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Once Upon a Time…
The Story of “Rumpelstiltskin”
By Steve Scott
For Ghostwritten, Naomi Iizuka has
drawn upon a wide variety of influences
and sources. Among the most fascinating
is her reference to that most magical
and terrifying of folk tales, the story
of “Rumpelstiltskin”:
Once upon a time, there was a poor
miller who had a beautiful daughter.
Wanting to appear more important, the
miller told the king that his daughter
could spin straw into gold. The king
called for the girl and told her that she
must do her magical work for three
nights or face execution. Beside herself
with worry, the girl was about to give up
hope when a dwarf appeared, offering to
spin the straw into gold in exchange for
the girl’s necklace, and on the second
night, for her ring. On the third night,
left with nothing else to reward the
dwarf, the girl promised to give the dwarf
her firstborn child. He agreed, and the
next morning the king was so impressed
with the girl’s work that he asked for her
hand in marriage.
The next day, the queen told the dwarf
his name. Enraged, Rumpelstiltskin
stomped his foot so hard that he drove
his entire leg into the ground, then
pulled at his left leg so hard that he
tore himself in two.
A German folktale dating from the mid-
16th century, “Rumpelstiltskin” was
first published by the Brothers Grimm
in the 1812 edition of Children’s and
Household Tales. After numerous revisions,
the most enduring version (including
the violent fate of the title character)
appeared in 1857. Since then, the story
has been told in dozens of other countries
and languages; it has been lauded
as a cautionary fable against bragging,
condemned as evidence of medieval
German anti-Semitism and analyzed as
an instructive tale about value of household
skills for young housewives-to-be.
It has even been used to define the modern
psychological syndrome of superiors
who demand unreasonable efforts from
their workers.
Among the most potent explorations of
the collision between the worlds of magic
and reality in all of literature, the myth of
“Rumpelstiltskin” has inspired film and
dramatic versions, contemporary retellings
(Vivian Vande Velde’s young-adult story
collection The Rumpelstiltskin Problem
investigates the story from the dwarf’s
point of view) and a raft of psychological
treatises. The story’s depiction of human
greed, an otherworldly figure with both
magical and destructive powers and the
impending loss of a beloved child strikes
primal chords in all of us, and is echoed
to haunting effect in Naomi Iizuka’s
masterful play.
In time, the king and queen brought a
beautiful baby into the world, and the
queen forgot about her promise. But
one night the little man reappeared,
demanding the child. In desperation,
the queen offered the dwarf all of the
riches of the kingdom; he refused.
When she broke down in tears, the
dwarf reluctantly agreed that she could
keep her child if she could guess his
name in the span of three days. For two
days she failed; but just before the third
day, the queen’s messenger came upon
the dwarf in the forest, hopping around
his fire and singing,
Today do I bake, tomorrow I brew,
The day after that the queen’s child
comes in;
And oh! I am glad that nobody knew
That the name I am called is
Rumpelstiltskin!
Woodcut of “Rumpelstiltskin.”
NEA Brings Ghostwritten to Life
The Goodman is pleased to acknowledge
the National Endowment for the Arts as
a sponsor of the world-premiere production
of Naomi Izuka’s Ghostwritten. The
National Endowment for the Arts is a public
agency dedicated to supporting excellence
in the arts, both new and established;
bringing the arts to all Americans;
and providing leadership in arts education.
Production support from the National
Endowment for the Arts is vital to the
Goodman’s ability to present the highest
quality productions of vibrant classics,
richly diverse plays and exciting new work
from the country’s finest playwrights.
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