The Singing, Springing Lark
Encyclopedia
The Singing, Springing Lark
or The Singing, Soaring Lark is a German fairy tale
collected by the Brothers Grimm
, appearing
as tale no. 88.
It is Aarne-Thompson type 425C. Others of this type include Beauty and the Beast
and The Small-tooth Dog
.
It also contains motifs from AT 425A, such as East of the Sun and West of the Moon
, the search for the lost husband. Others of this type include Black Bull of Norroway
, The Daughter of the Skies
, The Brown Bear of Norway
, The Enchanted Pig
, Cupid and Psyche
, The Tale of the Hoodie
, The Iron Stove
, The Sprig of Rosemary
, and White-Bear-King-Valemon
.
His youngest daughter is the first to greet him. When told of his promise, she sets out the next morning. At the lion's castle, she is greeted by lions, and at night, all of them turn into humans. She marries the lion whose lark her father had tried to take and lives with him, sleeping by day.
One night the lion tells her that her oldest sister is marrying and offers to send her with his lions. She goes, and her family is glad to see her. After her return, the lion tells her that her second sister is marrying, and she says he must go with her and their child. The lion tells her that if any candlelight falls on him, he will be transformed into a dove for seven years. The youngest daughter has a chamber built to protect him, but the door is made of green wood, and it warps, making a crack. When her sister's wedding procession goes by, candlelight falls on him, and he turns into a dove.
The dove tells his wife that for every seven steps she takes, he will drop a feather and a drop of blood, and perhaps she can track him by that, and flies off.
When the seven years are nearly up, the youngest daughter loses the trail. When she climbs up to the sun and asks after the white dove; the sun does not know, but gives her a casket. She then asks the moon, who does not know, but gives her an egg. She asks the night wind, and it can not help her but tells her to wait for the others; the east and west wind can not, but the south wind says that the dove was again a lion and fighting a dragon that is an enchanted princess near the Red Sea. The night wind advises her to strike the lion and dragon with a certain reed, to allow the lion to win and both creatures to regain their form, and then to escape on the back of a griffin
. It gives her a nut that will grow to a nut tree in the middle of the sea; which would allow the griffin to rest.
The youngest daughter stops the fight, but the princess
also regains her form and takes the man who had been a lion with her on the griffin. The daughter follows until she finds a castle where the princess and her husband are to be married.
She opens the casket and finds a dazzling dress in it. She brings it to the castle, and the princess buys it from her, the price being that the daughter is to spend the night in her husband's bedchamber. But it is to no avail because the princess has a page give him a sleeping draught. Though the daughter pleads with him, he thinks it is the wind's whistling.
The next day, she opens the egg. It holds a chicken with twelve golden chicks. The princess again buys them for the same price, but this time her husband asks the page what was the wind the previous night, and the page confesses to the draught. He does not drink it the second night, and he and his wife flee on the griffin to their home.
. Beauty from Beauty and the Beast
is like this.
This story was also retold as a picture book called "The Lady and the Lion".
was presented at the Amphitheater Park Schloss Philippsruhe, Hanau, Germany as part of the Brothers Grimm Festival in 2004.
Lark
Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. All species occur in the Old World, and in northern and eastern Australia; only one, the Shore Lark, has spread to North America, where it is called the Horned Lark...
or The Singing, Soaring Lark is a German fairy tale
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 the Brothers Grimm
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...
, appearing
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Children's and Household Tales is a collection of German origin fairy tales first published in 1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the Brothers Grimm. The collection is commonly known today as Grimms' Fairy Tales .-Composition:...
as tale no. 88.
It is Aarne-Thompson type 425C. Others of this type include Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale. The first published version of the fairy tale was a rendition by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740...
and The Small-tooth Dog
The Small-tooth Dog
The Small-tooth Dog is an English fairy tale collected by Sidney Oldall Addy in Household Tales and Other Traditional Remains.It is Aarne-Thompson type 425C. Others of this type include Beauty and the Beast and The Singing, Springing Lark....
.
It also contains motifs from AT 425A, such as East of the Sun and West of the Moon
East of the Sun and West of the Moon
East of the Sun and West of the Moon is a Norwegian folk tale.East of the Sun and West of the Moon was collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe...
, the search for the lost husband. Others of this type include Black Bull of Norroway
Black Bull of Norroway
The Black Bull of Norroway is a fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in More English Fairy Tales.The language, including references to bannocks, would indicate a Scottish story teller, in this instance, Kenny Norman Macleod....
, The Daughter of the Skies
The Daughter of the Skies
The Daughter of the Skies is a Scottish fairy tale collected by John Francis Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands, listing his informant as James MacLauchlan, a servant from Islay.It is Aarne-Thompson type 425A...
, The Brown Bear of Norway
The Brown Bear of Norway
The Brown Bear of Norway is a Scottish fairy tale collected by Fitzroy MacLean in West Highland Tales. Andrew Lang included it in The Lilac Fairy Book.It is Aarne-Thompson type 425A, the search for the lost husband...
, The Enchanted Pig
The Enchanted Pig
The Enchanted Pig is a Romanian fairy tale, collected in Rumanische Märchen and also by Petre Ispirescu in Legende sau basmele românilor. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book.It is Aarne-Thompson type 425A, the search for the lost husband...
, Cupid and Psyche
Cupid and Psyche
Cupid and Psyche , is a legend that first appeared as a digressionary story told by an old woman in Lucius Apuleius' novel, The Golden Ass, written in the 2nd century CE. Apuleius likely used an earlier tale as the basis for his story, modifying it to suit the thematic needs of his novel.It has...
