This Week On Traditional Literature: Rumpelstiltskin

Welcome back to week two's edition of Kids Lit with Kat! This week's blog post will look at an award winning version of the traditional fairy tale, Rumpelstiltskin, illustrated and retold by Paul O. Zelinsky.

This is a traditional version of the original story of Rumpelstiltskin, taken from the Grimm brothers collection of fairy tales dating back to 1812.

The story takes place in a far away kingdom. It tells the tale of the beautiful miller's daughter, whose father gets her into a bit of trouble! When the miller tries to impress a king by lying that his daughter can spin spools of gold thread out of straw, the king takes the miller's daughter into his castle. The king  brings her to a room filled with straw, and tells her to turn the straw into gold thread or else she will be killed! Because her father lied about this ability, she becomes terrified and does not know what to do. That is, until a small and unusual stranger comes to her aid, offering to help...for a price.

Who is this stranger? What does he want from the miller's daughter? Why is he offering to help a woman he does not even know? Find out in this beautifully illustrated retelling of Rumpelstiltskin!

When talking about traditional literature, fairy tales are on of the most common forms. This particular fairy tale of Rumpelstiltskin has been passed down for many generations, and is believed to have been originated almost 4,000 years ago.

The Grimm Brothers popularized this fairy tale and many others in the 1800s through collection and transcription, and in this way have shared traditional literature with masses of people. This is how people like Paul O. Zelinsky have been able to recreate classic fairy tales with their own personal additions and illustrations to accompany the original stories.

Sharing traditional literature in the classroom is a way to continue developing an understanding of cultural value in students, as well as expanding their knowledge of different cultures and historical contexts. It also provides an outlet for exploring common themes found in reading and real life.

For example, this retelling of Rumpelstiltskin has a major theme of weakness/powerlessness versus strength/power, which is characteristic theme of traditional literature but is also a theme many people experience as a characteristic of life.

The miller's daughter is represented as weak and helpless in the story, both in being at the mercy of her father's lie, "The miller encountered the king. Wanting to impress him, the miller said, 'I have a daughter who knows the art of spinning straw into gold. Now, the king had a passion for gold, and such an art intrigued him. So he ordered the miller to send his daughter to the castle straightaway." as well as needing assistance from Rumpelstiltskin to weave the straw into gold, "Suddenly, the door sprang open and a tiny man stepped in. 'Good evening Mistress Miller,' he said, 'Why are you sobbing?' 'Oh,' cried the girl, 'I must spin the straw into gold and I don't know how.'"

She is also weak to the power of the king, "He gave her spools and a spinning wheel, and said, 'You may spin all night, but if you have not spun the straw into gold by morning, you will have to die'. Eventually, she is even powerless to solving the ultimate problem in the book of figuring out the name of the little man who helped her when she was in need, relying on her servants to traverse the land and find as many name options as possible until one finds out that the man's name is Rumpelstiltskin.

There is also certainly a contextual and historically relevant theme of the value of "titles" in the book, with Rumpelstiltskin's name/title being the goal problem of being solved in the story, and also serving as a form of power he wields over the miller's daughter. Additionally, the king's power and authority stems from his title, and the miller's daughter eventual rise to some form of power (commanding servants) comes of her marriage to the king and becoming the queen of the land.

These are only some of the themes explored in Paul O. Zelinsky's retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, which  could and would serve as a compelling edition to anyone's library of traditional literature.