"The Hedley Kow" - an English folktale

 

THERE was once an old woman, who earned a poor living by going errands and such like, for the farmers' wives round about the village where she lived. It wasn't much she earned by it; but with a plate of meat at one house, and a cup of tea at another, she made shift to get on somehow, and always looked as cheerful as if she hadn't a want in the world.

Well, one summer evening as she was trotting away homewards she came upon a big black pot lying at the side of the road.

"Now that" said she, stopping to look at it, "would be just the very thing for me if I had anything to put into it! But who can have left it here?" and she looked round about, as if the person it belonged to must be not far off. But she could see no one.

"Maybe it'll have a hole in it," she said thoughtfully:—

"Ay, that'll be how they've left it lying, hinny. But then it'd do fine to put a flower in for the window; I'm thinking I'll just take it home, anyways." And she bent her stiff old back, and lifted the lid to look inside.

"Mercy me!" she cried, and jumped back to the other side of the road; "if it isn't brim full o' gold PIECES!!"

For a while she could do nothing but walk round and round her treasure, admiring the yellow gold and wondering at her good luck, and saying to herself about every two minutes, "Well, I do be feeling rich and grand!" But presently she began to think how she could best take it home with her; and she couldn't see any other way than by fastening one end of her shawl to it, and so dragging it after her along the road.

"It'll certainly be soon dark," she said to herself "and folk'll not see what I'm bringing home with me, and so I'll have all the night to myself to think what I'll do with it. I could buy a grand house and all, and live like the Queen herself, and not do a stroke of work all day, but just sit by the fire with a cup of tea; or maybe I'll give it to the priest to keep for me, and get a piece as I'm wanting; or maybe I'll just bury it in a hole at the garden-foot, and put a bit on the chimney, between the chiney teapot and the spoons—for ornament, like. Ah! I feel so grand, I don't know myself rightly!"

And by this time, being already rather tired with dragging such a heavy weight after her, she stopped to rest for a minute, turning to make sure that her treasure was safe.

But when she looked at it, it wasn't a pot of gold at all, but a great lump of shining silver!

She stared at it, and rubbed her eyes and stared at it again; but she couldn't make it look like anything but a great lump of silver. "I'd have sworn it was a pot of gold," she said at last, "but I reckon I must have been dreaming. Ay, now, that's a change for the better; it'll be far less trouble to look after, and none so easy stolen; yon gold pieces would have been a sight of bother to keep 'em safe—Ay, I'm well quit of them; and with my bonny lump I'm as rich as rich——!"

And she set off homewards again, cheerfully planning all the grand things she was going to do with her money. It wasn't very long, however, before she got tired again and stopped once more to rest for a minute or two.

Again she turned to look at her treasure, and as soon as she set eyes on it she cried out in astonishment. "Oh my!" said she; "now it's a lump o' iron! Well, that beats all; and it's just real convenient! I can sell it as easy as easy, and get a lot o' penny pieces for it. Ay, hinny, an' it's much handier than a lot o' yer gold and silver as'd have kept me from sleeping o' nights thinking the neighbours were robbing me—an' it's a real good thing to have by you in a house, ye niver can tell what ye mightn't use it for, an' it'll sell—ay, for a real lot. Rich? I'll be just rolling!"

And on she trotted again chuckling to herself on her good luck, till presently she glanced over her shoulder, "just to make sure it was there still," as she said to herself.

"Eh my!" she cried as soon as saw it; "if it hasn't gone and turned itself into a great stone this time! Now, how could it have known that I was just terrible wanting something to hold my door open with? Ay, if that isn't a good change! Hinny, it's a fine thing to have such good luck."

And, all in a hurry to see how the stone would look in its corner by her door, she trotted off down the hill, and stopped at the foot, beside her own little gate.

When she had unlatched it, she turned to unfasten her shawl from the stone, which this time seemed to lie unchanged and peaceably on the path beside her. There was still plenty of light, and she could see the stone quite plainly as she bent her stiff back over it, to untie the shawl end; when, all of a sudden, it seemed to give a jump and a squeal, and grew in a moment as big as a great horse; then it threw down four lanky legs, and shook out two long ears, flourished a tail, and went off kicking its feet into the air, and laughing like a naughty mocking boy.

The old woman stared after it, till it was fairly out of sight.

