Three Billy Goats Gruff
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Three Billy Goats Gruff (Norwegian: De tre bukkene Bruse) is a famous Norwegian fairy tale in which three goats cross a bridge, under which is a fearsome troll who wants to eat them.[1] The fairy tale was collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their Norske Folkeeventyr. It has an "eat-me-when-I'm-fatter" plot (Aarne-Thompson type 122E).
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[edit] Plot
The story introduces three male goats named Gruff of varying size and age, sometimes identified in the story as youngster, father and grandfather, but more often they are described as brothers. There is no grass left for them nearest where they live, so they must cross a river to go a "sæter" (a summer farm in the hills) to eat, but the only way across is by a bridge and it is guarded by a fearsome troll who eats any who pass that way. The youngest goat, knowing nothing of this, crosses the bridge and is threatened by the troll but is spared when he tells the troll that his brothers are larger and more gratifying as a feast. The middle goat sees that the youngest one has crossed and reaches the conclusion that the bridge must be safe after all, but when he crosses and the troll challenges him, he too tells him of his eldest brother. When the eldest and largest of them attempts to cross, the troll comes out to seize him but is gored by his horns and knocked into the river. From that time on the bridge is safe, and all three goats are able to go to the rich fields around the summer farm in the hills.
[edit] Overview
The tale is, essentially, a tale of mind over matter and good against evil. The first two goats save their own lives by using their wits. It could also be said they act somewhat rashly and carelessly in the first place by crossing paths with a troll and then afterwards by putting their eldest brother at risk by telling the troll to wait for him instead. Ultimately, the eldest goat, who is older, stronger and more intelligent than both the younger goats and the troll, comes out as the story's hero.
Another perspective is that the protagonist is the troll and that the moral is to accept a good deal, rather than to wait for a better one.
[edit] Adaptations
The story was adapted into a popular children's musical at Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, in the summer of 2007. It was called "Billy, Goat, & Gruff: The Musical."[2] A chamber music setting for string quintet and narrator was composed by James Scott Balentine for the Cactus Pear Music Festival Kinderkonzerts, with the text adapted by Stephanie Sant'Ambrogio, published by Guildhian Music.
The story was also adapted - and numerous elements of the plot altered - for an episode of the childrens' TV show Super Why!.
The Animaniacs parodied the ryme in the episode "Take my Siblings, Please", where the Warner brothers follow the same basic plot, but only the first of them, Dot, tells the trolls to eat her sblings, while Wakko states he cannot be eaten because he is under contract.
In book 10 of The Dresden Files, Harry Dresden is repeatedly attacked by goat-like creatures called Gruffs. Each attack is carried out by a larger, more powerful version of the creature.
In 2008, the BBC created a modern adaptation for its Fairy Tales season. In this, the story was given a PC twist in that the troll was presented as a tragic, cruelly maligned victim:
“The troll character is dirty and smelly and everybody is frightened of him, and I think that heightens the pathos of the ending, because it’s a witch hunt, without any evidence.”
—Mathew Horne, Daily Telegraph[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Elizabeth Rose (2004), A Primary Source Guide to Norway, ISBN 9780823967322, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9WZLk7gHcaIC
- ^ Tripatlas, Tri Cities.
- ^ Micheal Deacon (05/01/2008), Once upon a time..., The Daily Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/01/05/nosplit/bvtvsatfeat05.xml
[edit] External links
- SurLaLune website: annotated Three Billy Goats Gruff in the version from Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, Popular Tales from the Norse George Webbe Dasent, translator. Edinburgh: David Douglass, 1888.
- Three Billy Goats Gruff with other regional variations and 122E stories.
- Three Billy Goats Gruff
