"Iron John" (also "Iron Hans"; ) is a German fairy tale found in the collections of the Brothers Grimm, tale number 136, about an iron-skinned wild man and a prince. The original German title is , a compound of "iron" and (like English John, a common short form of the personal name Johannes). It represents Aarne–Thompson type 502, "The wild man as a helper".Aarne, Antti; Thompson, Stith. The types of the folktale: a classification and bibliography. Folklore Fellows Communications FFC no. 184. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1961. pp. 169-170.
Most people see the story as a parable about a boy maturing into adulthood. The story also became the basis for the book Iron John: A Book About Men by Robert Bly which spawned the mythopoetic men's movement in the early 1990s. The book spent 62 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Origin According to the Brothers Grimm, the source of Eisern Hans, in their compilation, was tale nr. 17 from Friedmund von Arnim's book.Grimm, Jacob, and Wilhelm Grimm. Kinder Und Hausmärchen: Gesammelt Durch Die Brüder Grimm. 3. aufl. Göttingen: Dieterich, 1856. pp. 218-219.von Arnim, Friedmund. Hundert neue Mährchen im Gebirge gesammelt. Bauer. 1844. pp. 112-121.
Synopsis
Once upon a time, there was a kingdom that was near a great forest that was filled with all types of wild animals. The King sends a huntsman into the forest nearby to hunt a deer and the huntsman never returns. The King sends more men into the forest where they each meet with the same fate. The King sends all his remaining huntsmen out as a group, but again, none return. The king proclaims the woods as dangerous and off-limits to all.
Some years later, a wandering explorer accompanied by a dog hears of these dangerous woods and asks permission to hunt in the forest, claiming that he might be able to discover the fate of the other hunters. The man and his dog are allowed to enter. As they come to a lake in the middle of the forest, the dog is dragged under water by a giant bare arm. The hunter returns to the forest the next day with a group of men to empty the lake. They find lying down at the bottom of the lake a large and naked wild man with rusted iron-like skin (some versions show him in some article of clothing) and sporting a shaggy beard and hair that are long enough to go down to his knees. They capture him and he is locked in a cage in the courtyard as a curiosity. The king declares that no one is allowed to set the wild man free or they will face the penalty of death.
Years later, the 8-year-old prince is playing with a ball in the courtyard. He accidentally rolls it into the cage where the iron-skinned man picks it up and will only return it if he is set free. He states further that the only key to the cage is hidden beneath the queen's pillow.
Though the prince hesitates, he eventually builds up the courage to sneak into his mother's room and steal the key. He releases the wild iron-skinned man who reveals his name to be Iron John (or Iron Hans depending on the translation). The prince fears he will be killed for setting Iron John free, so Iron John agrees to take the prince with him into the forest.
Iron John is a powerful being and has many treasures that he guards. He sets the prince to watch over his well, but warns him not to let anything touch it or fall in because it will turn instantly to gold. The prince obeys at first, but begins to play in the well eventually turning all his hair into gold. Disappointed in the boy's failure, Iron John sends him away to experience poverty and struggle. Iron John also tells the prince that if he ever needs anything, simply to call the name of Iron John three times.
The prince travels to a distant land and offers his services to its king. Since he is ashamed of his golden hair, he refuses to remove his cap before its king and is sent to assist the gardener.
When war comes to the kingdom, the prince sees his chance to make a name for himself. He calls upon Iron John, who gives him a horse, armor, and a legion of iron warriors to fight alongside him. The prince successfully defends his new homeland, but returns all that he borrowed to Iron John before returning to his former position.
In celebration, the king announces a banquet and offers his daughter's hand in marriage to any one of the knights who can catch a golden apple that will be thrown into their midst. The king hopes that the mysterious knight who saved the kingdom will show himself for such a prize. Again the prince asks Iron John for help, and again Iron John disguises the prince as the mysterious knight. Though the prince catches the golden apple and escapes, and does so again on two more occasions, he is eventually found out.
After telling his tale to the court, the prince is returned to his former station, marries the princess, and is happily reunited with his parents. Iron John too comes to the wedding. This time, he is seen without his wild man appearance that made him frightening, as his true form is a stately king. Iron John reveals to the prince he was under an enchantment until he found someone worthy and pure of heart to set him free, and in his gratitude he bequeaths all his treasures to the prince.
Analysis Tale type The tale is classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 502, "The Wild Man as Helper".Aarne, Antti; Thompson, Stith. The types of the folktale: a classification and bibliography. Folklore Fellows Communications FFC no. 184. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1961. pp. 170–171.