"Well!" she said at last, "I do be the luckiest body hereabouts! Fancy me seeing the Hedley Kow all to myself, and making so free with it too! I can tell you, I do feel that GRAND——"

And she went into her cottage and sat down by the fire to think over her good luck. 

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The story of the Hedley Kow takes place in a village in Northumberland, UK. The Hedley Kow is a shape shifting figure some describe as elf-like but in this story it appears as a horse. The story is similar to the Grimm tale "Hans in Luck." Both stories are classified as ATU 1415 (Lucky Hans).

In this story, we find a poor (but very wise) old woman who is barely making ends meet by running errands for others. While walking down a road, she finds an old pot.  She thinks she might use it as a flower pot so she drags it behind her. When she looks inside she finds it filled with gold and ponders what she might do with these riches. She continues to pull the pot behind her.  When she looks inside again it is filled with silver. Instead of seeing this as a loss, she puts a positive spin on it.  Silver is less likely to be stolen so it's better than gold. Time passes and the old woman stops to look again.  Now the pot is filled with iron.  That's OK, she thinks, for it's even easier to sell.  Next time she looks, the pot is filled with a rock.  Yippee!  This is exactly what she needs as a door stop.  No matter what is in the pot, it's all lucky for her. Finally, the old woman is home. This time when she looks inside she sees the Hedley Kow!  That trickster was behind all of this.  Although she is left with nothing, the old woman sees herself as lucky for  she was able to see the magical Hedley Kow.

What can we learn from this story? If it's all about luck, the old woman shows us that luck is how we see it and how we make it.  The old woman, after all, decided to pick up the  pot.  You can be pretty sure that other travelers on that road passed it by. Once she picked it up, she went on a magical jaunt with the Hedley Kow. It might have wanted to cause her trouble. It might even have wanted to defeat her.  After all, she had so little that would  be an easy thing to do. But the old woman shows us that anything and everything can be lucky.  To this wise crone everything can work out for good.  She finds value in what is before her and good in every event. It does not take wealth to make her happy. She's grateful for what she has. 

Therefore, In addition to being wise, discerning, protective and justice seeking, the wise crone archetype is resilient, grateful and optimist.  She has faith in her abilities and knows she has the strength within her to persevere. The moral of the story is one that all positive psychologists would agree with - Happiness is a matter of perspective. To be happy you must be grateful and view your life in the most positive way you can.

					Jacobs, Joseph, More English Fairy Tales (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons; London: D. Nutt, 1894). On the benefits of gratitude.   On the benefits of learned optimism.

"Frau Trude" - A Grimm Brothers' Tale

 

Frau Trude was recorded in the 1837 version of Grimm’s Children's and Household Tales. The story is classified as ATU Tale Type 334, Household of the Witch, and motif G11.3.3, Cannibal Witch. The source of the story was a poem by Meier Teddy entitled "Klein Bäschen und Frau Trude, Ammenmärchen," published in Frauentaschenbuch (1823), p. 360.

There are many interpretations for such a short story, from cautionary to initiatory to transformative.  Scholar Kay Stone writes in the book Burning Brightly:  “This short tale… illustrates how a single text is, in fact, a constantly emerging story.  Tellers who compose and recompose orally are aware of the interesting twists and turns a story takes as they continue to tell it.  From our experiences with written literature, we are accustomed to expect a single authoritative text created by one named author.  Oral tales… are the result of countless variant texts, not only by different authors (every teller is the author of their story) but also by the same text told and retold by the same teller since each performance is unique.  Every wondertale that lives an oral life is multi-textual.” 

This story is open-ended. It provides for different interpretations in disparate contexts. That’s the power of metaphor. There is no ONE interpretation to any story.  If anyone, any group, or any teacher ever tells you there is, know that thought is contrary to any oral tradition.  Stories are created to be shared in different contexts for different purposes.  

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Once upon a time, there was a small girl who was strong-willed and forward, and whenever her parents said anything to her, she disobeyed them. How could anything go well with her?

One day, she said to her parents: "I have heard so much about Frau Trude. Someday I want to go to her place. People say such amazing things are seen there, and such strange things happen there that I have become very curious.

Her parents strictly forbade her, saying: "Frau Trude is a wicked woman who commits godless acts. If you go there, you will no longer be our child.

But the girl paid no attention to her parents and went to Frau Trude's place anyway.

When she arrived there, Frau Trude asked: "Why are you so pale?"

"Oh," she answered, trembling all over, "I saw something that frightened me."

"What did you see?"

"I saw a black man on your steps."

