Aarne-Thompson-Uther (ATU) - Types of Folktales
327: The Children and the Ogre
Description
I. Arrival at Ogre's House.
(a) Children are abandoned by poor parents in a wood
(b) but they find their way back by cloth shreds or pebbles that they have dropped;
(c) the third time birds eat their breadcrumbs, or grain clue and
(d) they wander until they come to a gingerbread house which belongs to a witch; or
(e) a very small hero (thumbling) and his brothers stay at night at the ogre's house; or
(f) the ogre carries the child home in a sack;
(g) the child substitutes a stone in the sack twice but is finally captured.
II. The Ogre Deceived. The ogre smells human flesh and has the children imprisoned and fattened.
(b) When his finger is to be cut to test his fatness the hero sticks out a bone or piece of wood.
(c) The exchange of caps, (d) the ogre's wife or child burned in his own oven (Type 1121), or
(e) the hero by singing induces the ogre to free them, or
(f) the hero to be hanged feigns ignorance and has ogre show him how, or
(g) hero feigns inability to sleep until ogre brings certain objects and escapes while ogre hunts the object.
III. Escape. (a) The children are carried across the water by ducks (or angels), or
(b) they throw back magic objects which become obstacles in the ogre's path, or
(c) they transform themselves, or (d) the ogre (ogress) tries to drink the pond empty and bursts, or
(e) the ogre is misdirected and loses them.
Variants
327A. The Children With the Witch
The parents abandon their children in the wood. The gingerbread house. The boy fattened; the witch thrown into the oven. Cf Type 1121. The children acquire her treasure. See analysis: I a, b, c, d; II a, b, d; III.
327B. The Small Boy Defeats the Ogre
The dwarf and his brother in the giant's house. The nightcaps of the children are exchanged. Cf Types 700, 1119. See analysis: I e; II; IV.
327C. The Devill/Witch Carries the Hero Home in a Sack
The wife or daughter are to cook him, but are thrown into the oven themselves. Cf. Type 1121. See analysis: I f; II d.
327D. The Kiddelkaddelkar.
The children in the ogre's house are protected by his wife but discovered. They are to be hanged, but the ogre is persuaded to show them how it is done. He is released only when he promises them a "kiddelkaddelkar" and much treasure. They flee. The…
327E. Abandoned Children Escape from Burning Barn.
Abandoned Children Escape from Burning Barn. Return after long time and astonish parents.
327F. The Witch and the Fisher Boy
Witch has her tongue made thin by a blacksmith so as to change her voice [F556.2, K1832]. She thus entices the fisher boy [G413].
327G. The Boy at the Devil's/Witch's House
The daughters are to cook him, but are killed by him. The devil is then killed. With his corpse the robbers are frightened from the tree. [G512.3.2.1, K335.1.2.1]. Cf. Type 334.
Examples
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| Text title | ATU | Language | Author | Origin | Publication Date |
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| Askeladden som stjal sølvendene til trollet | 327B,1060 | Norwegian | Asbjørnsen & Moe | Norway | 1841 |
| Smørbukk | 327C | Norwegian | Asbjørnsen & Moe | Norway | 1841 |
| Maol a chliobain | 327B | Scottish Gaelic | Hector MacLean | Scotland | _ |
| Hänsel und Gretel | 327A | German | Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm | Germany | 1812 |
| Der Okerlo | 327B,313 | German | Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm | Germany | 1812 |
| Pulcino | 327 | Italian | Italo Calvino | Italy | 1956 |
| João Pequenito | 327B | Portuguese | Adolfo Coelho | Portugal | 1879 |
| Os Meninos Perdidos | 327A | Portuguese | Adolfo Coelho | Portugal | 1879 |
| El zurrón que cantaba | 327 | Spanish | Fernán Caballero | Spain | 1877 |
| La Mairastra | 327B | Occitan | Emilian Hubac | France | _ |
| Lu cuntu di 'na Riggina | 327B,328,1119,531 | Sicilian | Giuseppe Pitrè | Italy | 1870 |
| Lu cavaddu 'nfatatu | 327B,328,1119,531 | Sicilian | Giuseppe Pitrè | Italy | 1870 |
| Klein Duimpje | 327B | Western Frisian | Geeske Kobus-Van der Zee | Netherlands | 1966 |
| Lytse Jan yn 't papieren húske | 327C | Western Frisian | A.A. Jaarsma | Netherlands | _ |
| The Witch | 327 | English | Andrew Lang | Russia | 1894 |
| Finette Cendron | 327B,510A | French | Madame d'Aulnoy | France | _ |
| Le petit Poucet | 327B | French | Charles Perrault | France | 1697 |
| Juan and Maria | 327 | English | Dean S. Fansler | _ | 1921 |
| Il bambino nel sacco | 327 | Italian | Italo Calvino | Italy | 1956 |
| Pohádka o perníkové chaloupce | 327A | Czech | Božena Němcová | Czech Republic | 1845 |
| Ninnillo e Nennella | 450,327A | Neapolitan | Giambattista Basile | Italy | 1634 |
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External Examples
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