The Brothers Grimm Astronomical relations to German fairy tales

Gemini The German fairy tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs reaches its dramatic high point when Snow White chokes on a poisoned apple and is laid to rest in a glass coffin. German folklore interprets the Pleiades as the Seven Dwarfs and puts Snow White's Coffin in the night sky as a rectangle within the constellation Gemini, consisting of α (Castor), β (Pollux), γ and μ Geminorum. Source: deutschlandfunk.de

Snow White's Coffin; Source: deutschlandfunk.de

X	Moon and Sun

Sun and Moon have been part of mythology for as long as humans have observed the sky and in several German fairy tales, they are used to illustrate a story. As a general rule, the Sun (almost) always represents the good characters and the Moon is always the evil villain. Little Red Riding Hood German astronomer and writer Ralf Koneckis suggests that the origin of the wolf swallowing Little Red Riding Hood was an eclipse in which the Moon "swallowed" the Sun. In this context, the red color of the partially obscured sun would be the origin of the red hood. Sources: Ralf Koneckis: Mythen und Märchen - Was uns die Sterne darüber verraten, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Wolf and Sun, inana.info

The Seven Ravens In the tale of the Seven Ravens, seven brothers are cursed and turned into ravens. Their younger sister travels the world in search of her brothers. First, she attempts to get help from the sun. But the Sun is too hot and eats little children. Then, she visits the Moon, which craves human flesh too. She then meets the morning star and that star, together with other stars helps her to find her brothers and have them return to their human form.

Visiting the Sun by Oskar Herrfurth Visiting the Moon by Oskar Herrfurth The encounter with the "Morning Star" suggests, that the "stars" that helped the girl were actually the five then known planets. An early 20th century illustration by Hermann Vogel shows the girl with five "stars."

Sources: Verlag von Braun & Schneider: Kinder- und Hausmärchen, goethezeitportal.de, Wikipedia

The Hare and_the Hedgehog In the Low Saxon fable of The Hare and the Hedgehog, the hare mocks the hedgehog for his stumpy legs. Angered, the Hedgehog challenges the hare to a race. The hedgehog, knowing that he cannot outrun the hare, places his wife, who looks just like him, at the finish line. When the race in the field begins, the hedgehog only runs a few steps and then hides. When the hare, certain of victory, storms to the finish line, the hedgehog's wife rises and calls out to him: "I'm already here!" (Ick bün all hier!). Ralf Koneckis sees an allegory to the paths of sun and moon across the sky. The moon completes a full circle twelve times faster than the Sun and yet, every time, it arrives at the finish line, the Sun calls out "I'm already here." Sources: Ralf Koneckis: Mythen und Märchen - Was uns die Sterne darüber verraten, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

The Race between the Hare and the Hedgehog 1855 cover by Gustav Süs

Orion In Sweden and Germany, Orion's Belt was known as Friggerock (Swedish) or Friggas Rocken (German), meaning Frigg's or Freyja's distaff. Freya is the goddess of love, beauty and fertility in Norse mythology; Frigg is the goddess of wisdom and the wife of Odin in Germanic mythology. Weather both are actually the same is still debated among scholars, but both are credited with teaching the people spinning. Later, in German folklore the image of the distaff became part of the fairy tale of Little Briar Rose (Dornröschen), today best known as Sleeping Beauty from the 1959 Disney movie. In the original version, the princess falls asleep after she pricks her finger on a piece of flax from the distaff - still represented by Orion's Belt; later the injury was caused by a spindle. The tale has its origins in the story of Sleeping Brynhild in the German Völsunga saga (10th century) and the English tale of Perceforest (14th century). It was first recorded by Giambattista Basile in 1528 and by Charles Perrault in 1697. Today's most popular version was recorded by the Brothers Grimm in 1812. Little Briar Rose was associated with the Sun and Orion's Belt was seen as the cursed spindle as the heliacal rising of the star formation signaled the beginning of winter - the time when the Sun "fell asleep." Sources: Arthur Drews: DerSternenhimmel, Schmidt, Floss: Germanisches Sagen und Märchenbuch, Ralf Koneckis: Mythen und Märchen - Was uns die Sterne darüber verraten

Frigg and handmaiden with a distaff Ludwig Pietsch, 1885 Source: Wikipedia Little Briar Rose grabs the spindle by Alexander Zick Source: Wikipedia

Pisces Several authors see a connection between the constellation Pisces and the North German fairy tale of a fisherman named Antenteh. The tale was part of North German oral folklore for centuries until it was recorded twice in 1812; first by Philipp Otto Runge and then by the Brothers Grimm, who published it under the title The Fisherman and His Wife. The connection between the tale and the constellation seems a little far fetched, but several sources report it.

