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"The Three Aunts"

"The Three Aunts" is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in Norske Folkeeventyr.


This folktale is about a girl, Lassie, who lives in the woods with her father, because her mother died when she was a child. Now, when she is “half grown up”, she has to go out into the world to earn her bread. So, she goes and tries to find a place where she could earn her money.
She finds a palace and the queen likes her a lot, so the others maids get angry about that. Because of their envy, they tell the queen to put Lassie to spin a pound of flax in four in twenty hours. But the poor Lassie didn’t spin in all her life. All at once, there came an old woman who helped her in exchange of calling her Aunt in the happiest day of her life.
The next day, everything was well done, that the other maids were angrier with her so they told the queen that she knows how to weave the yarn. She didn’t know how to do it, so she cried a lot until another old woman came to her and promised to help her if she will call her Aunt on the happiest day of Lassie’s life. When the others saw that Lassie did a good job, they thought of telling the queen that Lassie knows how to make up a piece of linen into shirts. Lassie didn’t know what to do, but everything happened as before and another old woman helped her again.
The Queen was very proud and saw Lassie as her own child, and asked her if she wanted to marry the Prince. Lassie accepted. On the weeding day, there come the three ugly women which were recognized by Lassie as her aunts. Prince asked them why they are so ugly, and they told him that they were as pretty as Lassie, but because of “sitting, pooking, nooding and spinning” they became ugly. Then Prince realized and told them that he will never let his wife to spin or weave or sew in her life.

According to ATU classification of the fairytales, the Norwegian fairytale "The Three Aunts" is classified into the REALISTIC TALES (850-999), The Woman Marries the Prince 870-879 category.

In terms of character types, we may identified:
-the hero (Lassie),
-the father (Lassie’s father),
-the villain (maids),
-the prize (Prince),
-the magical helper (the three old woman).

Propp’s functions of the fairytale:

First sphere
Introduction sequence


0: The Initial Situation
The hero and the family are introduced. We find in the beginning that Lassie lives in the woods with her father who is a hunter.

1: The Absentations
Her mother died when she was a child.

2: The Interdiction
Her father interdict her to stay any longer in his house and told her to go learn new things and to earn her bread.

3: Violation of the interdiction
She finds a palace and lives there and the queen likes her.

4: Reconnaissance
The maids are envious of her because the queen likes her a lot.

5: Delivery
Lassie said to the maids that she was good at spinning a pound of flax in four-and-twenty hours.

6: Trickery
They made up their minds to tell the queen what Lassie said. The queen said: "Have you said this? Then you shall do it, but you may have a little longer time if you choose."

Second sphere
The body of the story

8: Villainy
“The poor Lassie dared not say she had never spun in all her life, but she only begged for a room to herself. That she got, and the wheel and the flax were brought up to her. There she sat sad and weeping, and knew not how to help herself. She pulled the wheel this way and that, and twisted and turned it about, but she made a poor hand of it, for she had never even seen a spinning-wheel in her life.”

9: Meditation
There appear an old woman who helps her to spin a pound of flax in four.

10:Counter-action
She goes to sleep and realizes that in the next day, all was done and the queen was happy to see it so the maids were angrier about this.

Third sphere
The donor sequence

12: Testing
Because maids were envious, they think to say to the queen that Lassie knows to spin the pound of flax and making up the piece of linen into shirts. Lassie has to do all of these and the donors (old women) helped her with all she has to do to prove the queen and maids that she is more good than the others maids.

13: Reaction
In change of what the donors did for her Lassie has to recognize the donor (old women) as her aunts, in the happiest day of her life.

17: Branding
Queen was very proud of her and of what she did and found Lassie as her own child. Then she told her that she may marry with the Prince if she wants him to be her husband.

18: Victory
Lassie accepted to merry with the Prince.

Forth sphere

20: The Return
The donors return in the day of Lassie’s wedding.

25: Task
When the old women appear to her wedding, the Prince asked Lassie who are they?

26: Solution
Lassie recognized the three ugly old women as being her aunts.

31: The Wedding
Lassie and the prince got married.