Old Books For Curious Witches

"THE JUNIPER TREE"; THE MACABRE GRIMM'S FAIRY TALE THAT FADED THROUGH CENSORSHIP

There are so many stories collected by the Brother's Grimm that are well-known throughout the world; who hasn't heard of "Cinderella", "Snow White" or "Hansel and Gretel". But, how many people remember "The Juniper Tree"?

For hundred of years the story was told throughout Europe with many countries having their own versions of the tale; in Germany it was "The Juniper Tree", in Scotland "The Milky White Doo", in England "The Rose Tree" and in Norway "Smørbukk" (Buttercup).

It's an incredibly old story steeped in magic and reincarnation. The version recorded by the Brother's Grimm in the 1800's begins "A long while ago, quite two thousand years....." giving a clue of just how old it might be

To understand why the story has been censored or completely taken out from copies of Grimm's Fairy Tales, let's look at the uncensored version in "Grimm's Goblins" which was translated over one hundred years ago by H.B. Paull. Rather than serve up a few quotes, here are the first few paragraphs:

"A long while ago, quite two thousand years, there was a rich man who had a beautiful wife, of whom he was very fond; but they had no children, though he wished for them very much. In the garden before their house stood a juniper-tree, and one day in winter the lady was standing under it peeling an apple. She cut her finger, and drops of blood trickled down on the snow. Ah,' she said, sighing heavily, how happy I should be if I had a little child as white as snow and as red as blood And as she said this she grew quite cheerful, and felt sure that her wish would be fulfilled. After a while the snow was gone,and everything was green ; the flowers came up on the earth, the trees put forth their leaves, the young branches shed their blossoms on the ground, and the little birds sang in the groves. The sweet-smelling leaves of the juniper-tree began to unfold, and the lady's heart leapt for joy, and she fell on her knees. A month passed by, and the fruit was thick and fine; she ate of the berries, and then grew sad and ill, and said to her husband, If I die, bury me under the juniper-tree.' Then she was comforted and joyful, and when another month was passed she had a child as white as snow and as red as blood, and when she looked on it she was so joyful that she died.

Then her husband buried her under the juniper-tree, and wept and mourned for her; but after awhile he grew calmer, dried his tears, and married another wife. This second wife had a daughter; the child of the first wife was a son, who was as red as blood and as white as snow. The mother loved her daughter, but hated the little boy, and thought continually how she could get all the money for her own child; so she used him harshly, pushed him about from one corner to another, and thumped him and pinched him, so that the child was afraid of her. When he came from school he had nowhere to rest. One day when the mother was in the store-room her little daughter came up and said, 'Mother, give me an apple.' 'Yes, my child,' she answered, and gave her a beautiful apple out of the chest. The chest had a great heavy lid, and a great sharp iron lock. 'Mother,' said the little daughter, 'shall not brother have one also ? This vexed the woman, but she said, Yes, when he comes from school.

Then, as she looked out of the window, she saw him coming, and just as if the Wicked One had entered into her, she snatched the apple from her daughter and said, 'You shall not have it before your brother.' And she threw the apple into the chest and shut it. When the little boy came to the door the Wicked One made her say quite pleasantly, 'My son, will you have an apple?' But she looked so wickedly at him. 'How kind you are!' said the little one. 'Yes, I should like to have an apple.' It seemed as if she were forced to say 'Come with me, then.' And she lifted the lid, and said, 'Take out an apple for yourself;' and as the boy stooped to take one out she let the lid fall crash, and his head flew off and fell among the red apples. Then she was greatly terrified, and thought how she could lay the blame on someone else. So she went up to his bedroom and took a white handkerchief out of a top drawer, fitted the little boy's head on his shoulders, and tied the handkerchief round it so that no one could see what had happened, and seated him on a stool before the door with an apple in his hand. Soon afterwards Margery came into the kitchen to her mother, who stood by the fire stirring a pot of hot water.