, The Tale of the Hoodie
The Tale of the Hoodie
The Tale of the Hoodie is a Scottish fairy tale, collected by John Francis Campbell in his Popular Tales of the West Highlands. Andrew Lang included it, as The Hoodie-Crow, in The Lilac Fairy Book....
, The Iron Stove
The Iron Stove
The Iron Stove is a fairy tale, collected by the Brothers Grimm, as tale number 127.It is Aarne-Thompson type 425A, The Animal Bridegroom-Synopsis:...
, The Sprig of Rosemary
The Sprig of Rosemary
The Sprig of Rosemary is a Spanish fairy tale collected by Dr. D. Francisco de S. Maspons y Labros in Cuentos Populars Catalans. Andrew Lang included it in The Pink Fairy Book.It is Aarne-Thompson type 425A, the search for the lost husband....
, and White-Bear-King-Valemon
White-Bear-King-Valemon
White-Bear-King-Valemon is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by the artist August Schneider in 1870, after a peasant woman, Thore Aslaksdotter , in Setesdal. The tale was for the first time retold and published in Peter Christen Asbjørnsen's Norske Folke-Eventyr. Ny Samling...
.
Sypnosis
A man goes on a journey and asks each of his daughters what she would like. The oldest wants diamonds, the second pearls, and the youngest a singing, springing lark, which he is unable to obtain. On his journey home, he sees a tree with a lark, and orders his servant to catch it. A lion springs out and threatens to kill him for trying to steal the lark. To spare his life, the lion demands the man bring the first thing to meet him on his return home, and gives him the lark. The man fears it will be his youngest daughter who greets him, but his servant persuades him to accept the bargain.His youngest daughter is the first to greet him. When told of his promise, she sets out the next morning. At the lion's castle, she is greeted by lions, and at night, all of them turn into humans. She marries the lion whose lark her father had tried to take and lives with him, sleeping by day.
One night the lion tells her that her oldest sister is marrying and offers to send her with his lions. She goes, and her family is glad to see her. After her return, the lion tells her that her second sister is marrying, and she says he must go with her and their child. The lion tells her that if any candlelight falls on him, he will be transformed into a dove for seven years. The youngest daughter has a chamber built to protect him, but the door is made of green wood, and it warps, making a crack. When her sister's wedding procession goes by, candlelight falls on him, and he turns into a dove.
The dove tells his wife that for every seven steps she takes, he will drop a feather and a drop of blood, and perhaps she can track him by that, and flies off.
When the seven years are nearly up, the youngest daughter loses the trail. When she climbs up to the sun and asks after the white dove; the sun does not know, but gives her a casket. She then asks the moon, who does not know, but gives her an egg. She asks the night wind, and it can not help her but tells her to wait for the others; the east and west wind can not, but the south wind says that the dove was again a lion and fighting a dragon that is an enchanted princess near the Red Sea. The night wind advises her to strike the lion and dragon with a certain reed, to allow the lion to win and both creatures to regain their form, and then to escape on the back of a griffin
Griffin
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle...
. It gives her a nut that will grow to a nut tree in the middle of the sea; which would allow the griffin to rest.
The youngest daughter stops the fight, but the princess
False hero
The false hero is a stock character in fairy tales, and sometimes also in ballads. The character appears near the end of a story in order to claim to be the hero or heroine and is, therefore, always of the same sex as the hero or heroine. The false hero presents some claim to the position. By...
also regains her form and takes the man who had been a lion with her on the griffin. The daughter follows until she finds a castle where the princess and her husband are to be married.
She opens the casket and finds a dazzling dress in it. She brings it to the castle, and the princess buys it from her, the price being that the daughter is to spend the night in her husband's bedchamber. But it is to no avail because the princess has a page give him a sleeping draught. Though the daughter pleads with him, he thinks it is the wind's whistling.
The next day, she opens the egg. It holds a chicken with twelve golden chicks. The princess again buys them for the same price, but this time her husband asks the page what was the wind the previous night, and the page confesses to the draught. He does not drink it the second night, and he and his wife flee on the griffin to their home.
Commentary
The heroine of this fairy tale depicts unusual courage in facing the animal bridegroom; it is she who insists that her father's promise must be kept, rather than the common pattern of the father pleading with the daughter to fulfill his word, as in East of the Sun and West of the MoonEast of the Sun and West of the Moon
East of the Sun and West of the Moon is a Norwegian folk tale.East of the Sun and West of the Moon was collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe...
. Beauty from Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale. The first published version of the fairy tale was a rendition by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740...
is like this.
Adaptations
Patricia McKillip retold this story as "The Lion and the Lark".This story was also retold as a picture book called "The Lady and the Lion".
Modern Interpretations
A musical version of The Singing, Springing Lark, written by Dieter Stegmann and Alexander S. BermangeAlexander S. Bermange
Alexander S. Bermange is an English musical theatre composer and lyricist. He has often served as musical director and pianist for his own productions. He is also a regular broadcaster on UK radio.-Career:...
was presented at the Amphitheater Park Schloss Philippsruhe, Hanau, Germany as part of the Brothers Grimm Festival in 2004.
See also
- The Three Princesses of WhitelandThe Three Princesses of WhitelandThe Three Princesses of Whiteland is a Norwegian fairy tale, collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. Andrew Lang collected it in The Red Fairy Book....
- Nix Nought NothingNix Nought NothingNix Nought Nothing is an English fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in his English Fairy Tales. A similar tale was collected by Andrew Lang in Scotland...
- The Feather of Finist the FalconThe Feather of Finist the FalconThe Feather of Finist the Falcon or Finist the Falcon is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki.It is Aarne–Thompson type 432, the prince as bird...