Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm

“ The service to the smith is a remarkable coincidence with Siegfried's adventures; and the mill-stone that falls harmless, reminds us of Thor's adventure with Skrymmer. The giant, moreover, is in true keeping with the Northern personages of that description, for whom the shrewd dwarf is generally more than a match; and the pranks played belong to the same class of performances as those of the hero Grettir when he kept geese upon the common. MM. Grimm quote a Servian tale given by Schottky, which resembles closely the conflict of the wits between the giant and the young man. ”

“ Several of the incidents will be familiar to the English reader; indeed, they are common to almost every country, and are found as well in the Neapolitan Pentamerone as in the Hungarian Collection of Georg von Gaal. We apprehend that the concluding part of the story is not quite correctly preserved; and that, for the credit of the hero, the maiden who seduces him from his old attachment, ought to be, as in "The Lady and the Lion," an enchantress, whose spell is broken by the sound of the true mistress's voice. ”

“ Another somewhat similar story is current in Paderborn. The tale is a singular one, and contains so much of Orientalism that the reader would almost suppose himself in the Arabian Nights' Entertainments.
In the Pentamerone, iv. 9, is a story very much resembling this: the birds who foretell and forewarn against the disasters are two doves; and the whole happens by the contrivance, and is finally remedied by the power of an enchanter, the lady's father, who had sent the perils that menace the prince, in revenge for the carrying away of his daughter. ”

“ We have here the favourite incident of the despised and neglected member of the family, who bears the name of "Dummling," setting out on his adventures, and overcoming all disadvantages by talent and virtue. (See note on "The Golden Goose," in which story we have left the hero his name, as perhaps we ought to have done here.) MM. Grimm mention a Jewish tale of Rabbi Chanina, who befriends a raven, a hound, and a fish, and receives similar tokens of gratitude. ”

“ The poor heroine pays the price of her imprudence in being compelled to wander over the world in search of her husband; she goes to heavenly powers for assistance in her misfortunes, and at last, when within reach of the object of her hopes, is near being defeated by the allurements of pleasure. Mrs. Tighe's beautiful poem would seem purposely to describe some of the immediate incidents of our tale, particularly that of the dove.
The incidents in which the misfortune originates are to be found in Pentamerone, ii. ”

“ The Water of Life, p. 211.— "Das Wasser der Lebens;" from Hesse, Paderborn, and (with variations) other places. The story has in many particulars a very Oriental cast. It resembles one of the Arabian Nights; but it is also connected with one of the tales of Straparola, iv. 3. Another of MM. Grimm's stories, "De drei Vügelkens," with which it coincides in several respects, has still more of the Oriental character. The "Water of Life" is a very ancient tradition, even in Rabbinical lore. ”

“ In the original, an oath is extorted by force from the true bride, and it is that which prevents her disclosure of the story to the king, who finds out a plan for her evading the oath, by telling the tale into the oven's mouth, whence of course it reaches him, though in a sufficiently secondhand way to save the fair lady's conscience. ”

“ Another version with variations comes from the Schwalmgegend, and from this latter we have taken the opening incident of the summer and winter garden, in preference to the parallel adventure in the story which MM. Grimm have adopted in their text. We have made two or three other alterations in the way of curtailment of portions of the story. The common tale of "Beauty and the Beast" has always some affinity to the legend of Cupid and Psyche. In the present version of the same fable the resemblance is striking throughout. ”

“ The Fisherman and his Wife, p. 17.— "De Fischer un siine Fru," a story in the Pomeranian Low German dialect, admirably adapted to this species of narrative, and particularly pleasing to an English ear, as bearing a remarkable affinity to his own language, or rather that of the Lowland Scotch. Take the second sentence as a specimen: "Daar satt he eens an de see, bi de angel, un sach in dat blanke water, un he sach immer (ever) na de angel," &c. During the fervour of popular feeling on the downfall of the power of the late Emperor of France, this tale became a great favourite. ”