"The Fisherman and His Wife" by Alexander Zick Source: Wikipedia

Brickthology.com tells the story: Antenteh, who was very poor and his wife lived in a small cabin by the sea. The only possessions they had were the cabin and a tub that they filled with feathers to at least have somewhere to rest and sleep.

One day, Antenteh caught a fish that struggled to get free as he pulled it up in his fishing nets. To Antenteh's amazement, the fish spoke to him, telling Antenteh that he is actually an enchanted prince. The fish told Antenteh that if he released him, he could have anything that he wanted. In the story I read back in school, the fish gives Antenteh three wishes. Antenteh whose needs are simple and feeling honored at having rescued such an important person refused to accept anything from the enchanted prince. On getting home, Antenteh found that wasn’t to be the case. His wife became very angry for not taking advantage of the opportunity and Antenteh found himself returning to the seashore and called for the fish. Luckily for Antenteh, the fish came and an embarrassed Antenteh told the fish how the wife wanted a house and furniture for it. The fish told him not to worry and that he would take care of everything. Returning home, Antenteh found that his cabin was now a fine house. Now if Antenteh's wife hadn’t been so greedy, everything probably would have been fine.

"The Fisherman and His Wife" by Alexander Zick Source: sh-kunst.de

As time progressed, Antenteh's wife demanded more. She wanted to be a queen and to have a palace and this wish was granted. Still not satisfied, she demanded to become a goddess. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back in this case and the fish now angry at the increasing demands, made everything that Antenteh had been given and wished for vanish and he and his wife were back to having their old cabin and tub full of feathers to sleep in. Sources: Wikipedia, brickthology.com, americanliterature.com

"The Fisherman and His Wife" Source: americanliterature.com

Pleiades The number Seven, being a magic number in German folklore plays a prominent role in German fairy tales. Some of them, like The Seven Ravens are associated with the "Seven Planets" (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Sun and Moon). At least two popular tales have a connection to the seven brightest stars of the Pleiades and to the Moon, passing through the formation.

Moon passing the Pleiades; deutschlandfunk.de

The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats In several German fairy tales, evil characters are associated with the Moon. In The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats, the villain is the wolf who waits until mother goat left the house and then tricks the young goats into opening the door after which he devours all but one of them. Seen from Earth, the diameter of the Pleiades is slightly wider than that of the full moon, thus, at any path across the Pleiades, the Moon can cover only a maximum of six of the seven brightest stars. The seventh star symbolizes the youngest goat which got away by finding a perfect hiding spot (inside a grandfather clock). The tale has been part of oral German folklore for centuries. Its roots can be traced back to a Middle-Eastern tale of the first century AD. The most popular form of the story was recorded by the Brothers Grimm in 1812. Source: Carl-Fuhlrott-Gymnasium

The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats by Oskar Herrfurth Source: goethezeitportal.de

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs In the fairy tale of Snow White, an evil Queen envies her stepdaughter's beauties and wants to kill her. Snow White hides in the forest in the house of the Seven Dwarfs. In disguise, her stepmother visits here three times and tries to kill her. All three attempts eventually fail and in the end, Snow White marries a charming price. Shortly after the Spring Equinox, the Pleiades disappear from the night sky and throughout the Summer, Snow White (the Sun) is save as the Seven Dwarfs (the Pleiades) are close to the Sun. In Fall, the Pleiades re-appear in the night sky. After the Winter Solstice, the the Moon crosses the Pleiades three times, symbolizing the three visits of the Evil Queen to the house of the Seven Dwarfs. After the third visit, Snow White chokes on a poisoned apple and is laid to rest in a glass coffin. German folklore puts Snow White's Coffin in the night sky as a rectangle within the constellation Gemini, consisting of α (Castor), β (Pollux), γ and μ Geminorum.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Carl Offterdinger; Wikipedia

Some scholars trace the origin of the Snow White tale to the fate of two German pricesses in the 16th and 18th century, respectively. Others go back way further and see similarities to the Greek legend of Chione, whose beauty caused a jealous Artemis to kill her. Source: deutschlandfunk.de

Back to Star Lore Start Page

Back to Mythology Start Page

Back to Space Page

Back to English Main Page

Back to Start Page