The Robber Bridegroom

I grew up most often the only child with a single father in the military. Sometimes, usually for a few weeks during the summer, my younger sister would visit, and I would have a playmate. My father frequently deployed, and I remember one time staying with my grandma. She gave me an old book of fairy tales that used to be my father’s, and holding it would make me feel close to him when he was away. It was a small, red, leatherbound copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, with gold inlay and wording. The pages were old and worn, and the binding was starting to fall apart. I wore it down more by frequently reading it, or having my grandma read it to me. Eventually she gave me the book to keep, and I still have it on my shelf today, over 25 years later. The book was published in 1973, so it is now nearly fifty years old. Copies of this book run between $8-$50, depending on condition of the text and where you are buying from.

My favorite story out of the book was The Robber Bridegroom. It’s not your typical Disney princess-type fairy tale; it was a whole lot darker than that. In it, a miller’s daughter is offered to a suitor. One day, the suitor tells her to visit him at his house in the dark woods. She makes excuses, but eventually relents. Like Hansel and Gretel, she left a trail of peas and lentils so she could find her way home again. Upon arriving at what must have been the bridegroom’s home, she meets a crow in a cage who warns her to turn away, for the dark deeds that are done there. The crow repeats its’ warning twice. She wanders inside anyways (like the dumb girl she is) and meets an old woman, who tells her of what goes on there, and then hides the maiden, insisting that they will escape together in the night, when the men are sleeping. The old woman calls her bridegroom and his gang cutthroats, robbers, and cannibals. As soon as she’s hidden away, the men come home, including her bridegroom. They have another young woman with them, and they cut her up and eat her for dinner, but lose the girl’s finger behind the great cask, where the bride is hidden. The bridegroom begins to search for it, but the old woman calls him off to dinner, and insists they renew the search in the morning. The men agree and settle down to eat. The old woman drugs the men with a sleeping draft in their wine, and the two women escaped, but not before the maiden takes the severed finger with a ring on it. Later, the bridegroom comes for the wedding, and they are surrounded by their families and friends. The maiden tells her story, which scares the bridegroom away, but the folk in the party capture him and his men, and were ultimately executed.

I suppose it’s odd because it’s not a “gentle” story for a child to go to sleep to, but I have always been fascinated with the darker side of nature and psyche. I enjoy horror as well and have always been drawn to it, even as a child. I can now picture this story in far more dark detail than I could when I was younger.

Now, knowing the premise of the story, it is also interesting to note that my grandma lived on the outskirts of town in northern Arizona. Lots of trees and mountains. I used to see paths into the forest from her backyard and would pretend the robber bridegroom lived within the trees. I, of course, was the bride. As vivid as my imagination was back then (and still is today), it was a deterrent from going off and getting myself lost or kidnapped. I feel the story would inspire other children’s imaginations in a similar fashion, as games of pretend are often played in childhood.