In December 1812, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published their first book: volume one of Kinder- und Hausmärchen ( or Children’s and Household Tales). The fifty-second story in their collection was called “King Thrushbeard,” and that story is the topic of today’s post. So let’s dive in!
The Proud Princess
Our story opens with a princess. She’s of age to marry and, as such, is sorting through suitors. Her father literally lines them up, in order of lowest to highest rank. Sadly for our hopeful contenders, the princess is a cruel as she is beautiful. She takes advantage of her father’s efficiency to insult each and every man. She calls one a wine barrel, another as pale as death, another a prize rooster. On and on she goes, until she reaches the front of the line, where a neighboring king stands. He had a crooked chin, and she scornfully calls him King Thrushbeard, as his chin and beard looked like a thrush’s beak.
The suitors leave, and the princess’s father, enraged, decrees that he will marry his daughter off to the next man who asks, no matter his station or lack of suitability. Lo and behold, a lowly minstrel appears a few days later, asking for payment for his songs. The king agrees to pay his daughter’s hand, and the two are married immediately. To rub salt in the wound, the king then declares that his daughter, now the wife of a lowly minstrel, is being kicked out of the castle, as her new station in life is far too low for such riches.
Hard at Work
The princess follows the minstrel off through the country to her new home. As they pass vast and rich lands, she asks who they belong to, only to find that they are ruled by King Thrushbeard. She regrets turning him down, now, as all those riches could have been hers. She and the minstrel arrive at his tiny hut, and she is appalled to find there are no servants. The minstrel teaches her to cook and clean, but before long, their funds run low. The minstrel says she must find work to supplement his income. Her first few attempts are utter failures, and finally the minstrel gives her a few pieces of pottery to sell at the market, much to her dismay. The princess resists at first, scared of people recognizing and ridiculing her, but starving is a worse fate, so off she goes.
At first, things go better than expected. The princess is so beautiful that people are willing to pay any price she asks, and some even left the pots with her. The minstrel is able to buy more pottery , and for a while, they are able to survive on what she makes.
Of course, that’s when disaster strikes. While at the market one day, a drunken soldier rides his horse through the market, destroying the princess’s wares. She returns to the hut, telling the minstrel of their misfortune. Luckily, he’s just found out about another job: a kitchen maid is needed at the nearby castle. In return for cooking and cleaning in King Thrushbeard’s kitchens, she can take leftover food home for free.
So the princess goes to work, thoroughly humbled from the proud, vain creature she once was. She tied small jars into her pockets, filling them with kitchen scraps to eat later. As fate would have it, the castle was celebrating a royal wedding. And who should notice our princess-turned-kitchen-maid but the man of the hour himself: King Thrushbeard. He asks her to dance, but she refuses, utterly embarrassed both by her past treatment of him and her current state. In her hurry to get away, the jars full of kitchen scraps break, further humiliating the princess.
Happily Ever After
The princess flees the room, but King Thrushbeard follows her. He reveals the truth to her: he has been the minstrel the whole time, and the wedding being celebrated today is theirs. He also was the drunk soldier who broke the pottery. He did all this to humble her proud spirit (which is a little ick, in my opinion). She says she isn’t worthy to be his wife, but he disagrees. They all celebrate and live happily ever after.
Fun Facts
- The titular king has had an assortment of cruel nicknames throughout the various tellings of this story, including King Grizzlebeard and King Rough-Beard.
- A lot of parallels have been drawn between this story and William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. I can’t find any sort of concrete connections between the two, but it’s easy to believe that “King Thrushbeard” drew some inspiration from the Bard.
- This is the favorite fairy tale of L.E. Richmond! I interviewed her last month about fairy tales and writing. You can check out our full conversation, and make to keep an eye out for her upcoming release, based on “The Little Mermaid.”
What obscure fairy tales do you want to see featured here?
Kate G. Jameson 