The messengers of death

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Edition from 1840

The messengers of death is a fairy tale ( ATU 335). From the 4th edition of 1840 onwards, it is in the children's and house tales of the Brothers Grimm at 177 (KHM 177) and is based on Von deß todts botten. in Hans Wilhelm Kirchhof 's Wendunmuth collection (1563, no.124).

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The death encounters a giant , he wants to get, but who beat him thoroughly. So a youth finds him, who helps him up again. Death reveals himself and promises that he will not surprise his helper in thanks, but will send him messengers beforehand.

Later on, the man becomes more and more fragile and becomes ill more and more often. When death comes, he is nevertheless very surprised - where have the messengers gone? Death rebukes him: his sufferings were the messengers.

origin

The source names Grimm's note, Kirchhofs Wendunmuth 2 (edition from 1581), as well as comparison points: Colshorn No. 68, Paulis Schimpf and Ernst Cap. 151, Huldrich Wolgemut's Aesop Fab. 198, a master chant of the Colmar manuscript, at the end Joach. Camerarius ' Latin Aesop (1564) p. 347 f., Gregor Bersman (1590), Hugo von Trimberg told the fairy tale in Der Renner as early as the 13th century .

Wilhelm Grimm adorned the legend fluctuation of the giant's battle with death through direct speech and descriptions, but shortened Kirchhof's Catholic moralization:

This fabel makes it clear
That death compt for us unexpectedly,
That is why a Christian is prepared to
As long as it happens, every instant.

literature

  • Grimm, Brothers: Children's and Household Tales. Complete edition. With 184 illustrations by contemporary artists and an afterword by Heinz Rölleke. Pp. 725-726. 19th edition, Artemis & Winkler Verlag, Patmos Verlag, Düsseldorf and Zurich 1999, ISBN 3-538-06943-3 )
  • Grimm, Brothers: Children's and Household Tales. Last hand edition with the original notes by the Brothers Grimm. With an appendix of all fairy tales and certificates of origin, not published in all editions, published by Heinz Rölleke. Volume 3: Original Notes, Guarantees of Origin, Afterword. P. 261, P. 509. Revised and bibliographically supplemented edition, Reclam-Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-15-003193-1 )
  • Rölleke, Heinz (Ed.): Grimm's fairy tales and their sources. The literary models of the Grimm fairy tales are presented synoptically and commented on. 2., verb. Edition, Trier 2004. pp. 342–345, 575. (Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier; series of literature studies, vol. 35; ISBN 3-88476-717-8 )
  • Uther, Hans-Jörg: Handbook to the children's and house fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. Berlin 2008. pp. 366-367. (de Gruyter; ISBN 978-3-11-019441-8 )

Web links

Wikisource: The Messengers of Death  - Sources and full texts