the stranger gives him some he is to accept his friendship. The third is the first to behave kindly. Compare in Wyss's Volkssagen p. 321; and p. 22, the notes on the test by apples. A man who can drink a pond dry, or eat many thousands of loaves, appears in the Volksbuch of the Pomeranian Kunigund; see the story of The Seven Apprentices who get on in the World, No. 71; and The Six Servants, No. 134.
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Household Tales. Margaret Hunt, translator. London: George Bell, 1884, 1892. 2 volumes.
SurLaLune's Annotations
1. The Golden Goose: The source for this tale is Family Hassnpflug (Zipes, Complete,
731).
Return to place in story.
2. The youngest of whom was called Dummling: Sometimes the translations of the tale call the youngest son
"Simpleton". Bruno Bettelheim sees the number three as
representing the ego, super-ego, and id (102). Bettelheim sees the
simpleton character as "the fairy tale's rendering of the original
debilitated state of the ego as it begins its struggle to cope
with inner world of drives and with the difficult problems which
the outer world presents" (75).
Return to place in story.
3. Despised, mocked, and put down: Bettelhiem
points out that the simpleton's unhappiness in not mentioned or
dwelled upon (103) and "his being considered stupid is stated as a
fact of life which does not seem to concern him much" (103). It is
possible that the simpleton (Dummling) represents or functions as
a child's feelings of inadequacy in relation to the world
(Bettelheim 103-104).
Return to place in story.
4. The forest: The forest in fairy tales functions
as a place of change. It has all of ". . . the symbols of all the
dangers with which young people must deal if they are to survive
their rite of passage and become more responsible adults"
(Biedermann 141).
Return to place in story.
5. A beautiful sweet cake: The Jack Zipes edition
of the tale gives pancake instead (Complete 256).
While wine does have symbolic associations (particularly as the
blood of Christ or other sacrifices [Biedermann 383]), it seems
used to show preference here. The cake and the wine show how much
the mother values her eldest sons.
Return to place in story.
6. Little grey- haired man: An old man was ". . .
regarded as the personification of the age-old wisdom of humanity
or the collective unconscious" (Cirlot 243).
The Jack Zipes' edition uses the term "dwarf" here (Complete 256).
[see below for more]
Return to place in story.
7. Prudent: While being prudent is usually a good
thing, here it backfires. The eldest son is too prudent; he lacks
compassion or charity. Because of this he fails what Maria Tater
calls "the test of compassion" (284) that the old man offers
him.
In addition, the young man's response is rude and dismissive.
Return to place in story.
8. Hew down a tree: A tree can symbolize an
upward trend (Cirlot 347), which does not occur to either of the
eldest brothers.
Return to place in story.
9. Axe: The axe is connected to the Saints Joseph
and Boniface [see below] (Biedermann 23). Both elder sons lack
compassion and charity which the saints exhibited.
Return to place in story.
10. Cut him in the arm: The arm is a symbol for
activity (Cirlot 19).
Return to place in story.
11. This was the little gray man's doing: It is
unclear what exactly the little man is supposed to be. Zipes, as
seen above, uses the term dwarf. According to Thomas Keightley,
who got most of his German fairy information from books by the
Grimms (216), dwarfs were considered to be ". . . beneficent and
willingly serve those who have the good fortune to please them"
(216). Dwarfs also gave valuable presents to agreeable strangers
(Keightley 217). Keightley also writes that the dwarfs near Hartz
in Germany were not to be provoked because they would injury the
offender (224). There is also a theory that dwarfs are related to
the dead (Lindahl et al 112).
It is clear that the old gray man is something other than a plain
human being. It is possible that he is a Wild (also called Wood,
Timber or Moss) person. Keightley writes that the wild people ". .
. generally live together in society, but they sometimes appear
singly. They are small in stature, yet somewhat larger than the
Elf, being the size of children three years [old], gray and old
looking hairy men and clad in moss" (230). According to Keightley,
however, the women were the ones who were said to appear to
woodcutters and beg for food, not the male moss people (230). Most
of the stories Keightley has about moss people are about females;
however, the stories do connect moss people, trees, and gold. In
particular, Keightley relates a story of a human woman who helped
a moss woman and was rewarded with a piece of bark (230). When the
woman broke the bark, it turned to gold (Keightley 230).
Return to place in story.
12. What I give you will be taken away from myself: The response of the middle son is even ruder than the response
of the eldest son.
Return to place in story.
13. His punishment: The story makes it clear that
the sons are being punished for their treatment of the old gray
haired man.
Return to place in story.
14. Leg: The leg is associated with firmness
(Cirlot 181).
Return to place in story.
15. You do not understand: The father does not seem
overly concerned about his third son. His response conveys that
since the smarter ones failed so to must the younger one.
Return to place in story.
16. Cinders: A plain, ill tasting, cake with cheap
drink. The association with cinders makes Dummling a male
Cinderella (Tater 283). However, ". . . he does not have to sit at
home in the ashes, and instead, with a little prodding manages to
leave home and seek his fortune" (Tater 284).
Ashes are a symbol of mourning, death, as well as a rite of
passage (Biedermann 20).
Return to place in story.
