A Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale

There was once a girl who was willful and stubborn. When her parents told her to do something, she would not obey them. When they warned her of danger, she ignored their words. How could such defiance end well?

One day she announced to her parents, “I have heard so much about Frau Trude. People say that everything about her house looks strange, that odd things happen there, and I have become quite curious. I’m going to visit her.”

Her parents were horrified. “Frau Trude is a wicked woman who does godless things,” they said. “If you go to her, you are no longer our child.”

But the girl would not be dissuaded. Despite this severe warning—despite the threat of being disowned—she set out for Frau Trude’s house.

As she walked along the path, terror began to creep over her. When she finally arrived at the witch’s dwelling, Frau Trude opened the door and asked, “Why are you so pale?”

“Ah,” replied the girl, trembling, “I am frightened by what I have seen.”

“What have you seen?”

“On your steps, I saw a black man.”

“That was a charcoal burner,” said Frau Trude.

“Then I saw a green man.”

“That was a huntsman.”

“After that, I saw a blood-red man.”

“That was a butcher.”

The girl’s voice dropped to a whisper. “But Frau Trude, I was most terrified when I looked through your window. I saw not you, but what I truly believe was the devil himself—with a head of fire.”

“Oho!” said Frau Trude, and her voice changed. “Then you have seen the witch in her proper form. I have been waiting for you, wanting you, for a long time. You shall give me some light.”

And with those words, she transformed the girl into a block of wood and threw it into the fire. When the flames blazed bright, Frau Trude sat down beside it, warming herself.

“That shines bright for once,” she said with satisfaction, and watched the fire burn.

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About This Tale:

“Frau Trude” (tale #43 in the Grimm collection) is unusual among fairy tales because evil triumphs—there is no rescue, no escape, no redemption. The disobedient child is utterly defeated.

The story’s key elements have remained consistent across retellings:

• The willful protagonist who deliberately defies clear warnings
• The parental prohibition with severe consequences (disownment)
• The three colored men (black/charcoal burner, green/huntsman, red/butcher)
• The glimpse of the devil/witch in her true form
• The transformation into wood
• The final image of the witch warming herself by the fire of her victim

This tale belongs to the Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 334 (“Household of the Witch”) and shares structural similarities with the Russian tale “Vasilisa the Beautiful” and the Baba Yaga stories—though unlike Vasilisa, this protagonist does not survive her encounter.

In its historical context, “Frau Trude” served as a stark cautionary tale about obedience to parental authority. The Grimms themselves moderated earlier, even more graphic oral versions (which described the witch’s house as “draped in entrails”) across multiple editions, but they retained the dark core: some warnings exist for good reason, and some curiosity leads to irreversible consequences.

Modern readers might interpret the tale differently—as a commentary on the dangers of transgressing social boundaries, the price of seeing forbidden knowledge, or even (in some witch-tradition readings) as an initiation story where the girl’s transformation represents a dark awakening to hidden truths.

Whatever interpretation one chooses, “Frau Trude” remains one of the Grimms’ most uncompromising tales: a reminder that not all stories end with “happily ever after.”

Frau Trude (Mother Trudy) ala Gail Carson Levine

A Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale

There was once a girl who had a problem with authority. Not in a “I’m going through a phase” way, but in a “literally cannot follow a single instruction” way. Her parents would say, “Please don’t do that,” and she’d do it anyway, because apparently consequences were just suggestions.

One day she came home and announced, “I’m going to visit Frau Trude.”

Her parents exchanged the kind of look parents give each other when their child has just said something monumentally stupid.

“Absolutely not,” her mother said.

“Hard no,” her father agreed. “Frau Trude is dangerous. She practices dark magic. If you go to her house, you’re not our daughter anymore.”

The girl should have noticed they were being unusually specific about the consequences. They weren’t saying “you’re grounded” or “no supper.” They were literally threatening to disown her. That should have been a clue.

