Lesson 8 Assignment

Faithful John is a Brother Grimm fairy tale rich with folklore and Christianity symbolism. My interpretation of this old world tale begins with a brief synopsis of the story plot.

On his deathbed, a king summons his faithful servant, John, to promise to raise his only son as his own. When John agrees, the king tells him that he must show his son the castle, all but one room because within it, hung a portrait of the beautiful Princess of the Golden Dwelling. If the son were to look upon this, he would fall "violently" in love with her, jeopardizing his future, as well as, the life of Faithful John. Again, Faithful John agrees to keep the room hidden from the king's son.

After the king dies and Faithful John has shown the young king the castle and all the gold and treasures within it, the king wants to see what is behind the forbidden door. Finally, John concedes to the young king's requests and opens the door. Although John tries to use his own body as a shield the young king's eyes, the king still sees the picture over John's shoulder and falls to the floor in hopeless love.

Unable to function, John decides to help the king by devising a plan to bring the princess to the king. He tells the king to order all of the goldsmiths to craft beautiful wares out of all of his gold. Then, they loaded the golden wares onto a ship. Dressed as merchants, the king and Faithful John set sail across the sea on a journey to find the princess.

Once they reach the Golden Dwelling, the king stays behind on the ship and Faithful John takes some golden items in his apron and brings them to the princess. When she sees the well crafted golden wares, she tells Faithful John she wants to buy them all. He tells her the gold items are not his to sell, but the property of his master, a wealthy merchant. John tells her he will take her to his master where there are many more golden wares to buy. At once, the princess wants to meet his master, so John takes her to the ship where the king waits in disguise.

Once aboard the ship, the king begins to show the princess all the lovely things. Meanwhile, Faithful John pushes the ship back out to sea, unbeknownst to the princess. When they are far out at sea and she realizes the truth, the king admits to her that he was truly a king and that he has tricked her out of his love for her. Once she understands his good intentions, she falls in love with the king and she agrees to marry him.

Faithful John overhears three ravens proclaiming prophesies that would endanger the King. First, one raven said a horse would appear at the end of their voyage. The King would mount the horse and it would take him away forever. He would only be saved if someone else mounted the horse and shoot it. If the person told, he would turn to stone from his toes to his knees. Second, another raven claimed that even if the first task was done, the king would see, when he reached the castle, a beautiful bridal garment that when he placed it on would burn him to the bone. The king would only be saved if someone wore gloves and burned the bridal garment in a fire. If the person told anyone, he would turn to stone from his knees to his heart. Third, the last raven said even if the second were done, the king would still not have his princess. After being wed, the Queen would fall to the ground dead and only if someone drew three drops of her blood from her right breast and spit them out again would she return to life. If the person told about this, he would turn to stone from head to foot.

Of course, in order to save the king, Faithful John kills the horse, burns the bridal garment, and draws the blood from the Queen. The king can only accept the first two, but cannot accept the latter deed. When Faithful John explains the reason for his deeds, he immediately turns to stone.

After many years of remorse for what they did to Faithful John, the King and Queen had twin boys. One day, the stone statue of Faithful John whispered to the King he could bring him back to life if he cut off the heads of his children and rubbed their blood on the stone. After remembering how loyal his servant was to him, he consents and with his own sword, the king kills his two sons and when he rubs their blood on Faithful John's statue, he comes back to life. Then, Faithful John puts the heads of the boys back onto their bodies and rubs their wounds. The boys are, too, reborn and know nothing of what happened. The king hides the boys and Faithful John in a room. He tells the Queen that in order for Faithful John to come back to life, they must sacrifice their children. After much consideration, the Queen agrees. The King rejoices that she has chosen the same as he. He opens the door to reveal the children and Faithful John. They all live happily ever after.

The first theme of this tale is the making of King. In the beginning, the death of the first King initiates Faithful John's new responsibility as a father. Then, when the King's son crosses the threshold of the forbidden room, this event is symbolic of the initiation of his journey to become King. The forbidden room is representative of the religious symbol of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.

Once the King looks upon the portrait of the Princess of the Golden Dwelling, his conscious desire for her is so great that he must have her in reality, which once achieved, symbolizes the acquisition of the full power of a King. Thus, the acquisition Princess symbolizes the final step to Kinghood.

The journey to acquire the princess begins with turning his gold into beautiful wares for the princess. Gold symbolizes what is precious and majesty. Therefore, this act of transforming the gold to get the princess represents the steps he must take on his journey to become a true King. In addition, the tasks told by the three ravens that Faithful John must do for the King in order to acquire the Princess represent the initiation steps for the boy before he is a complete King. Faithful John must guide him through each step, protecting from harm. In "Faithful John" and many other folklore and fairy tales, three is the number that represents completeness. The three tasks which Faithful John must do for the King are done to help the boy be a complete King.

Another theme which I have drawn from this fairy tale is the loyalty to a parent. Faithful John gives his life for the King, like a parent would do for his children. Here again, the underlying symbol of Christianity is present, like Christ gave his own life for his people, or "children". In the end of the tale, the King takes the life of his own sons, the greatest form of sacrifice for the sake of his foster father, who has remained ever good to him. As Christ rose from the dead, Faithful John came back to life to faithfully serve his son.