17. We will sit down and eat: Dummling passes the
test that his brothers fail. Tater notes that "a test of
compassion posed early on in the tale determines whether the hero
is eligible to carry out 'impossible tasks' "(284).
Dummling's first reward is better food than what his mother gave
him.
Return to place in story.
18. An old tree: Tater connects the tree to
Yggdrasil, the world or cosmic tree (285). Yggdrasil and similar
trees are common in many legends (Cotterell, Storm 253). Such
trees produce magic fruit, water, honey, gold or silver as well as
housing magical animals or beings (Cotterell, Storm 252-253).
The use of the axe to cut down the tree, leading to the discovery
of the goose, could connect Dummling to Saint Boniface. Saint
Boniface, whose symbol is the axe, cut down a tree that was sacred
to the god Thor without any harming befalling him (Jones 55). The
connection to a saint could be made though the symbolism of gold
[see below].
Return to place in story.
19. Goose: A goose is usually associated with
women and the household (Biedermann 156). A foolish person is
sometimes called a goose, or a silly goose (Evans 476). Dummling
could be considered a 'silly goose".
Jack Zipes considers the goose "a phallic symbol associated with
magic powers" (The Great Fairy Tale 678) when used in humorous
stories.
The goose can also be associated with perfection and the Holy
Ghost (Barley 265).
Return to place in story.
20. Feathers of pure gold: Feathers are considered
an element of air and are connected to contemplation and faith
(Cirlot 103). Feathers are also a characteristic of lightness
(Biedermann 137).
Gold is considered to be superior. It can also be viewed as "the
essential element in the symbolism of the hidden or elusive
treasure which is an illustration of fruits of the spirit and
supreme illumination" (Cirlot 120). Dummling gets the goose
because he has a generous spirit. Gold is also "the image of solar
light and hence of the divine intelligence "(Cirlot 119).
The golden goose itself ". . . leads to what folklorists call
incremental repetition in which each new event builds on the
previous one" (Tater 283).
Return to place in story.
21. Three daughters: Similar to the three sons in
the beginning of the tale. They would also be somewhat higher in
class to Dummling.
Return to place in story.
22. Sticking fast to it: Tater points out that the
sisters are punished for their curiosity (284).
Return to place in story.
23. Others are there: Neither of the younger
sisters has any sense. Instead of questioning or even noticing
that the preceding girls are stuck to the geese, the last two
sisters reach out to take a feather, even when they are warned.
The youngest sister basically exhibits behavior similar to that of
Dummling's at the beginning of the tale. The difference is that
the youngest girl, like her two sisters, is motivated by greed and
just tries to take.
Return to place in story.
24. The parson: The rector (Oxford 600). He is in
charge of the church (Oxford 699). The parson is of higher rank
and authority than Dummling. Unlike the three sisters, the parson
is motivated by a desire to enforce proper conduct (as he sees
it).
Return to place in story.
25. The sexton: An official who looks after the
church (Oxford 764). Like his superior, he is not motivated by
greed but by proper conduct or place.
Return to place in story.
26. Two laborers: Perhaps the lowest rank, but they
have the truest intentions. They desire to help and not to take or
enforce conduct.
Return to place in story.
27. Seven: A sacred/mythological number (Evans
984). It is also symbol of the perfect cycle or period, and the
symbol of pain (Cirlot 233).
Return to place in story.
28. City: According to Cirlot "Jung sees the city
as a mother-symbol and as a symbol of the feminine principle"
(49).
Return to place in story.
29. King: Besides being the end point of the man's
travels, the king functions "as an archetype in the psyche's great
store of inherited symbols of higher power and wisdom" (Biedermann
196).
Return to place in story.
30. Should marry her: Zipes points out that
wandering protagonist's goals tend to be "money, power, and a
woman" (Fairy Tales and Art 70).
Return to place in story.
31. Began to laugh quite loudly: Bettelheim
believes that making the princess laugh is to "free her
emotionally" (186 and that "this is frequently achieved by the
hero's making persons who normally command respect look
ridiculous" (186).
Tater sees the refusal to laugh as comic relief (286).
Return to place in story.
32. Inherited the kingdom: Zipes notes that
"Becoming king or prince at the end of a Grimms' tale is a
socially symbolic act of achieving self-mastery - as well as
mastery over outside forces that include women and nature" (The
Brothers 98). The tale could be seen as the advancement of the
lower classes. Zipes writes, "Lower-class members become members
of the ruling elite but this occurs because the ruling classes
need such values that were being cultivated by the
bourgeoisie-thrift, industry, patience, obedience, and so forth"
(Fairy Tales and Art 71).
In some versions (translations) of the Grimm story, Dummling must
do other tasks to win the princess after making her laugh. This
occurs because the king does not want Dummling as a son-in-law.
The addition tasks including finding a man who can drink a cellar
of win dry, a man who can eat a "mountain of bread" (Zipes,
Complete, 259), and a ship that works on both land and water.
Dummling is able to do this with the help of the man in the
forest. After completely the third task, Dummling is allowed to
marry the princess. This longer version appears in both Tater and
Zipes' editions of the Grimms.
Return to place in story.
Special thanks to Christine Ethier, an adjunct teacher of English writing at both Community College of Philadelphia and Camden County College, for providing the annotations to this tale.