'Mother,' said Margery, 'my brother is sitting before the door with an apple in his hand. I asked him to give it to me, but he did not answer me, and he looked so pale that I was frightened.'

'Go again,' said the mother, 'and if he does not answer you give him a box on the ear.' Margery went back, and said: 'Brother, give me the apple;' but as he was still silent, she gave him a box on the ear, and his head fell off. At this she was frightened, and began to cry and scream, and ran to her mother, and said: Mother, I have knocked my brother's head off!' and she wept and wept and would not be comforted. 'Margery,' said the mother, what have you done ? However, what is done cannot be undone. We must put him out of the way, so that no one may know it.' Then the mother cut the little boy into pieces and put him in the pan, and made him into black-puddings. Margery stood and wept and wept, so that her tears fell into the pan, and it needed no salt.

When the father came home to dinner, he said: 'Where is my boy?' The mother served up a dish of black-puddings, and Margery wept and could not stop. Then said the father again,'Where is my son?' 'Ah,' said the mother, "he is gone across the country to his mother's great-uncle; he will stay there some time. 'And what is he going to do there? He did not even say good-bye to me.'

'Oh, he wished to go; he will stay six weeks. He is well taken care of there.' 'Oh,' said the man, I am sorry; in does not seem right. He should have said good-bye to me,' and he began to eat, and said: 'Margery, why do you weep? Brother will soon be back. Ah, wife,' he added, 'how good this food tastes ! give me more.' And the more he ate the more he wanted. Margery slipped out of the room and went to ber drawers and took her best silk handkerchief and picked up all the boy's bones from under the table and wrapped them in the silk handkerchief and went out of the door and wept bitterly. Then she laid them on the grass under the juniper-tree, and her heart felt lighter and she wept no more. Then the juniper-tree began to move, and the branches parted asunder and came together again, as if one were clapping one's hands for joy. A mist came out of the tree, and the centre of it burned as if on fire, and out of the fire there flew a beautiful bird, singing merrily. The juniper-tree remained as before, and the handkerchief with the bones was taken away. Margery felt quite happy, just as if her brother were alive. She went into the house and ate her dinner; but the bird flew away and perched on the roof of a goldsmith's house, and sang:

'My mother slew her little son,
My father thought me lost and gone;
But pretty Margery pitied me,
And laid me under the juniper-tree;
And now I rove so merrily,
As over hills and dales I fly:
Oh, what a beautiful bird am I!'

The story itself had many elements that were unpalatable to Victorian sensibilities:

i. the magic surrounding the little boys conception and birth;

ii. the theme of rebirth/reincarnation as the mother becomes part of the tree after death and is able to give birth to his spirit again in the form of a beautiful bird,

and, of course, there are parts which are still too dark by today's standards:

iii. the gruesome way that the little boy is murdered by his step-mother; and,
iv. how she makes him into a meal which is eaten by his father.

The tale ends on a more traditional note as the bird acquires riches and gifts for his sister and father, whilst the step-mother gets what she deserves.

The macabre elements of the story, however, have led to the story either being heavily censored or missed out of the Fairy Tale books.

Lord Of The Rings author, J. R. R. Tolkien used "The Juniper Tree" as an example how censoring for children was damaging old stories. He was aware that parts of story were being taken out and argued that children should hear the whole tale or not at all.

Even if the story is not suitable for children today, whether right or wrong, we have to be wary of how censorship can erode our folklore heritage. The Juniper Tree gives an insight into the harsher realities of our ancestors, their belief in magic and, in this case, transformation of spirit after death.

If anyone is interested in reading old fairy tales without a modern lens, I suggest finding an early copy of "Grimm's Household Tales" or "Grimm's Goblins".

A while back I recorded an audio version of "The Milky White Doo" if you would like to hear the Scottish version of the story. It's on my Well of Stories page at https://www.facebook.com/thewellofstories/