Town Musicians of Bremen

Town Musicians of Bremen
Town Musicians of Bremen
	A bronze statue by Gerhard Marcks depicting the Bremen Town Musicians located in Bremen, Germany. The statue was erected in 1953.
Folk tale
Name	Town Musicians of Bremen
Aarne–Thompson grouping	ATU 130 (The Animals in Night Quarters)
Country	Germany
Origin Date	1812
Published in	Grimms' Fairy Tales

The "Town Musicians of Bremen" (German: Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in Grimms' Fairy Tales in 1819 (KHM 27).

It tells the story of four ageing domestic animals, who after a lifetime of hard work are neglected, mistreated and marked for death by their former masters. Eventually, they decide to run away and become town musicians in the city of Bremen. Contrary to the story's title, the characters never arrive in Bremen, as they succeed in tricking and scaring off a band of robbers, capturing their spoils, and moving into their house. It is a story of Aarne–Thompson Type 130 ("Outcast animals find a new home").

Origin

The Brothers Grimm first published this tale in the second edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen in 1819, based on the account of the German storyteller Dorothea Viehmann (1755–1815).

Synopsis

In the story, a donkey, a dog, a cat, and a rooster, all past their prime years in life and usefulness on their respective farms, are soon to be discarded, mistreated or killed by their masters. One by one, they leave their homes and set out together. They decide to go to Bremen, known for its freedom, to live without owners and become musicians there.

On the way to Bremen, they find a cottage with light in the windows. Inside, they see three robbers enjoying their ill-gotten gains. Standing on each other's backs, they decide to perform their first song. However, the men run away in fright, not knowing what the strange sound is. The animals take possession of the house, have a good meal, and settle in for the evening. The donkey sleeps outside, the dog by the door, the cat on the mantle and the rooster in the loft.

Later that night, the robbers return, determined to get the cottage back. Thinking whatever scared them left, they decide to send one of them to go back and check. He sees the cat's eyes shining in the darkness and reaches over, thinking they are the coals of the fire, so he can light a candle. Things happen in quick succession; the cat scratches his face with its claws, the dog bites him on the leg, the donkey kicks him with his hooves, and the rooster crows in his ear. The terrified robber tells his companions that he was beset by a horrible witch who had scratched him with her long fingernails (the cat), a monster who stabbed him with a knife (the dog), a giant who had hit him with a club (the donkey), and a judge calling out from the rooftop (the rooster). Horrified, the robbers abandon the cottage, where the animals live happily for the rest of their days, deciding not to go to Bremen after all.

Variants

In the original version of this story, which dates from the 12th century, the robbers are a brown bear, a lion, and a grey wolf, all animals featured in heraldic devices. When the donkey and his friends arrive in Bremen, the townsfolk applaud them for having rid the district of the terrible beasts.

In another variant, the animals' master(s) have been deprived of their livelihood by the thief, who stole their money or destroyed their farm or mill, and therefore sent the animals away, unable to care for them any longer. After the animals dispatch the thieves, they return the stolen wealth back to their master so that they can rebuild.

Other versions involve at least one undomesticated animal, such as a lizard, helping the domestic animals out in dispatching the thieves.

Analysis

Tale type

The tale is classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 130, "The Animals in Night Quarters (Bremen Town Musicians)". Folklorists Stith Thompson and Barre Toelken see a deep relation between this type and type ATU 210, "Cock (Rooster), Hen, Duck, Pin, and Needle on a Journey".

Folklorist Antti Aarne proposed an Asian origin for the tale type ATU 130, "Die Tiere auf der Wanderschaft" ("Wandering Animals and Objects").

French folklorist Paul Delarue identified two forms of the tale type: a Western one, wherein the animals in exile are always domestic animals (represented by Grimm's tale), and an Eastern one, wherein the characters are "inferior animals". This second form is popular in Japan, China, Korea, Melanesia and Indonesia.

References

1 2 3 4 Ashliman, D. L. (2017). "The Bremen Town Musicians". University of Pittsburgh.
↑ "Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten / Bremen Town Musicians". German stories. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
↑ Aarne, Antti; Thompson, Stith. The types of the folktale: a classification and bibliography. Folklore Fellows Communications FFC no. 184. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1961. pp. 108-109.
↑ Uther, Hans-Jörg (2004). The Types of International Folktales: A Classification and Bibliography, Based on the System of Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson. Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, Academia Scientiarum Fennica. p. 99. ISBN 978-951-41-0963-8.
↑ Thompson, Stith (1977). The Folktale. University of California Press. p. 223. ISBN 0-520-03537-2.
↑ Toelken, Barre. "The Icebergs of Folktale: Misconception, Misuse, Abuse". In: Carol L. Birch and Melissa A. Heckler, eds. Who Says? – Essays on Pivotal Issues in Contemporary Storytelling. Little Rock, Arkansas: August House Publishers, 1996. p. 40.
↑ Serruys, Paul, and 司禮義. "Fifteen Popular Tales: From the South of Tatung (Shansi) / 民間故事十五則". In: Folklore Studies 5 (1946): 210. Accessed June 16, 2021. doi:10.2307/3182936.
↑ Hoebel, E. Adamson. "The Asiatic Origin of a Myth of the Northwest Coast". In: The Journal of American Folklore 54, no. 211/212 (1941): 1-9. Accessed June 16, 2021. doi:10.2307/535797.
↑ Delarue, Paul Delarue. The Borzoi Book of French Folk-Tales. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1956. pp. 391-392.
↑ Delarue, Paul Delarue. The Borzoi Book of French Folk-Tales. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1956. p. 392.
↑ Jacobs, Joseph. Celtic Fairy Tales. London: David Nutt. 1892. p. 254.
↑ Jacobs, Joseph. English Fairy Tales. London: David Nutt. 1890. p. 231.
↑ Baughman, Ernest Warren. Type and Motif-index of the Folktales of England and North America. Indiana University Folklore Series No. 20. The Hague, Netherlands: Mouton & Co 1966. p. 4.
↑ "The White Pet". In: Williamson, Duncan. Fireside tales of the Traveller children: twelve Scottish stories. New York: Harmony Books, 1983. pp. 68-79.

