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The story of Rumpelstiltskin and its themes have appeared in literature and other forms of art. This page provides a small discussion of some of the better known treatments by authors and other artists.Novels produced by romance publishers are not listed on this page, but can be found on Romance Novels: Fairy Tale Romances at Rumpelstiltskin. Literature Poetry Music Film Theatre
Bunce, Elizabeth C. A Curse Dark as Gold. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2008. NOVEL: From the publisher: "If you'll allow me to demonstrate, I do think I could be of some help to you here."
Byatt, A. S. Possession. New York: Random House, 1990. NOVEL: From the publisher: "A. S. Byatt writes some of the most engaging and skillful novels of our time. Possession, for which Byatt won England's prestigious Booker Prize, was praised by critics on both sides of the Atlantic when it was first published in 1990. The novel traces a pair of young academics—Roland Michell and Maud Bailey—as they uncover a clandestine love affair between two long-dead Victorian poets. Interwoven in a mesmerizing pastiche are love letters and fairytales, extracts from biographies and scholarly accounts, creating a sensuous and utterly delightful novel of ideas and passions."
Carroll, Jonathan. Sleeping in Flame. New York: Doubleday, 1989. NOVEL: This is an interesting rendition of the Rumpelstiltskin tale. Synopsis from Amazon.com: Walker Easterling, an actor confused about his orphan past, falls passionately in love with a beautiful supermodel. When they establish their lives together in Vienna, a series of bizarre events reveals that Walker has led many past lives. An unresolved conflict may lead to the death of their unborn child.
Catanese, P. W. The Riddle of the Gnome. New York: Aladdin, 2007. NOVEL: Rumpelstiltskin retelling for middle readers. Cunningham, Elizabeth. How to Spin Gold: A Woman's Tale. Barrytown Limited, 1997. NOVEL: From publisher: "Modern transformation of the Rumpelstiltskin fairytale. Written as the autobiography of a mysteriously deformed girl who runs away from her medieval village and becomes the apprentice and successor to "The Wise Woman of the Western Woods," the book blends magical realism and psychological wisdom." Farjeon, Eleanor. The Silver Curlew. London: Viking, 1953. NOVEL: Children's book. Gordon, Frances. Changeling: An Immortal Tale. Headline Book Pub Ltd, 1998. NOVEL: Horror. Katzenbach, John. The Analyst. New York: Ballantine Books, 2002. NOVEL: Suspense. From the publisher: "Happy fifty third birthday, Doctor. Welcome to the first day of your death. Dr. Frederick Starks, a New York psychoanalyst, has just received a mysterious, threatening letter. Now he finds himself in the middle of a horrific game designed by a man who calls himself Rumplestiltskin. The rules: in two weeks, Starks must guess his tormentor’s identity. If Starks succeeds, he goes free. If he fails, Rumplestiltskin will destroy, one by one, fifty-two of Dr. Starks’ loved ones—unless the good doctor agrees to kill himself. In a blistering race against time, Starks’ is at the mercy of a psychopath’s devious game of vengeance. He must find a way to stop the madman—before he himself is driven mad. . . ."
Lickiss, Rebecca. Never After. New York: Ace, 2002 NOVEL: A novel featuring elements from many fairy tales, including Sleeping Beauty, Rumpelstiltskin, Frog Prince, and The Princess and the Pea. From publisher: "Take a princess, two bumbling wizards, an enchanted frog, a wicked stepmother, a handsome prince, and you have the most delightfully non-Grimm fairy tale of the year."
McBain, Ed. Rumpelstiltskin. New York: Penguin, 1981. NOVEL: Mystery: Part of McBain's Matthew Hope series.
Napoli, Donna Jo. Spinners. New York: Dutton, 1999. NOVEL: From Amazon.com: In Spinners, Napoli and coauthor Richard Tchen weave a tale of a young tailor who cripples himself while spinning gold thread on a magic wheel to win his beloved's hand. Spurned for his ugliness, he watches her marry the miller and die giving birth to the child he knows is his own. The girl grows up to become a master spinner, but only when the cruel young king commands her to spin straw into gold do we begin to sense a creeping familiarity. When a deformed man demands her firstborn child as a return for spinning the gold, we are almost sure. But not until the very last, when to save her baby the young mother must guess her unknown father's secret name, do we, like her, know that this is Rumpelstiltskin, of whom we've heard tell long ago. In Napoli's story-spinning hands, however, Rumpelstiltskin is not a spiteful dwarf but a lonely outcast yearning for the love of his grandchild; rather than a hand- wringing victim, the young queen shows herself to be a strong and resourceful survivor given to imaginative solutions.
Schmidt, Gary D. Straw Into Gold. New York: Clarion, 2001. NOVEL: Book description from jacket: What fills a hand fuller than a skein of gold? By order of the king, two boys, Tousle and Innes, must find the answer to this puzzling riddle within seven days or be killed. A former nursemaid to the queen's child tells the boys that the banished queen may have the answer they seek. Danger presents itself at every turn, for the boys are pursued by the Great Barons, who are secretly plotting against the king. Another pursuer, the greedy King's Grip, reveals a strange story of a little man who once spun straw into gold of incredible beauty for the queen but then disappeared with her firstborn son. Tousle realizes that the man he calls Da is the strange little man and, even more amazing, that he himself may be the lost prince. Or could it be Innes, who although cruelly blinded can hear the music of the dawn? This skillful blend of fantasy and adventure reveals what might have happened before the queen makes her third and last guess and the story of Rumpelstiltskin--as we know it--ends.
Weyn, Suzanne. The Crimson Thread: A Retelling of "Rumpelstiltskin". New York: Simon Pulse, 2008.
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Anne Heiner, SurLaLune Fairy Tales E-mail: heidi@surlalunefairytales.com Page created 1/1999; Last updated 12/19/07 www.surlalunefairytales.com |
