The Devil and his Grandmother

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"The Devil and his Grandmother" (or "The Dragon and His Grandmother") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, number 125.

Andrew Lang included it in The Yellow Fairy Book.

A version of this tale also appears in A Book of Dragons by Ruth Manning-Sanders.

It is Aarne-Thompson type 812, the devil's riddle.

Synopsis

Three soldiers could not live on their pay, and so attempted to desert by hiding in a cornfield. When the army did not march away, they were soon caught between starving or emerging to face execution. A dragon flew by, offered to save them if they served him for seven years. When they agreed, the dragon carried them off. However, the dragon was in fact the devil. He gave them a whip with which they could make money, but said at the end of seven years, they were his unless they could guess a riddle in which case they would be free and could keep the whip.

At the end of the seven years, two of the soldiers were morose at the thought of their fate. An old woman advised them to go down to a cottage for help. The third soldier, who did not fear the riddle went down and met the devil's grandmother. She was pleased with his manner and hid him in the cellar. When the devil came, she questioned him, and the soldier learned the answers.

The demon found them at the end of the seven years, and told he would take them to hell and serve them a meal. The riddle was: what was the meat, the silver spoon, and the wineglass for that meal. The answers were a dead sea-cat in the North Sea, a whale rib, and an old horse's hoof.

So the soldiers escaped and kept the whip.

In popular culture

The Devil and his Grandmother is featured in Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics under its "Grimm Masterpiece Theater" season where the story was referred to as "The Naughty Spirit."
The story inspired Mike Mognola's fifth issue of his series Hellboy In Hell called "The Three Gold Whips"

External links

The Devil and His Grandmother

v t e The Brothers Grimm
Jacob Grimm · Wilhelm Grimm
Works	Grimms' Fairy Tales Deutsche Sagen Deutsche Mythologie Deutsches Wörterbuch
Notable tales	"Bearskin" "The Brave Little Tailor" "Brother and Sister" "Cat and Mouse in Partnership" "Cinderella" "The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs" "Doctor Know-all" "The Dog and the Sparrow" "The Elves and the Shoemaker" "The Fisherman and His Wife" "The Four Skillful Brothers" "The Frog Prince" "The Gnome" "Godfather Death" "The Golden Bird" "The Golden Goose" "The Goose Girl" "The Goose-Girl at the Well" "The Grave Mound" "Hans My Hedgehog" "Hansel and Gretel" "The Hut in the Forest" "The Jew Among Thorns" "Jorinde and Joringel" "The Juniper Tree" "The King of the Golden Mountain" "King Thrushbeard" "Little Red Riding Hood" "Mary's Child" "Mother Holle" "Old Hildebrand" "Old Sultan" "The Queen Bee" "Rapunzel" "The Riddle" "The Robber Bridegroom" "Rumpelstiltskin" "The Seven Ravens" "The Singing, Springing Lark" "The Six Servants" "The Six Swans" "Sleeping Beauty" "Snow White" "Snow-White and Rose-Red" "The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was" "The Three Little Men in the Wood" "The Three Spinners" "Thumbling" "Town Musicians of Bremen" "Trusty John" "The Turnip" "The Twelve Brothers" "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" "The Water of Life" "The White Snake" "The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats" "The Wonderful Musician"
Other	Grimm's law Göttingen Seven Grim Tales The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm Once Upon a Brothers Grimm Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics The Brothers Grimm Grimm Tales The Sisters Grimm Fairy tale American McGee's Grimm German Fairy Tale Route Grimm Once Upon a Time The 10th Kingdom
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The Devil and his Grandmother

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Synopsis

In popular culture

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