Rumpelstiltskin

"Then he seized his left foot with both hands in such a fury that he split in two."

- "Rumpelstiltskin," the Brothers Grimm

was inspired by the classic Brothers Grimm tale "Rumpelstiltskin." In the story, a poor miller brought his daughter before the king claiming she had the ability to spin straw into gold. The king entertained this wild story by locking the girl into a room full of straw and demanding her to spin the entirety into gold. If she failed, she would be put to death. The girl began to weep at her fate until a small man entered the room and exclaimed he could do the task for her in exchange for a reward. She promised him her necklace, and the small man spun all of the straw into gold. The king saw what the girl had done and was astonished, but instead of letting her go, he took her to a new room full of straw and demanded she repeat the deed. There she sat unsure of what to do, and the little man appeared yet again. This time the girl promised him her ring in exchange for spinning the gold. The king saw the result and was again astonished. He took the girl to a third room, full of straw and pronounced that, if she succeeded a third time, she would become his wife. The girl sat in the room full of straw, and yet again the little man appeared; but this time, he demanded that if the girl became queen, she would have to give the little man her first-born child. The girl had no choice but to agree, and the little man spun the straw into gold with ease. The king discovered that the girl had succeeded, and they got married immediately. A year later the girl, now the queen, gave birth to a beautiful child. Shortly after, the little man appeared and demanded what was promised to him. The queen began to lament and cry so much that the little man gave her an opportunity to keep her child. The little man gave her three days to guess his name. The queen thought of every name she could, sent out messengers far and wide, but to no avail. But, on the third day a messenger returned who had stumbled upon the little man deep in the wilderness, dancing and chanting around a fire. It was there he learned his name was Rumpelstiltskin. So when the little man appeared for the last time to collect the child, the queen was able to guess his name. The little man was so furious that he tore himself in two.