Illustration by Tatjana Hauptmann
All-Kinds-of-Fur, sometimes translated too as Thousandfurs, is a German folktale collected by the brothers Grimm that they heard from Henriette Dorothea Wild, first published in 1812 in the first volume of Children and Household's Tales first edition.
Origin[]
Already in the 14th Century there was some popular literary works about princesses who ran away to prevent an incestuous union, normally with their fathers, like the French medieval chanson de geste La Belle Hélène de Constantinople, in which the titular character is the daughter of King Antoine of Constantinople. Hélène runs away to a monastery in Flanders while her father is fighting against the Saracen army in Rome. There a Saracen king falls in love with her too and has to run away once again, getting captured by pirates who try to rape her, but before they can do anything the ship wrecks because of a storm and Hélène is the sole survivor, who’s rescued by king Henry of England, who marries her afterwords. It must be said that the chanson de geste doesn’t end there unlike the Grimm’s tale, continuing instead with elements and motifs like the heroine having to leave her husband’s kingdom after being slandered by her evil mother-in-law, that although absent in this tale appear on other tales collected by the brothers Grimm.
The motif of the heroine who runs away to prevent an incestuous act was pretty popular in Italian literature. In Gianfrancesco Straparola’s collection The Facetious Nights, whose first volume was published in Venice in 1550, there was included a tale about Doralice, the daughter of prince Tebaldo of Salerno, who after his father decided to marry her because she was the only one her deceased mother’s ring fits decides to escape hiding inside a chest that can be locked from the inside. Like in La Belle Hélène de Constantinople and unlike Grimm’s tale the story continues too after Doralice has married the king of England. After finding out that his daughter is still alive and married to another man Tebaldo travels to England disguised as a merchant and kills Doralice’s newborn child, framing her for the infanticide using her knife. Luckily for Doralice her father brags about his misdeed to her nurse, who travels to England and reveals the truth to Doralice’s husband, who after finding out his wife is innocent conquers Salerno and punishes Tebaldo. Neapolitan writer Giambattista Basile included two tales about princesses running away from incestuous suitors in his collection Il Pentamerone, whose first volume was posthumously published in 1634 and its second in 1636. The first tale, titled The She-Bear, tells the story of Preziosa, daughter of the king of Roccaspra, who following her nursemaid’s advise turns into a bear to scare away her father and run away to the woods, where she meets the prince of Acquacorrente, who impressed by the bear acting like a human he brings her to his palace. The second tale’s plot, titled Penta with the Chopped-Off Hands, is closer to La Belle Hélène of Constantinople, with the heroine being thrown at the sea inside a chest by her brother, the king of Piterasecca, after she has her hands cut off when he told her that’s the part of her that he likes the most. Penta is first found by a fisherman, whose jealous wife throws her back at the sea, and the king of Terraverde, whom he marries after his first wife dies. After she gives birth while her husband is absent the fisherman’s wife changes the letters to have Penta expelled from the kingdom.
The most popular version previous to Grimm’s, Donkey Skin by French author Charles Perrault, was first published in 1694. Written in verse, Perrault’s tale included for the first time many elements that the brothers Grimm included in their tale, like the princess using an animal’s skin to hide instead of completely turning into one like in Basile’s The She-Bear, asking for three wonderful dresses before running away, and the princess placing a ring in her love interest’s food that would help him find her. Despite that there’s some significant differences between the two tales, like the princess being aided by her fairy godmother in Perrault’s story while in Grimm’s we never see her getting advice from anyone else, implying everything is her own idea; the prince trying the ring on every single maiden in the kingdom to find its owner like with Cinderella’s shoe or instead of the princess going to three balls wearing the three dresses like in Grimm’s, the prince discovers how she looks when she’s not wearing the coat because he took a look through the keyhole of the princess’ door while she was wearing one of the dresses and looking at herself in the mirror. A less well known French version is Bearskin, first published in 1773 in the revised edition done by Marie-Madeleine Lubert of Henriette-Julie de Murat’s novel Les Lutins du château de Kernosy. In this tale the heroine, princess Noble-Epince, does like Preziosa in Basile’s The She-Bear and completely turns into a bear instead of just using an animal’s skin to hide her identity like in Grimm’s and Perrault’s versions to run away from her unwanted suitor, who’s not her incestuous father but an ogre instead. Like in Straparola’s Doralice when the ogre, whose name is Rhinoceros, finds out about Noble-Epine’s whereabouts he disguises himself as an astrologer and murders the queen’s newborn children with her knife to frame her, but unfortunately before Noble-Epine’s executed her fairy godmother appears to the resurrected children and proves the heroine’s innocence.
A German variant that preceded Grimm’s was Johann Karl August Musäus’ The Nymph of the Fountain, published in . Like the French Bearskin, here the heroine doesn’t run away from an incestuous father. In fact, there’s no unwanted suitor who causes the heroine whose name is Mathilde to leave the parental home. Instead the castle is burned down and she’s the sole survivor, who has to work as a poultry maid in a knight’s castle to earn a living. The tale introduces an element we will later find in Grimm’s tale too, the balls the love interest helds that the heroine goes wearing the dresses, that in this one she gets thanks to a magic wish-granting muskrat her godmother, a nymph who lived in a fountain nearby the castle of Mathilde’s father, gave it to her. Also like in the French Bearskin as well as Straparola’s Doralice the heroine is framed for murdering her children after marrying the knight, but not by her father but by the wetnurse.
