Iron John
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Iron John" is a German fairy tale found in the collections of the Brothers Grimm, tale number 136, about a wild man and a prince. It is Aarne-Thompson type 502, the wild man as a helper.
Most people see the story as a parable about a boy maturing into adulthood. The story also became the basis for the book Iron John: A Book About Men which spawned the Men's Movement in the early 90's.
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[edit] Synopsis
There are many variants, though the important elements are common to all versions. The story begins when a king sends one of his huntsmen into a forest nearby, a huntsman who never returns. The king sends more, each meeting with the same mysterious and unknown fate. The king finally sends all his remaining huntsmen out as a group, but again, none return. The king proclaims the woods as dangerous and off-limits to all.
Some years later, a wandering explorer and his dog come to the kingdom, hearing of these dangerous woods. The explorer asks permission to hunt in the forest, claiming that he might be able to discover the fate of the other hunters.
As they come to a lake in the middle of the forest, the dog is almost dragged under by a huge arm. The hunter returns to the forest the next day with a group of men and directs them to empty the lake. At the bottom of the drained lake they find a naked man with skin like iron and long shaggy hair all over his body. They capture him and take him back to the king, where he is locked in a cage in the courtyard as a curiosity. No one is allowed to set the wild man free, on penalty of death.
Years later the young prince is playing with a ball in the courtyard. He accidentally rolls it into the cage where the wild man picks it up. The prince asks for the ball back, but the wild man says he will only return it if he is set free. He states further that the only key to the cage is hidden beneath the queen’s pillow.
Though the prince hesitates at first, eventually he builds up the courage to sneak into his mother’s room and steal the key. He releases the wild man, who reveals his name to be Iron John (or Iron Hans, depending on the translation). The prince fears he will be killed for setting Iron John free, so Iron John agrees to take the prince with him into the forest.
As it turns out, Iron John is a powerful being and has many treasures he guards. He sets the prince to watch over his well, but warns him not to let anything touch it or fall in because it will turn instantly to gold. The prince obeys at first, but begins to play in the well, finally turning all his hair into gold. Disappointed in the boy’s failure, Iron John sends him away to experience poverty and struggle, but also tells the prince that if he ever needs anything, simply to call the name of Iron John three times.
The prince travels to a distant land and offers his services to its king. Since he is ashamed of his golden hair, he refuses to remove his cap before the king and is sent to assist the gardener.
When war comes to the kingdom, the prince sees his chance to make a name for himself. He calls upon Iron John who gives him a horse, armor, and a legion of iron warriors to fight alongside him. The prince successfully defends his new homeland, but returns all that he borrowed to Iron John before returning to his former position.
In celebration, the king announces a banquet and offers his daughter’s hand in marriage to any one of the knights who can catch a golden apple that will be thrown into their midst. The king hopes that the mysterious knight who saved the kingdom will show himself for such a prize.
Again the prince asks Iron John for help, and again Iron John disguises the prince as the mysterious knight. Though the prince catches the golden apple and escapes, and does so again on two more occasions, he is eventually found out.
In true fairy tale style, all ends well. The prince is returned to his former station, marries the princess, and is happily reunited with his parents. Iron John too, comes to the wedding, but now without the hair and wildness that made him frightening. He reveals he was under enchantment until he found someone worthy and pure of heart to set him free.
[edit] Analysis
The story of Iron John can be read as a parable about a boy becoming a man. Iron John in his cage can be seen as the inner wildness of all men, sexual potency, and the physical strength of an adult man, which can be dangerous if not controlled. He also represents a boy's adult mentor. In this interpretation the king and queen represent both outward authority (civil or religious) as well as the inner authority of the parent.
The ball could stand for childish things that must be discarded when manhood is reached, but also the search for the inner child that remains at the heart of every man. The stealing of the key is therefore the defiance of the mother figure and her authority in order to gain independence.
When Iron John is free, the prince is likewise free to go anywhere and do anything as an adult would be, but responsibility must be shouldered if he is truly to be considered a man and not just an overgrown child.
It is only with the guidance of Iron John and the willingness to take on the tasks of a man that the prince can finally grow up.
Again, there are many ways of reading the story, this is simply one of them.
[edit] The Iron John Movement
In 1990 Robert Bly published Iron John: A Book About Men. It analyzed the Iron John story in-depth and used it to examine the nature of the modern man and the male psyche. Among its arguments were that the lack of male mentors (such as Iron John is in the fairy tale) led to adult men who were less than developed mentally and emotionally, and also that few meaningful rites of passage in the modern Western world resulted in no clear division between child and responsible adult. Bly’s book advocated a return of a stronger, more masculine man (in the traditional sense), but one who also respected modern-day feminist values.
[edit] See also
- The Hairy Man
- The Gold-bearded Man
- Enkidu a Sumerian wild man
- Feral child
