Trusty John
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Trusty John, Faithful John, Faithful Johannes, or John the True is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 6,[1] and by Joseph Jacobs in his European Folk and Fairy Tales.[2] Andrew Lang included it in The Blue Fairy Book.[3]
It is Aarne-Thompson type 516.[4] Others of this type are Father Roquelaure and The Raven.[5] Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson catalogued about 500 tales under this type, of which over 200 were Irish, and the remainder, from the rest of Europe and European colonies in America.[6] Such tales include In Love with a Statue, How to find out a True Friend, The Man of Stone, and Amis et Amiles.
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[edit] Synopsis
In some variants, a king on his deathbed ordered his servant, Trusty John, not to let his son see a certain room, which held a portrait of a princess.
In all variants, when the new king came to power, he would not let anyone prevent him. Instantly, he fell in love with the princess. In Joseph Jacobs's version, her country had been at war with his, and the portrait stems from betrothal negiotations that fell through, but in all versions, the king did not know how to win her. Trusty John told him to prepare a ship with all manner of rich treasure, and then either sailed with it himself, or had the king sail with him, to her country. The princess was lured aboard by the goods, and the ship set sail, carrying her off.
While they traveled, John heard three ravens. One said that as soon as they reached shore, a horse would come, and if the king mounted it, it would carry him off or dash him and the princess to pieces, unless someone killed the horse, but if anyone said that, he would turn to stone to his knees. The second said, depending on the variant, that the king would killed by wine at the wedding feast if it were not dashed to the ground, or that he would be burned up by a wedding garment if it was not burned, but in all variants, whoever said that would turn to stone to his waist. The third said, in different variants, that the princess would faint and unless someone drew three drops of blood from her before the king touched her, she would die, or a dragon would attack their bridal chamber and unless driven off, kill them, but whoever said this would turn entirely to stone.
John prevented all three fates. For the first two, the king trusted that he acted in his service, but for the third, he decided to execute him. At the place of execution, John told the story of the ravens and turned progressively to stone.
In time, the queen had twin sons. The king and queen learned that if they killed the boys and rubbed John's statue with their blood, he would come to life again. But then the princess agreed to kill them, but right then Faithful John came back to life. The curse was broken and the princecess and the king dwelt in happiness until they met their death.
[edit] Adaptations
Trusty John is a character in Fables.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Jacob and Wilheim Grimm, "Faithful John"
- ^ Joseph Jacobs, European Folk and Fairy Tales, "John the True"
- ^ Andrew Lang, The Blue Fairy Book, "Trusty John"
- ^ D.L. Ashliman, "The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales (Grimms' Fairy Tales)"
- ^ Paul Delarue, The Borzoi Book of French Folk-Tales, p 365, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York 1956
- ^ Steven Swann Jones, The Fairy Tale: The Magic Mirror of Imagination, Twayne Publishers, New York, 1995, ISBN 0-8057-0950-9, p54
