Fairy tale · 声匠改编 · 3:56
Rumpelstiltskin
A miller boasts that his daughter can spin straw into gold. A strange little man can do it, for a price. Can she guess his name? A bedtime retelling.
Narrator
The Miller
The Miller's Daughter
The King
Rumpelstiltskin
The Royal MessengerOther languages · 2 languages
About this story
Rumpelstiltskin is a German fairy tale published by the Brothers Grimm in 1812 in Children's and Household Tales. This bedtime retelling keeps the boastful miller, the three nights of spinning and the famous name-guessing game, and adds a gold-mad king and a breathless royal messenger. It is softened in two places: the king threatens chimney-scrubbing rather than death, and the little man simply stomps off and is never seen again, as in the Grimms' first edition; in later editions he tears himself in two.
What it teaches
Boasting and greed cause all the trouble here, and a promise made in a panic comes back to bite. It is also a story about the power of a name, and about a young queen who keeps her head and solves the riddle.
Suits
Ages 4–9
Tips for telling it
- Let your child shout out their own name guesses before the queen does; the sillier the better.
- Make the spinning-wheel sound together every night: whirr, whirr, whirr!
- Ask: was it fair of the miller to boast, or of the king to ask for more and more gold?
Questions people ask
- What is the moral of Rumpelstiltskin?
- Don't boast, don't be greedy, and don't make promises you can't keep: the miller's fib and the king's greed cause all the trouble. The story also shows that knowing someone's true name can take away their power over you.
- What does the name Rumpelstiltskin mean?
- In German, Rumpelstilzchen means roughly "little rattle-stilt". A rumpelstilt was a kind of noisy household goblin, said to rattle posts and bang on planks.
- How does Rumpelstiltskin end?
- The queen learns his name when a messenger overhears him singing it in the forest. In the Grimms' first edition of 1812 he runs off in a rage and never comes back; in later editions he stamps so hard that he tears himself in two.
More Fairy tales
All Fairy tales episodes →The Three Little Pigs
声匠改编
Straw, sticks or bricks? Three little pigs build their first homes, and a very windy wolf comes knocking. A funny, gentle bedtime retelling.
Stone Soup
声匠改编
A hungry traveller reaches a village where everyone swears they have no food. So he makes soup from a stone. A warm, funny retelling about sharing.
Sleeping Beauty
声匠改编
A forgotten fairy's curse, a spindle in a tower, and a castle asleep for a hundred years. A gentle bedtime retelling where even the old fairy gets cake.
Sinbad and the Giant Roc
声匠改编
Left behind on an island, Sinbad ties himself to the leg of a giant Roc and lands in a valley of diamonds. His second voyage, from the Arabian Nights.
The Snow Queen
声匠改编
A splinter of a troll's mirror freezes Kai's heart and the Snow Queen carries him north. Brave Gerda walks to the end of the world to bring him home.
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
声匠改编
A one-legged tin soldier loves a paper dancer, and stands firm through a fall, a paper-boat voyage, a water rat and a fish. Andersen's tale, retold warmly.