"That was a charcoal burner."

"Then I saw a green man."

"That was a huntsman."

"Then I saw a blood-red man."

"That was a butcher."

"Oh, Frau Trude, it frightened me when I looked through your window and could not see you, but instead saw the devil with a head of fire."

"Aha!" she said. "So you saw the witch properly outfitted. I have been waiting for you and wanting you for a long time. Light the way for me now!"

With that she turned the girl into a block of wood and threw it into the fire. When it was thoroughly aglow she sat down next to it, and warmed herself by it, saying: "It gives such a bright light!

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Let’s explore the use of color in this story.  Frau Trude asks the girl why she is so pale. She explains she saw something frightening.  But I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you that throughout history, pale skin was a status symbol representing wealth, good health, beauty, and privilege.  During the Middle Ages and in many later folktales, paleness is a sign of nobility.  Here we can assume that this aristocratic girl was also scared.

But there is more color in this story than that. There is the pale skin of the girl and a black, green, and red man. If this story sounds familiar, it should.  Vasilissa saw a similar sight when she went to Baba Yaga’s chicken-legged hut. ("Vasilissa the Beautiful") Vasilissa, you may recall, saw a white, red, and black rider. Frau Trude explains the three figures without the girl even asking.  The black man on her steps was a charcoal burner; the green man was a huntsman, the blood-red man was a butcher. Rather than representing times of day, these figures represent three different occupations.  The charcoal burner is someone whose job it is to manufacture charcoal.  The hunter finds and kills animals for food, the butcher prepares the meat to eat, and the charcoal-burner creates the charcoal to start the fire.

Whenever we see color used in a folktale, we have to be aware of cultural bias.  Just as we watch for issues of sexism or antisemitism, racism is also present. These issues are difficult to unwind, for they reach back into history and mythology, and they clash with our cultural assumptions.

In regards to Grimm, there are two issues.  The first is the endemic cultural prejudice and bias in 19th-century European tales.  The second is the use of these stories by the Nazis emphasizing certain white characters as Aryan and others as Jews or black. Ann Schmeiesing wrote a wonderful article entitled “Blackness in the Grimms’ Fairy Tales.” Schmeiseing explains that “[t]he Grimms’ Children’s and Household Tales (Kinder- und Hausmärchen; KHM) follow the pre-Christian and Christian color symbolism that was prevalent from ancient to early modern times in associating black almost exclusively with negative attributes or situations. On a basic level the negative connotations of blackness in the KHM reflect mythologies, both Christian and pre-Christian, that associate black with the night, the underworld, death, and moral and/or physical impurity.”

Further, while this bias was prevalent, we can’t just assume that every reference to color refers to race.  These stories are metaphorical too. In the stories referenced above, the “black” man symbolizes either the darkness of night (the black rider) or when a charcoal burner, someone who makes charcoal. These references are more symbolic and metaphorical than racial. The colorful riders in the Baba Yaga story depict the turning of the earth throughout the day, time, and perhaps even Baba Yaga’s goddess connections.  In Frau Trude, there is an interesting foreshadowing in these three characters that symbolize the girl's journey to womanhood.  The green huntsman seeks the food that is essential to life.  The red butcher chops the meat, leaving only what is essential for sustenance, and the black charcoal burner compresses the wood until it can ignite with a fire that glows from within. Such was her path too.

But this is just the start of a much longer discussion on color in folktales. Check out Vaz da Silva’s article "Red as Blood, White as Snow, Black as Crow: Chromatic Symbolism of Womanhood in Fairy Tales” for a different analysis.  Vaz da Silva looks at the Snow White story in which her black hair and the black crow represent what is hidden and symbolize both enchantment and death.

In my podcast on this story, we’ll explore other interpretations, and then I’ll share mine.  After that, it’s your turn to make this story your own.

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Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Frau Trude, Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children's and Household Tales -- Grimms' Fairy Tales), no. 43, 1837.  Translation by D. L. Ashliman. © 2001.  (https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm043.html)

Schmiesing, Ann. "Blackness in the Grimms’ Fairy Tales."Marvels & Tales 30.2 (2017). Web. <http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/marvels/vol30/iss2/4>.

Vaz da Silva, Francisco. "Red as Blood, White as Snow, Black as Crow: Chromatic Symbolism of Womanhood in Fairy Tales."Marvels& Tales 21.2 (2007). Web. <http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/marvels/vol21/iss2/4>.

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