Three Billy Goats Gruff

The White House 2003 Christmas decoration using "Three Billy Goats Gruff" as the theme.

"Three Billy Goats Gruff" (Norwegian: De tre bukkene Bruse) is a Norwegian fairy tale.[1] The fairy tale was collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their Norske Folkeeventyr, first published between 1841 and 1844.[2] It has an "eat-me-when-I'm-fatter" plot (Aarne-Thompson type 122E).

Plot

The story introduces three male goats, sometimes identified as a youngster, father and grandfather, but more often described as brothers. In other adaptations, there is a baby or child goat, mama goat and papa goat. In any case, there is almost no grass left for them to eat near where they live, so they must cross a river to get to a "sæter" (a meadow) or hillside on the other side of a stream in order to eat and fatten themselves up. To do so, however, they must first cross a bridge, under which lives a fearsome and hideous troll, who is so territorial that he eats anyone who tries to cross the bridge.

The smallest billy goat is the first to cross and is stopped abruptly by the troll, who threatens to "gobble him up!" The little goat convinces him to wait for his slightly bigger brother to come across because he is larger and would provide the troll with a more gratifying feast. The greedy troll agrees and lets the smallest of the goats cross.

The medium-sized goat passes next. He is more cautious than his brother, but is also stopped by the troll and given the same threat. The second billy goat is allowed to cross as well after he tells the troll to wait for the biggest billy goat because he is the biggest.

The third billy goat then gets on the bridge and is stopped by the hungry troll. When the troll gets up on the bridge, however, the third billy goat is so big that he easily knocks the troll off the bridge with his horns. The troll falls into the stream and is carried away by the current. From then on the bridge is safe, and all three goats are able to go to the rich fields around the summer farm in the hills, and they all live happily ever after.

Adaptations and cultural references

The first version of the story in English appeared in 1859, in George Webbe Dasent's translation of some of the Norske Folkeeventyr, published as Popular Tales from the Norse.[3]

A version of the story written and performed by Frank Luther was often played on the BBC Radio programme Children's Favourites in the 1950s and early 1960s.[4]

The story was adapted by Gwen Edwards into a popular children's musical at Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, in the summer of 2007. It was called Billy, Goat, Gruff: The Musical.[5] A chamber music setting for string quintet and narrator was composed by James Scott Balentine for the Cactus Pear Music Festival Kinderkonzerts, with the text adapted by Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio, published by Guildhian Music.

In 2008, the BBC created a modern adaptation for its Fairy Tales season. In this, the story was given a twist in that the troll was presented as a tragic, cruelly maligned victim:

The troll character is dirty and smelly and everybody is frightened of him, and I think that heightens the pathos of the ending, because it’s a witch hunt, without any evidence.
— Mathew Horne, Daily Telegraph[6]

Neil Gaiman adapted the story for Snow White, Blood Red, an anthology of children's fairy tales retold for adults. In Gaiman's version (entitled "Troll Bridge"), the troll approaches a young boy who has crossed his bridge and demands to "eat his life." The boy eventually persuades the troll to wait until he has lived a little more, after which he will return to the bridge. The goats in this adaptation are represented by the protagonist as a child, a teenager and finally a middle-aged man. The story was nominated for a 1994 World Fantasy Award.[7]

In the Norwegian film The Troll Hunter, the titular character attempts to bait a troll by placing three goats on a bridge.

The 2011 Kickstarter-funded film Absentia by Mike Flanagan is a modern day retelling centered around a tunnel, a series of abductions, and a troll-like creature.

Lazy Bee Scripts published Billy Goat Gruff, a simple play for young children in 2009.[8]

The song Much Chubbier by Nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot on his 2014 album Question Bedtime is a retelling of the story.

"Team Juan" at the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at the University of Dundee produced a version with a Spanish twist on the story: The 3 Billy Piñatas in 2015.

In a segment about "patent trolls" on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, it is referenced with "trolls actually do something, they control bridge-access for goats and ask people fun riddles".

The tale appears to be cryptically referenced in the 1988 song "John Brown" by indie-rock band Masters of Reality. The lyrics are usually understood to be "John Brown, bring him down; pull his body to the ground. Left him up, for long enough; let me be the Baby Gruff."[9]

In the 2011 video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, near a place called Purewater Run, there is a stone bridge near a waterfall. If it is the player's first time there, they will see three goats; upon looking under the bridge, they will find a dead troll.

Literature

There are many references to this story in English Literature including Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel Lords and Ladies and Stephen King's It. The comic book Fables by Bill Willingham contains mention of the goats, and the troll is an ongoing character.

The Billy Goats Gruff make an appearance in Small Favor, tenth book of the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher

The tale also comes into play during the first King's Quest game. A troll is guarding a bridge Graham needs to cross. The optimum solution to the puzzle is to lure a goat over to the bridge. Upon seeing the troll, the goat is angered, and butts it into the river below.

The tale is also included in Simon the Sorcerer.

The tale is the inspiration of the novel The Adventures of the Billy Goats Gruff by Kevin P. Futers. The book is set in seventh-century Northumbria and the goats are named Edgar, Bert and Frith.

The Scholastic version is two alternative book versions with the illustrations of Susan Blair and Ellen Appleby. It is available on record. It is also available on cassette. The narrator is Bob Thomas. The music was composed by Arthur Rubinstein.

There is a retelling of the story in Andri Snær Magnason's children's book Tímakistan. The variant features a kid, its mother, and her husband. When the mother goat tells the troll to eat her husband instead of her, 'the troll lost his appetite. "What's the world coming to?", he cried. "The kid tells me to eat its mother, and she tells me to eat her husband! Crazy family!".'[10] The troll goes home leaving the goats uneaten.

References

  1. ↑ Encyclopedia of American folklore: Facts on File library of American literature. Author: Linda S. Watts. Publisher: Infobase Publishing, 2007. ISBN 0-8160-5699-4, ISBN 978-0-8160-5699-6. page 383.
  2. ↑ Answers.com: Asbjørnsen and Moe
  3. ↑ G. W. Dasent, The Three Billy-Goats Gruff, in Popular Tales from the Norse, p.313
  4. ↑ "Children's Favourites". Whirligig-tv.co.uk. 2005-11-28. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  5. ↑ "It’s curtains up on Barter’s ’07 season". GoTricities.com
  6. ↑ Micheal Deacon (05/01/2008). "Once upon a time...". The Daily Telegraph. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ↑ Neil Gaiman, "Smoke and Mirrors"
  8. ↑ http://www.lazybeescripts.co.uk/Scripts/script.aspx?iSS=137
  9. ↑ http://genius.com/Masters-of-reality-john-brown-lyrics
  10. ↑ 'Þá missti tröllkarlinn matarlystina. Hvert er heimurinn að fara? hrópaði hann. Kiðlingurinn segir mér að éta móður sína og hún segir mér að éta manninn sinn. Hvílík fjölskylda!'; Andri Snær Magnason, Tímakistan (Reykjavík: Mál og Menning, 2013), p. 131.

External links

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