The Golden Key (Grimm's Fairy Tales)

The Golden Key
The Golden Key
Folk tale
Name	The Golden Key
Aarne–Thompson grouping	ATU 2250
Country	Germany
Published in	Grimms' Fairy Tales

"The Golden Key" (German: Der goldene Schlüssel) is a fairy tale (of type 2250 on the Aarne and Thompson Index), which is in place 200 of Grimms' Fairy Tales.

Plot[edit]

A poor boy gathering wood with a sleigh wants to warm himself by a fire and finds a small golden key beneath the snow; then he finds a small iron box in the ground. The text ends with the statement that the reader now has to wait until he has unlocked it.

Origin[edit]

Since the second part of the first edition of Grimm's Fairy Tales in 1815, The Golden Key was always in the last place; since the edition before the last one, in 1850, it was in place 200. According to their notes, the Brothers Grimm got it from Hessen (probably from Marie Hassenpflug). They mention a "similar fairy tale in the Deutsches Sprachbuch von Adolf Gutbier" (German Language Book by Adolf Gutbier), about two chickens who find a little key and a little box in the dung. The box contains a short piece of fur made of red silk, and "if it had been longer, the fairy tale would have become longer, too".

The Fox and the Geese has a similar function for the first part, which was released in 1812.

References[edit]

All references are in German.

Grimm, Brüder. Kinder- und Hausmärchen. Complete Edition. With 184 illustrations of contemporary artists and an epilogue by Heinz Rölleke. Düsseldorf and Zurich, 19th edition 1999. (Artemis & Winkler Publishing; Patmos Publishing; ISBN 3-538-06943-3)
Grimm, Brüder. Kinder- und Hausmärchen. Final edition with original notes by the Brothers Grimm. With an appendix of all fairy tales released in any earlier editions, and with origin notes, edited by Heinz Rölleke. Volume 3: Original notes, list of origins, epilogue. Corrected and bibliographically expanded edition, Stuttgart 1994. (Reclam-Publishing; ISBN 3-15-003193-1)

External links[edit]

In German Wikisource.

v t e The Brothers Grimm
Jacob Grimm · Wilhelm Grimm
Works	Grimms' Fairy Tales Deutsche Sagen Deutsche Mythologie Deutsches Wörterbuch
Notable tales	"Bearskin" "The Brave Little Tailor" "Brother and Sister" "Cat and Mouse in Partnership" "Cinderella" "The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs" "Doctor Know-all" "The Dog and the Sparrow" "The Elves and the Shoemaker" "The Fisherman and His Wife" "The Four Skillful Brothers" "The Frog Prince" "The Gnome" "Godfather Death" "The Golden Bird" "The Golden Goose" "The Goose Girl" "The Goose-Girl at the Well" "The Grave Mound" "Hans My Hedgehog" "Hansel and Gretel" "The Hut in the Forest" "The Jew Among Thorns" "Jorinde and Joringel" "The Juniper Tree" "The King of the Golden Mountain" "King Thrushbeard" "Little Red Riding Hood" "Mary's Child" "Mother Holle" "Old Hildebrand" "Old Sultan" "The Queen Bee" "Rapunzel" "The Riddle" "The Robber Bridegroom" "Rumpelstiltskin" "The Seven Ravens" "The Singing, Springing Lark" "The Six Servants" "The Six Swans" "Sleeping Beauty" "Snow White" "Snow-White and Rose-Red" "The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was" "The Three Little Men in the Wood" "The Three Spinners" "Thumbling" "Town Musicians of Bremen" "Trusty John" "The Turnip" "The Twelve Brothers" "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" "The Water of Life" "The White Snake" "The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats" "The Wonderful Musician"
Other	Grimm's law Göttingen Seven Grim Tales The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm Once Upon a Brothers Grimm Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics The Brothers Grimm Grimm Tales The Sisters Grimm Fairy tale American McGee's Grimm German Fairy Tale Route Grimm Once Upon a Time The 10th Kingdom The Grimm Variations
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