Synopsis[]
1812 Version[]
A king is married to a woman with golden hair, and has with her a daughter as equally beautiful with the same hair. The queen falls ill, and realising she’s going to die she asks her husband that, if he’d ever remarry, it would be only to a woman as beautiful as her with the same golden hair. The king promises, and after his wife’s death he’s so devastated that initially he doesn’t want to remarry, but finally decides to do it following his advisors’ aid. The King sends messengers to see all kinds of princesses, but none of them is beautiful nor with hair as golden as the late queen’s. Finally one day the king notices his only daughter looks just like her mother, and decides that because she’s the only who matches the late queen’s beauty and hair, he has to marry her even despite the fact she’s his daughter. When the councilors find out about the king’s decision they try to make him change his mind, but it’s useless. The princess is equally horrified when she finds out, but she decides to pretend to go along with her father’s wishes while asking him for three dresses, one as golden as the sun, one as pale as the moon and one as sparkly as the stars, and a coat made with a piece of fur of every animal in the kingdom. Once the king has everything ready he personally brings the dresses and the coat to his daughter and announces her that their wedding will be tomorrow, but that same night the princess puts each dress inside a nutshell, put the coat on, dirties her face and hands with soot and escapes, taking with her three gifts all made of gold that her previous betrothed gave her: a ring, a little spinning wheel and a yarn reel. The princess spends the whole night walking until she arrives at a forest, where she’s so tired that she sits down inside a hollow tree to rest and falls asleep.
While she’s still asleep, the king she was previously betrothed to goes to the forest to hunt and notices how his dogs surround the tree and sniff it. Wondering why he sends his huntsmen to see what’s inside the tree, and mistaking the princess with some kind of unknown beast they tell the young king is an animal they have never seen before. The king then orders his men to capture the creature alive, and when they put her on the back of the carriage they finally realise the supposed creature is not a beast but a girl. In the king’s castle the princess is hired to do the most thankless chores, is given a small stall under the stairs to be her place to rest and everyone calls her Allerleirauh (tr. All-Kinds-of-Fur). Everynight Allerleirauh has to go upstairs to help the king pull his boots off, and everytime he throws the boots at her. One day there’s a ball in the castle, and excited Allerleirauh asks the cook to let her go and see it. The cook gives her permission but warns her to return in half an hour. Allerleirauh then goes to her stall beneath the stairs, takes her coat off, washes her face and hands, opens the nutshell with the dress as golden as the sun, puts it on and goes to the ball, where the young king dances with her while noticing how much that maiden reminds him of his own lost bride, planning to ask her about it once the ball was over. But before he can do it the mysterious maiden goes away. The king asks the watchmen if they have seen her, but they tell him they haven’t seen anyone leave the palace. Meanwhile Allerleirauh goes to her stall beneath the stars, changes clothes, dirties her face and hands again with soot and goes to the kitchen, where the cook orders her to make soup for the king while he goes to have a look at the ball. While she’s alone making the soup Allerlairauh seizes her opportunity to drop in the soup the golden ring the king gave her. When the king tastes the soup he thinks is the best soup he has ever tasted, and when he finds the ring he recognizes it as the ring he gave to the princess he was once betrothed. Wondering how the ring ended up there he calls the cook and asks him if he was the one who made the soup. The cook confesses it wasn’t him, but Allerleirauh. When the king summons Allerlairauh, she pretends to know nothing about the ring, saying she’s just an orphan whom people throw boots at her head before running away.
Soon after there is a second ball and once again Allerlairauh asks the cook for permission to go and take a look. The cook gives her, with the condition she must be back in half an hour to make the king that soup he likes so much. Allerleirauh goes to her stall, where she washes her face and hands and changes her coat to her dress as pale as the moon. When the king sees she has arrived he dances with her, but before he can ask her if she’s his lost bride she goes away once again and he can’t find her anywhere, while she goes to the stall and makes herself dirty and changes clothes. While making the soup for the king Allerlairauh is once again left alone and she drops in the soup the golden spinning wheel. When the king finds it he summons the cook first and then Allerleirauh, but he doesn’t get any satisfactory answers this time either. When the king helds a third ball Allerlairauh goes wearing the dress as sparkly as the stars. The king, who has a plan to find out if the maiden is really his bride, first slips a ring in the princess’ finger without her noticing, and has the musicians play for longer this time. Because of it when the music was over Allerleirauh notices she has stayed for longer this time, so in a rush she only has time to cover herself with the coat without taking the dress off first, and still has the ring on. While making the soup she drops the golden yarn reel on it, and when the king finds it he summons Allerleirauh, who tries to do as before and run away after evading the king’s answers, but the king notices the ring on her finger, grabs her hand and rips off her coat revealing her golden hair. The king and the princess get married, and the cook is rewarded.