The oldest variant to be preserved is the Italian Guerrino and the Savage Man.Paul Delarue, The Borzoi Book of French Folk-Tales, p 384, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York 1956 In chivalric romance the motif appears in recognizable if rationalized form in Roswall and Lillian.Hibbard, Laura A. Medieval Romance in England. New York: Burt Franklin, 1963. p. 291. This in turn influenced the ballad The Lord of Lorn and the False Steward, too closely related not to be derived.Laura A. Hibbard, Medieval Romance in England p290-1 New York Burt Franklin,1963
Related tales A more widespread variant, found in Europe, Asia, and Africa, opens with the prince for some reason being the servant of an evil being, where he gains the same gifts, and the tale proceeds as in this variant; one such tale is The Magician's Horse.Stith Thompson, The Folktale, p 59-60, University of California Press, Berkeley Los Angeles London, 1977 These tales are classified in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as ATU 314, "The Goldener": a youth with golden hair works as the king's gardener. In this regard, Germanist , in Enzyklopädie des Märchens, suggested that tale type ATU 502 should be treated as an introductory episode, since both types (ATU 502 and ATU 314) "largely" have the same narrative sequence. Also, he noted that the type was marked by the release of the wild man prisoner by the hero.Dammann, Günter. "Mann: Der wilde Mann (AaTh 502)" [Wild Man (ATU 502)]. In: Enzyklopädie des Märchens Online, edited by Rolf Wilhelm Brednich, Heidrun Alzheimer, Hermann Bausinger, Wolfgang Brückner, Daniel Drascek, Helge Gerndt, Ines Köhler-Zülch, Klaus Roth and Hans-Jörg Uther. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2016 . pp. 218-219. https://www-degruyter-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/database/EMO/entry/emo.9.043/html. Accessed 2023-06-30. Similarly, German scholar Hans-Jörg Uther noted that type ATU 502 is "often" the first part to ATU 314, "Goldener".
Another closely related tale is the former tale type AT 532, "I Don't Know" or Neznaiko (a sapient horse instructs the hero to play dumb).Cooper, David L. (editor/translator); Dobšinský, Pavol (collector). Traditional Slovak Folktales. Armonk, New York; London, England: M. E. Sharpe. 2001. p. 274. . The former type happens in Hungarian tale NemtutkaArnold Ipolyi. Ipolyi Arnold népmesegyüjteménye (Népköltési gyüjtemény 13. kötet). Budapest: Az Athenaeum Részvénytársualt Tulajdona. 1914. pp. 196-202. and Russian tale Story of Ivan, the Peasant's Son.Steele, Robert. The Russian garland: being Russian folk tales. London: A.M. Philpot. [1916?] pp. 39-49.
These three tale types (ATU 502, ATU 314 and AaTh 532), which refer to a male protagonist expelled from home, are said to be "widespread in Europe".
Variants Tale type ATU 502 is known throughout Europe,Cosquin, Emmanuel. Contes populaires de Lorraine comparés avec les contes des autres provinces de France et des pays étrangers, et précedés d'un essai sur l'origine et la propagation des contes populaires européens. Tome I. Paris: Vieweg. 1887. pp. 138-154. in such variants as The Hairy Man.Stith Thompson, The Folktale, p. 60-1, University of California Press, Berkeley Los Angeles London, 1977 The tale type is said to be common in Russian and Ukraine, but "disseminated" in Western Europe. The type can also be found in India, Indonesia and Turkey.
Slavic According to Germanist , in Enzyklopädie des Märchens, the wild man, in Slavic and Eastern European variants, is described as having iron, copper or gold skin.Dammann, Günter. "Mann: Der wilde Mann (AaTh 502)" [Wild Man (ATU 502)]. In: Enzyklopädie des Märchens Online, edited by Rolf Wilhelm Brednich, Heidrun Alzheimer, Hermann Bausinger, Wolfgang Brückner, Daniel Drascek, Helge Gerndt, Ines Köhler-Zülch, Klaus Roth and Hans-Jörg Uther. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2016 . p. 220. https://www-degruyter-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/database/EMO/entry/emo.9.043/html. Accessed 2023-06-17.
The tale type is also reported in the East Slavic Folktale Classification () as type SUS 502, : the prince releases a supernatural prisoner his father captured, and is expelled from home; he reaches another kingdom and, through heroics, gets to marry a princess.Barag, Lev. "Сравнительный указатель сюжетов. Восточнославянская сказка". Leningrad: НАУКА, 1979. pp. 143-144. In addition, according to Jack V. Haney, the story is "known" in Russia since 1786, via printed books, and the supernatural captive is either a bogatyr or a forest spirit.
Germanic Germany According to Jack Zipes, another literary predecessor to the Grimm's tale in German tradition is Christian August Vulpius's Der eiserne Mann, oder: Der Lohn der Gehorsams ("The Iron Man, or, The Reward of Obedience"). Germanist collected another German variant, from Gutenberg, titled Der eiserne Mann ("The Iron Man").Sommer, Emil. Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Sachsen und Thüringen. Volume 1. Halle: 1846. pp. 86-91.