Rumpelstiltskin Story: The Original Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale

Short answer: Rumpelstiltskin is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and first published in 1812 in Children's and Household Tales (tale number 55). A miller's daughter must spin straw into gold for a king. A small man does it for her, and in return she promises him her firstborn child. She can only keep the child by guessing his name.

This summary follows the 1857 edition, using D. L. Ashliman's English translation. Edition differences come from Wikipedia, "Rumpelstiltskin".

The story, step by step

1. The miller's boast

A poor miller, trying to look important, tells the king that his daughter can spin straw into gold. The king takes him at his word.

2. The first night

The king locks the daughter in a room full of straw with a spinning wheel. She must spin it all into gold by morning, or she will be killed. She cannot do it, and she starts to cry.

A little man appears and offers to help. She gives him her necklace. He spins the straw into gold overnight.

3. The second night

The king, pleased but greedy, puts her in a larger room of straw. The little man returns, and this time she gives him her ring. Again, he spins it all into gold.

4. The third night

The king takes her to an even larger room and promises to marry her if she succeeds. She has nothing left to give. The little man asks instead for her first child once she is queen. She agrees, thinking he may never come back. He spins the straw, and the king marries her.

5. The return

A year later, the queen has her first child. The little man comes to collect. She offers him all the wealth of the kingdom, but he refuses. He takes pity on her and gives her one chance: if she can guess his name within three days, she keeps the child.

6. The search for the name

Over the first two days, she guesses every name she can think of, along with unusual names her messengers bring back. None are right.

On the third day, a messenger reports seeing a little man in the woods, hopping on one leg around a fire outside a small house and singing a song that gives away his name: Rumpelstiltskin.

7. The name

When the little man comes back, the queen first tries "Kunz" and "Heinz," then says "Rumpelstiltskin."

Two endings

The ending changed between editions:

• 1812 first edition: he runs away angrily and never comes back.
• 1857 edition: he stamps his right foot so hard it goes into the ground up to his waist, then grabs his left foot and tears himself in two.

According to Wikipedia, an oral version collected by the Grimms had him fly out the window on a cooking ladle. Other retellings have him fall into a chasm.

Folklore classification

In the Aarne–Thompson–Uther (ATU) index, which folklorists use to sort tales by plot, Rumpelstiltskin is type ATU 500, "The Name of the Supernatural Helper."

From fairy tale to film to meme

The story has been adapted many times. One well-known version is the 1987 Cannon musical Rumpelstiltskin, with Billy Barty in the title role. See Rumpelstiltskin 1987.

In 2026, an AI-generated clip borrowed the tale's most visual moment, the little man and the straw turning into gold, and turned it into a dance. The imp tip-toes around a frightened young woman in a straw-filled barn. It went viral after being paired with Riff Raff's "Tip Toe Wing In My Jawwdinz." The full history is in the Rumpelstiltskin meme explained.

If you want to be the one dancing, our Rumpelstiltskin AI video generator makes a version from your photo.

FAQ

Who wrote Rumpelstiltskin?

It is a folk tale collected and published by the Brothers Grimm, first in 1812 in Children's and Household Tales.

What does Rumpelstiltskin want in the story?

After spinning straw into gold three times, he asks for the miller's daughter's firstborn child.

How does the queen find out his name?

A messenger sees him hopping around a fire in the woods and singing a song that reveals his name.

How does Rumpelstiltskin end?

In the 1812 edition he runs away and never returns. In the 1857 edition he tears himself in two.

Is the Rumpelstiltskin meme based on the fairy tale?

The AI clip borrows the setting, a little man spinning straw into gold, but the dance itself is not in the original story.