The Nixie of the Mill-Pond
A miller's son is captured by a water spirit; his wife rescues him.
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"The Nixie of the Mill-Pond" (German: "Die Nixe im Teich") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in their 1857 edition of Grimm's Fairy Tales as tale number 181. The story follows a miller who rashly promises his newborn son to a water spirit, the nixie, and the son's wife who undertakes a series of magical tasks to rescue him. It is classified as Aarne-Thompson Type 316, "The Nix of the Mill-Pond," a tale type common in Northern Europe with variants recorded in Scotland.
Background
The wife rescues her husband by completing three impossible tasks set by the nixie, after which they return home and live happily ever after.
Did You Know?
- Andrew Lang included a version in The Yellow Fairy Book, citing his source Hermann Kletke and titling it 'The Nixy.'
- A Hungarian variant was adapted into an episode of the television series Magyar népmesék ('Hungarian Folk Tales') with the title 'A víz tündére.'
More in Nixies
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: The Nixie of the Mill-Pond (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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