Fairy tale · 声匠改编 · 3:24
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
Trip, trap! Three hungry goats must cross a bridge guarded by a grumpy troll. A funny bedtime retelling of the Norwegian folk tale.
Narrator
Little Billy Goat Gruff
Middle Billy Goat Gruff
Big Billy Goat Gruff
The TrollOther languages · 2 languages
About this story
The Three Billy Goats Gruff is a Norwegian folk tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe and published in their Norwegian Folktales in the 1840s. George Webbe Dasent translated it into English in 1859, and it has been a nursery favourite ever since. In the old telling the big goat crushes the troll and tosses him into the stream; here he simply butts him into the river, and the troll floats away grumbling.
What it teaches
Size and strength are not everything: the little goats use their wits to get past the bully, and the biggest goat stands up to him. It also shows that greed backfires, because the troll loses everything by waiting for a bigger meal.
Suits
Ages 2–7
Tips for telling it
- Tap the table for the trip-trap of each goat: soft, medium, then loud.
- Let your child roar the troll's big line: Who's that tripping over my bridge?
- Ask why the troll let the first two goats go, and whether that was a good idea.
Questions people ask
- What is the moral of The Three Billy Goats Gruff?
- You can outwit a bully, and you can stand up to one. The troll's greed for a bigger meal is what lets all three goats cross the bridge.
- Where does The Three Billy Goats Gruff come from?
- Norway. Asbjørnsen and Moe collected it for their Norwegian Folktales in the 1840s, and George Webbe Dasent's 1859 English translation made it famous in English.
- What happens to the troll in The Three Billy Goats Gruff?
- In the traditional story the biggest goat attacks the troll with his horns and throws him into the river. In this gentle retelling the troll is simply butted into the water and floats away, too busy grumbling to bother anyone again.
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