But she’d heard the stories—the strange lights in Frau Trude’s windows, the odd visitors, the whispers that nothing in that house was what it seemed. And the girl’s curiosity burned hotter than her common sense.

So she went.

The forest path was darker than she expected, the air colder. By the time she reached the cottage, her confidence had started to crack.

On the front steps sat a man whose skin and clothes were black as coal, soot smudged across his face. His eyes reflected no light. The girl’s stomach dropped, but she kept walking.

At the gate stood a man dressed in hunter’s green, perfectly still, staring at her with the predatory focus of something that had just spotted prey.

Near the door was a third man in a butcher’s apron, stained the deep red of fresh blood. He smiled at her. She wished he hadn’t.

By now, her hands were shaking. The smart thing would have been to turn around. But she’d come this far, and pride—that fatal, stupid pride—pushed her forward.

She crept to the window and looked inside.

What she saw stopped her breath.

In the center of the room stood a figure wreathed in flames—wild hair crackling with fire, eyes glowing like embers, skin flickering between flesh and something else entirely. Not human. Not remotely human.

The door opened behind her.

“Why are you so pale?” Frau Trude asked. She looked like an ordinary old woman now, but the girl knew what she’d just seen through that window.

“I—” The girl’s voice came out as a whisper. “I saw a black man on your steps.”

“That was a charcoal burner,” Frau Trude said, as if this were perfectly normal.

“Then a green man.”

“A huntsman.”

“And a man covered in blood—”

“A butcher.” Frau Trude’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. “What else did you see, child?”

The girl’s throat was dry. “Through the window. I saw… I think I saw the devil. With a head of fire.”

“Oho!” Frau Trude’s expression changed completely. The kindly-old-woman mask slipped away, revealing something ancient and pleased. “So you saw the witch in her proper form. Good. I’ve been waiting for you. Wanting you. For quite some time.”

The girl finally understood. The warnings had been real. Every single one of them.

“You shall give me some light,” Frau Trude said.

The girl didn’t even have time to scream. The transformation happened in an instant—flesh to wood, consciousness to kindling. Frau Trude picked up the block of wood that had been a girl and tossed it casually into the fireplace.

The flames roared to life, burning bright and hot.

Frau Trude settled into her chair, stretched her hands toward the warmth, and smiled with genuine contentment.

“That shines bright for once,” she said to the empty room.

The fire crackled and popped, and the witch sat warming herself for a long, long time.

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About This Tale:

“Frau Trude” (tale #43 in the Grimm collection) is one of the few fairy tales where evil wins, full stop. No rescue. No escape. No last-minute reversal. The protagonist made a choice, ignored every warning, and paid the ultimate price.

The key elements appear in every authentic version:

• The willfully disobedient protagonist who ignores explicit warnings
• The parental threat of disownment (not grounding—actual disownment)
• Three colored men (black charcoal burner, green huntsman, red butcher)
• The glimpse of the witch’s true form (the devil with a head of fire)
• The transformation into wood
• The final image of the witch warming herself by the fire made from her victim

This is Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 334 (“Household of the Witch”). It shares DNA with Russian tales like “Vasilisa the Beautiful” and Baba Yaga stories—the three colored figures, the supernatural dwelling, the test—but with one crucial difference: Vasilisa survives. This girl doesn’t.

The Grimms actually softened this tale over multiple editions. Earlier oral versions were even more graphic (the witch’s house was “draped in entrails”). But they kept the dark core intact: some doors shouldn’t be opened, some curiosity is fatal, and some warnings are given for very, very good reasons.

Modern readers have reinterpreted it in different ways—as commentary on transgressing social boundaries, the danger of forbidden knowledge, or even (in some witch traditions) as a dark initiation story where the transformation represents an awakening to hidden truths.

But the surface reading is simpler and more brutal: the girl was told exactly what would happen. She went anyway. And she burned for it.