Farmer Weathersky
Encyclopedia
Farmer Weathersky is a Norwegian fairy tale
collected by Peter Chr. Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe
in Norske Folkeeventyr
.
Andrew Lang
included it in The Red Fairy Book as "Farmer Weatherbeard".
It is Aarne-Thompson type 325, The Magician and His Pupil, and involves several transformation chases. This tale type is well known in India and Europe and notably stable in form. Others of this type include Master and Pupil
and The Thief and His Master
. A literary variant is Maestro Lattantio and His Apprentice Dionigi
.
A version of the tale appears in A Book of Wizards
by Ruth Manning-Sanders
.
He found a hag in the forest, and she consulted all the animals and was unable to tell him where to find Farmer Weathersky. She sent him to her sister, who consulted all the fish and sent him on to the third
sister, who consulted all the birds and found an eagle who could help him. The eagle sent him in to steal three crumbs of bread, three hairs from a man who snored, who proved to be Farmer Weathersky himself, a stone, and three chips of wood, and to use the crumbs to catch a hare.
They were chased by a flock of crows, but the father threw down the hairs, and they turned to ravens that drove them off. Then Farmer Weathersky himself came after them, and the father threw down the wood chips, which turned to a forest, and Farmer Weathersky had to go back to get his ax. When he got through the forest, the father threw down the stone, and it turned to a mountain. Trying to get through it, Farmer Weathersky broke his leg and had to go home. The man took the hare to a churchyard and sprinkled the dirt over him, and the hare became his son.
When it was time for the fair, the son turned into a horse and told his father not to sell him with the headstall. The father sells him twice, with the son escaping afterward, but the third
time, Farmer Weathersky bought him and got the father so drunk he forgot to take off the headstall.
Farmer Weathersky rode him off but decided to have a drink. So he tied up the horse with red-hot nails at its nose and a sieve of oats at its tail, but a lass saw it and released the horse. The boy jumped into the duckpond, turning himself into a fish, and Farmer Weathersky turned into a pike. The boy turned into a dove, and Farmer Weathersky into a hawk, but a princess saw the chase and said he should come in her window. He told her his tale, and she had him turn into a golden ring on her finger, though he warned her that the king would fall ill, and Farmer Weathersky would cure him and demand the ring as payment; she said that she would claim the ring was from her mother.
It happened, and the king insisted on the payment, whatever the princess said. The princess put the ring in the fireplace's ashes, and Farmer Weathersky turned into a cock to scrape among them, and the boy turned into a fox and bit off his head.
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
collected by Peter Chr. Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe
Jørgen Moe
right|thumb|Norske Folkeeventyr Asbjørnsen and Moe Jørgen Engebretsen Moe was a Norwegian bishop and author...
in Norske Folkeeventyr
Norske Folkeeventyr
Norwegian Folktales is a collection of Norwegian folktales and legends by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. It is also known as Asbjørnsen and Moe, after the collectors.-Asbjørnsen and Moe:...
.
Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang was a Scots poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University of St Andrews are named after him.- Biography :Lang was born in Selkirk...
included it in The Red Fairy Book as "Farmer Weatherbeard".
It is Aarne-Thompson type 325, The Magician and His Pupil, and involves several transformation chases. This tale type is well known in India and Europe and notably stable in form. Others of this type include Master and Pupil
Master and Pupil
"Master and Pupil" is a Danish fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in The Pink Fairy Book.It is Aarne-Thompson type 325, "The Magician and His Pupil".-Synopsis:...
and The Thief and His Master
The Thief and His Master
The Thief and His Master is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales as tale number 68.It is Aarne-Thompson type 325, The Magician and His Pupil, containing a transformation chase. Others of this type include Farmer Weathersky and Master and Pupil. This tale type...
. A literary variant is Maestro Lattantio and His Apprentice Dionigi
Maestro Lattantio and His Apprentice Dionigi
Maestro Lattantio and His Apprentice Dionigi is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in The Facetious Nights of Straparola....
.
A version of the tale appears in A Book of Wizards
A Book of Wizards
A Book of Wizards is a 1967 anthology of 11 fairy tales from around the world that have been collected and retold by Ruth Manning-Sanders. It is one in a long series of such anthologies by Manning-Sanders....
by Ruth Manning-Sanders
Ruth Manning-Sanders
Ruth Manning-Sanders was a prolific British poet and author who was perhaps best known for her series of children's books in which she collected and retold fairy tales from all over the world. All told, she published more than 90 books during her lifetime. The dust jacket for A Book of Giants...
.
Synopsis
A farmer was trying to apprentice his son, but because his wife insisted that he must learn to be a master above all masters, was unable to find a place until a driver said that he could and had the boy get on his sleigh, whereupon he flew off into the air. His wife learned that he could not tell where his son is, and sent him after him.He found a hag in the forest, and she consulted all the animals and was unable to tell him where to find Farmer Weathersky. She sent him to her sister, who consulted all the fish and sent him on to the third
Rule of three (writing)
The "rule of three" is a principle in writing that suggests that things that come in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. The reader/audience of this form of text is also more likely to consume information if it is written in groups of...
sister, who consulted all the birds and found an eagle who could help him. The eagle sent him in to steal three crumbs of bread, three hairs from a man who snored, who proved to be Farmer Weathersky himself, a stone, and three chips of wood, and to use the crumbs to catch a hare.
They were chased by a flock of crows, but the father threw down the hairs, and they turned to ravens that drove them off. Then Farmer Weathersky himself came after them, and the father threw down the wood chips, which turned to a forest, and Farmer Weathersky had to go back to get his ax. When he got through the forest, the father threw down the stone, and it turned to a mountain. Trying to get through it, Farmer Weathersky broke his leg and had to go home. The man took the hare to a churchyard and sprinkled the dirt over him, and the hare became his son.
When it was time for the fair, the son turned into a horse and told his father not to sell him with the headstall. The father sells him twice, with the son escaping afterward, but the third
Rule of three (writing)
The "rule of three" is a principle in writing that suggests that things that come in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. The reader/audience of this form of text is also more likely to consume information if it is written in groups of...
time, Farmer Weathersky bought him and got the father so drunk he forgot to take off the headstall.
Farmer Weathersky rode him off but decided to have a drink. So he tied up the horse with red-hot nails at its nose and a sieve of oats at its tail, but a lass saw it and released the horse. The boy jumped into the duckpond, turning himself into a fish, and Farmer Weathersky turned into a pike. The boy turned into a dove, and Farmer Weathersky into a hawk, but a princess saw the chase and said he should come in her window. He told her his tale, and she had him turn into a golden ring on her finger, though he warned her that the king would fall ill, and Farmer Weathersky would cure him and demand the ring as payment; she said that she would claim the ring was from her mother.
It happened, and the king insisted on the payment, whatever the princess said. The princess put the ring in the fireplace's ashes, and Farmer Weathersky turned into a cock to scrape among them, and the boy turned into a fox and bit off his head.