1857 version[]
A king is married to a woman with golden hair who’s considered so beautiful no one can match her beauty. One day the queen falls terribly ill, and fearing she’s going to die she asks her husband no never remarry unless it is with a woman as beautiful as her and with her as golden as hers. The king promises it and the queen dies. After it the king doesn’t want to remarry for a while, but the counselors insist so much he must remarry that the king sends messengers to find a new bride, but no one seems to be as beautiful and with hair as golden as the deceased queen. It happens that the king had a daughter from his previous marriage, and when she grows up her father notices how much she looks like her mother, so he decides to marry her. When the counselors find out they’re horrified and try to persuade the king to change his mind, but he has made it up already and there’s nothing they can do. The daughter is even more horrified, but she decides to pretend to go along with her father’s wishes while she requests three dresses, the first as golden as the sun, the second as silver as the moon and the third as glistening as the stars, as well as a coat made with a piece of fur from every animal species in the kingdom. The princess think such tasks would be impossible to fulfill, giving her time to dissuade his father of such desires, but she underestimates the king’s stubbornness, who puts the most skilled maidens in the kingdom to weave the three dresses while the most skilled huntsmen in the kingdom capture all the animals in the kingdom and take a piece of skin from each one. Thanks to it the king has the dresses and the coat ready, and the king personally brings them to his daughter before warning her that the next day they will get married. But the princess makes the decision to run away and that same night before escaping she puts the cloak on and the three dresses in a nutshell, smudges her face and hands and takes her three most valuable possessions: a ring, a little spinning wheel and a yarn reel, all of them made of gold. After spending the whole night walking without rest the princess arrives at a forest where she hides inside a hollow three and falls asleep.
While the princess is still sleeping the king whom the woods belonged to comes there to hunt and when he notices his dogs are surrounding, sniffing and barking at the hollow tree he sends his men to find out what’s inside it. The huntsmen mistake the sleeping princess with an unknown beast, and when they tell the king about her the king orders them to capture her alive. When the huntsmen grab her the princess finally wakes up and terrified she tells them she’s just an orphan and begs them to take her with them. The huntsmen put her in the back of the cart and carry her to the king’s castle, where she’s hired as a poultry maid, doing the kitchen’s most ungrateful tasks, has to sleep in a stall beneath the stairs and everyone calls her Alleraleirauh (tr. All-Kinds-of-Fur) because of the coat she’s always wearing. One day a banquet is held in the castle, and Allerleirauh asks the cook if she can go and take a look. The cook lets her, but with the condition that she has to be back in half an hour, and Allerleirauh goes to her stall to take off the coat, wash her face and hands, open the nutshell and put the dress as golden as the sun to go to the party, where everyone including the king is astonished by her beauty although no one can tell who she is. The king dances with her, but when the dance is over she seizes a moment the king looks away to run away. Wanting to know where she has gone, the king questions the watchmen, but all of them tell him they haven’t seen anyone leave the castle. Meanwhile Allerleirauh returns to her stall, changes her clothes, smudges her face and hands and goes to the kitchen, where the cook orders her to make soup for the king while he goes to have a look too, threatening to let her starve if she lets a hair fall into the soup. While she’s alone Allerleirauh places her golden ring in the soup bowl, and when the king finds it he summons the cook to know how the golden ring ended up there. When the cook hears he has been summoned by the king he suspects it might be because Allerleirauh let a hair fall into the soup and threatens to beat her, but when he’s asked who made the soup the cook lies and says he made it, but the king tells him he knows it wasn’t him because the soup tastes better than the one he mades, so the cook is forced to admit Allerleirauh made it. Then Allerleirauh is summoned, and when the king asks her if she knows anything about the golden ring he found she pretends not to.
A while later a second banquet is held and once again Allerlairauh asks for permission to go and take a look, and after she gets it she runs to her stall and changes clothes, this time putting the dress as silver as the moon, washes herself and goes upstairs, where the king dances with her until she goes away. After changing clothes Allerleirauh goes to the kitchen and makes the soup, placing the golden spinning wheel in the bowl. When the king finds the golden object he summons the cook first, who has to admit that once again it was Allerleirauh and not him the one who made the soup, and then Allerleirauh, who once again pretends to know nothing about the golden spinning wheel. When a third banquet is held Allerleirauh asks again for permission to go and have a look, and although initially the cook refuses because he’s jealous that the king likes her soup more than his, but in the end he finally lets her. This time Allerleirauh goes to the party wearing the dress as glistening as the stars and dances with the king, who has a plan to find out once and for all where the mysterious maiden goes. First he places a ring on Allerleirauh’s finger without her noticing it, and orders the musicians to play for longer, so when Allerlairauh notices how late it is she goes to her stall and in a rush she puts her coat on without taking the dress first before going back to the kitchen, where she makes the soup and place the golden yarn reel in the bowl. When the king finds the object he summons Allerleirauh and notices the ring on her finger. He grabs her hand and notices the glistening dress underneath the coat, that he tears off revealing the princess’ beautiful face and golden hair. The king calls Allerleirauh his true bride, and they get married.