“ In one of the German stories, "Des Schneiders Daumerling Wanderschaft" (the Travels of the Tailor's Thumbling) , his first wandering is through the recesses of a glove, to escape his mother's anger. So Thor, in the 23rd fable of the Edda, reposes in the giant's glove. In another story, "Der junge Riese" (The Young Giant) , the hero is in his youth a thumb long ”

“ There is a very similar story, "Lo Scarafono, la Sorece, e lo Grillo," in the Pentamerone, iii. 5. Another in the same work, iv. 1, "La Prota de lo Gallo," embraces the incidents of the latter part of our tale. The Gesta Romanorum also contains a fable somewhat similar in plot, though widely different in details. The cunning device of the mouse reminds MM. Grimm of Loke, in the form of a fly, stinging the sleeping Freya, till she throws off her necklace. ”

“ The author of The Sketch Book has made use of this tale as the plot of his "Rip van Winkle." There are several German traditions and ballads which turn on the unsuspected lapse of time under enchantment; and we may remember, in connection with it, the ancient story of the "Seven Sleepers" of the fifth century (Gibbon, vi. 32) . That tradition was adopted by Mahomet, and has, as Gibbon observes, been also adopted and adorned by the nations from Bengal to Africa, who profess the Mahometan religion. ”

“ The Travelling Musicians; or, The Waits of Bremen, p. 6.—The "Bremer Stadtmusikanten" of Grimm; current in Paderborn. Rollenhagen, who in the 16th century wrote his poem called Froschmäuseler (a collection of popular satirical dramatic scenes, in which animals are the acting characters) , has admirably versified the leading incidents of this story. The occupant parties who are ejected by the travellers are, with him, wild beasts, not robbers. The Germans are eminently successful in their beast stories. ”

“ The origin of them it is not easy to trace: as early as the age of the Minnesingers (in the beginning of the 13th century) a collection of fables, told with great spirit and humour by Bonner, was current; but they are more Æsopian, and have not the dramatic and instructive character of the tales before us, which bear the features of the oldest Oriental fables. ”

“ Though the allusion to the sleep-rose is preserved in our heroine's name, she suffers from the wound of a spindle, as in the Pentamerone of G.B. Basile, v. 5. The further progress of Sigurd's or Siegfried's adventures will be seen in "The King of the Golden Mountain."
Tom Thumb, p. 35.—The "Daumesdick" of Grimm, from Mühlheim, on the Rhine. In this tale the hero appears in his humblest domestic capacity ”

“ A popular fable in several places, clearly belonging to the class of which Reynard the Fox is the chief.
Hansel and Grettel, p. 123.—The first part of "Brüderchen und Schwesterchen;" the remainder we omitted as branching into a new series of distinct adventures. The story is very common in Germany, and is also known in Sweden. Prætorius, vol. ii., p. 255, will give the curious the whole art, mystery, and history of transformation of men into animals. This story is one of a most numerous class, in which a stepmother unsuccessfully exerts a malicious influence over her charge. ”

“ Cherry, or the Frog-Bride, p. 201.—This is a translation of "Das Märchen von der Padde," from Büsching's Volks-Sagen; changing the heroine from "Petersilie " (Parsley) into Cherry.
Mother Holle, p. 207.—The "Frau Holle" of MM. Grimm: from Hesse and Westphalia, and several other places, but with variations. It is a common saying in Hesse, when it snows, "Mother Holle is making her bed." Mother Holle, or Hulda, is a potent personage of some repute, excercising her power for the public good, in rewarding the industrious and well-disposed, and punishing the slovenly and mischievous. ”

“ Man is sometimes introduced, but generally, as in "The Dog and the Sparrow," to his disadvantage, and for the purpose or reproof and correction.
The Golden Bird, p. 10.—" Der Goldene Vogel;" a Hessian story; told also with slight variations in Paderborn. The substance of this tale, in which the Golden Bird is generally called the Phœnix, is of great antiquity. Perinskiold in the catalogue to Hickes mentions the Sagar of Artus Fagra, and describes the contents thus: "Hist. ”