Storytime

 

I’m so excited to share one of my favorite fairy tales: “The Spindle, the Shuttle, and the Needle” by the Brothers Grimm

Once upon a time–my favorite way to begin.

In case you don’t know this Grimm’s fairy tale, here is one version.

 

And if you’d like to listen, I’ve made an audio recording. Who doesn’t like to be told a story?

The Spindle, the Shuttle, and the Needle

The story begins–we meet the girl

There was once a girl whose father and mother died while she was still a little child. All alone, in a small house at the end of the village, dwelt her godmother, who supported herself by spinning, weaving, and sewing.

The girl receives the spindle, the shuttle, and the needle–and a blessing

The old woman took the forlorn child to live with her, kept her to her work, and educated her well. When the girl turned fifteen years old, the old woman became ill, called the child to her bedside. She said, “Dear daughter, I feel my end drawing near. I leave you the little house, which will protect you from wind and weather. And take my spindle, shuttle, and needle, with which you can earn your bread.” Then she laid her hands on the girl’s head, blessed her, and said, “Only preserve the love of God in your heart, and all will go well with you.” Thereupon she closed her eyes, and when they laid her in the earth, the maiden followed the coffin, weeping bitterly, and paid her the last mark of respect.

The girl earns her way in the world with the spindle, the shuttle, and the needle

And now the maiden lived quite alone in the little house and worked industriously, and span, wove, and sewed, and the blessing of the good old woman blessed all that she did. It seemed as if the flax in the room increased of its own accord, and whenever she wove a piece of cloth or carpet or had made a shirt, she at once found a buyer who paid her amply for it, so that she wanted for nothing, and even had something to share with others.

The prince seeks a bride who is the richest and also the poorest

About this time, the son of the King was traveling about the country looking for a bride. He was not to choose a poor one, and did not want to have a rich one. So he said, “She shall be my wife who is the poorest, and at the same time the richest.” When he came to the village where the maiden dwelt, he inquired, as he did wherever he went, who was the richest and also the poorest girl in the place. They first named the richest; the poorest girl, they said, lived in the small house quite at the end of the village.

The prince doesn’t choose the wealthy girl

The rich girl sat in all her splendor before the door of her house, and when the Prince approached her, she got up, went to meet him, and made him a low curtsey. He looked at her, said nothing, and rode on.

The prince sees the poor girl–and she sees him

When he came to the house of the poor girl, she did not stand at the door, but sat in her little room. He stopped his horse, and saw through the window, on which the bright sun shone, the girl sitting at her spinning-wheel, busily spinning. She looked up, and when she saw the Prince looking in, she blushed all over her face, let her eyes fall, and went on spinning. I do not know whether, just at that moment, the thread was quite even; but she went on spinning until the King’s son had ridden away again. Then she went to the window, opened it, and said, “It is so warm in this room!” But she still looked after him as long as she could distinguish the white feathers in his hat.

She sends her spindle after the prince

Then she sat down to work again in her own room.  As she continued her spinning, she remembered a saying which the old woman had often repeated when she sat at her work. She sang these words to herself:

“Spindle, my spindle, haste, haste thee away,
And here to my house bring the wooer, I pray.”

And what do you think happened? The spindle sprang out of her hand in an instant, and out of the door, and when, in her astonishment, she got up and looked after it, she saw that it danced out merrily into the open country, drawing a shining golden thread after it. Before long, it had entirely vanished from her sight. As she had now no spindle, the girl took the weaver’s shuttle in her hand, sat down to her loom, and began to weave.

The spindle, however, danced continually onwards, and just as the thread came to an end, reached the Prince. “What do I see?” he cried; “the spindle certainly wants to show me the way!” He turned his horse about, and rode back with the golden thread. The girl, however, sat at her work singing,

She askes the shuttle to help the prince find her

“Shuttle, my shuttle, weave well this day,
And guide the wooer to me, I pray.”

Immediately the shuttle sprang out of her hand and out by the door. Before the threshold, however, it began to weave a carpet which was more beautiful than the eyes of man had ever yet beheld. Lilies and roses blossomed on both sides of it, and on a golden ground in the center green branches ascended, under which bounded hares and rabbits; stags and deer stretched their heads in between them, brightly colored birds sat in the branches above; they lacked nothing but the gift of song. The shuttle leapt hither and thither, and everything seemed to grow of its own accord.

 

She asks the needle to get the house ready for the prince

As the shuttle had run away, the girl sat down to sew. She held the needle in her hand and sang,

“Needle, my needle, sharp-pointed and fine,
Prepare for a wooer this house of mine.”

Then the needle leapt out of her fingers, and flew everywhere about the room as quick as lightning, as if invisible spirits did the work. They covered tables and benches with green cloth in an instant, and the chairs with velvet, and hung the windows with silken curtains. Hardly had the needle put in the last stitch than the maiden saw through the window the white feathers of the Prince, whom the spindle had brought thither by the golden thread.

They wed!

He alighted, stepped over the carpet into the house, and when he entered the room, there stood the maiden in her poor garments, but she shone out from within them like a rose surrounded by leaves. “You are the poorest and also the richest,” said he to her. “Come with me; you shall be my bride.” She did not speak, but she gave him her hand. Then he gave her a kiss, led her forth, lifted her on to his horse, and took her to the royal castle, where the wedding was solemnized with great rejoicings. The spindle, the shuttle, and the needle were preserved in the treasure-chamber, and held in great honor.

The meaning of fairy tales

We can read fairy tales as plain old, often weird stories, but they can also be read as an archetypal journey. In this way, each story, each character, and even each object represent our inner selves. You can read about the Golden Goose, another Grimm fairytale, in this post.

I  love reading fairy tales.  And I love new beginnings, like beginning a blog.  In “The Spindle, the Shuttle, and the Needle.”  the girl spins her wool when the prince comes by looking for a bride.  After he leaves, she sends the spindle after the prince, who follows it back to her and, of course, marries her.

I am not looking for a prince, although I am a happily single spinner (of both yarn and stories) …But really, I think of the prince more as my future coming to meet me as I keep on spinning. The prince often represents the spirit and the girl/princess represents the soul, so in this story, through using the tools given to her by the wise woman, the protagonist unites with her higher self and finds her destiny.

Is this blog part of my destiny? Time will tell. But I intend to keep on spinning–stories and yarn–and see where the spindle, the shuttle, and the needle lead me.

Thanks for stopping by.

xoxo