Bibliography

Boggs, Ralph Steele. Index of Spanish folktales, classified according to Antti Aarne's "Types of the folktale." Chicago: University of Chicago. 1930. p. 33.
Bolte, Johannes, Polívka, Jiri. Anmerkungen zu den Kinder- u. hausmärchen der brüder Grimm. Erster Band (NR. 1-60). Germany, Leipzig: Dieterich'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung. 1913. pp. 237–259.
"Children's Stories in Sculpture: Bremen Town Musicians in Bremen." The Elementary School Journal 64, no. 5 (1964): pp. 246–47. www.jstor.org/stable/999783.

External links

Some of the best known adaptations are:

Town Musicians of Bremen at IMDb Disney 1922 animated version
Town Musicians of Bremen at IMDb Russian animated version
Town Musicians of Bremen at IMDb Brazilian musical free adaptation of the tale
Town Musicians of Bremen at IMDb 1989 Spanish animated movie version
Town Musicians of Bremen at IMDb 1997 German edition, also released in English under the title "The Fearless Four"
Town Musicians of Bremen at IMDb The Muppet Musicians of Bremen
The Disney version of The Four Musicians of Bremen at The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts
Skulptures of the Musicians of Bremen, limited edition (German) Archived 2010-07-02 at the Wayback Machine

53°04′34″N 8°48′27″E / 53.076181°N 8.807528°E / 53.076181; 8.807528

[:0-1] 1 2 3 4 Ashliman, D. L. (2017). "The Bremen Town Musicians". University of Pittsburgh.

[2] "Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten / Bremen Town Musicians". German stories. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2018.

[3] Aarne, Antti; Thompson, Stith. The types of the folktale: a classification and bibliography. Folklore Fellows Communications FFC no. 184. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1961. pp. 108-109.

[4] Uther, Hans-Jörg (2004). The Types of International Folktales: A Classification and Bibliography, Based on the System of Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson. Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, Academia Scientiarum Fennica. p. 99. ISBN 978-951-41-0963-8.

[5] Thompson, Stith (1977). The Folktale. University of California Press. p. 223. ISBN 0-520-03537-2.

[6] Toelken, Barre. "The Icebergs of Folktale: Misconception, Misuse, Abuse". In: Carol L. Birch and Melissa A. Heckler, eds. Who Says? – Essays on Pivotal Issues in Contemporary Storytelling. Little Rock, Arkansas: August House Publishers, 1996. p. 40.

[7] Serruys, Paul, and 司禮義. "Fifteen Popular Tales: From the South of Tatung (Shansi) / 民間故事十五則". In: Folklore Studies 5 (1946): 210. Accessed June 16, 2021. doi:10.2307/3182936.

[8] Hoebel, E. Adamson. "The Asiatic Origin of a Myth of the Northwest Coast". In: The Journal of American Folklore 54, no. 211/212 (1941): 1-9. Accessed June 16, 2021. doi:10.2307/535797.

[9] Delarue, Paul Delarue. The Borzoi Book of French Folk-Tales. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1956. pp. 391-392.

[10] Delarue, Paul Delarue. The Borzoi Book of French Folk-Tales. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1956. p. 392.

[11] Jacobs, Joseph. Celtic Fairy Tales. London: David Nutt. 1892. p. 254.

[12] Jacobs, Joseph. English Fairy Tales. London: David Nutt. 1890. p. 231.

[13] Baughman, Ernest Warren. Type and Motif-index of the Folktales of England and North America. Indiana University Folklore Series No. 20. The Hague, Netherlands: Mouton & Co 1966. p. 4.

[14] "The White Pet". In: Williamson, Duncan. Fireside tales of the Traveller children: twelve Scottish stories. New York: Harmony Books, 1983. pp. 68-79.

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Category Commons

v t e "Town Musicians of Bremen" by the Brothers Grimm
Film	The Bremen Town Musicians (1969) The Fearless Four (1997) The Bremen Town Musicians (2023)
TV	The Muppet Musicians of Bremen (1972) Los Trotamúsicos (1989)
Sequels	On the Trail of the Bremen Town Musicians The New Bremen Town Musicians
Art	Turn Back

Authority control databases
International	VIAF GND
Other	MusicBrainz work Open Library 2