The Battle of the Birds facts for kids
The Battle of the Birds is a classic Scottish fairy tale. It was first written down by John Francis Campbell in his book Popular Tales of the West Highlands. He heard the story from a fisherman named John Mackenzie. Later, Joseph Jacobs included it in his Celtic Fairy Tales.
This exciting tale also appears in other well-known collections. These include The Lilac Fairy Book by Andrew Lang. It is also in A Book of British Fairy Tales by Alan Garner.
Contents
The Prince's Adventure
A king's son once went to see a huge battle. It was a fight where every animal was involved! He promised his father he would bring back news. He wanted to know who would be the king of the animals that year.
He arrived when the fight was almost over. Only a snake and a raven were still battling. The prince quickly cut off the snake's head. The raven was very thankful for his help.
A Magical Journey
In thanks, the raven flew the prince to a castle. His sister lived there, and the prince stayed the night. The raven then flew him to another castle. The prince spent another night there. The next morning, he met a handsome young man. This young man was actually the enchanted raven!
The youth gave the prince a special bundle. He warned him not to open it. The prince should only open it when he was in the place he most wanted to be.
The Giant's Demand
As the prince got close to his father's home, he opened the bundle. Suddenly, a huge castle appeared! An angry giant then showed up. He demanded to know why the prince had put the castle there. The giant offered to make the castle disappear. But only if the prince gave him his first son. This would happen when the son turned seven years old.
The prince then went a bit further. He opened the bundle again near his father's lands. Another castle appeared, and this time it stayed. Inside, he found a beautiful young woman. She agreed to become his wife.
A Difficult Promise
The prince and his wife had a son. Seven years later, the giant returned. The prince and his wife tried to trick the giant. They offered the cook's son, then the butcher's son. But in the end, they had to give their own son to the giant.
The giant raised the boy. One day, the boy heard music. He followed the sound and found the giant's youngest daughter. She told him something important. The next day, the giant would ask him to marry one of her two older sisters. But she wanted him to insist on marrying her instead. She did not like the husband her father wanted for her.
Impossible Tasks
The prince asked to marry the youngest daughter. The giant was annoyed. He told the prince he had to clean out the byre (a cowshed). If he didn't, he would be killed instead of marrying the daughter. The prince started to clean. At noon, the daughter came by. The prince fell asleep, but when he woke, the byre was clean!
The giant knew the prince hadn't cleaned it himself. So, he gave him another task. He had to thatch the roof with birds' down (soft feathers). The prince tried to hunt birds. At noon, the daughter put him to sleep again. When he woke, the roofs were covered with feathers.
The giant knew again that the prince hadn't done it. His next task was to fetch down a bird's nest from a tall tree. The prince tried to climb, but only got halfway. The daughter then built him a ladder using her own fingers! When he got the nest down, she left her little finger in the tree.
The Escape
The daughter told the prince that the giant would ask him to pick her out from her sisters. The only way to know her would be that she was missing her little finger. The wedding happened, and the prince easily picked his bride.
The giant told them to go to rest. But the daughter told her husband they had to escape right away! They took a gray filly (a young female horse). She left behind slices of apples. These apples answered the giant when he called. Only when the last apple spoke did the giant realize they had fled.
He chased after them. When the giant almost caught them, the daughter told the prince to take a twig from the filly's ear. He threw it behind them, and it became a thick forest! The giant got through it. Then they threw a pebble, and it became a huge mountain. The giant got through that too. Finally, they threw a flask of water. It became a giant wave and drowned the giant!
A Forgotten Love
The daughter warned the prince not to let anyone or anything in his father's house kiss him. If he did, he would forget her. But a greyhound leaped up and kissed him. Just as she warned, he forgot the daughter.
She stayed in a tree by a well. A shoemaker's wife and daughter came to get water. They both saw her shadow and thought it was their own. They believed they were too beautiful to fetch water. So, the shoemaker went himself. He saw her and convinced her to come down.
She stayed at his house. Some young men tried to win her over. But she made them stick to the latch of the door so they couldn't get near her. The shoemaker was making shoes for the king's son. The prince was about to marry someone else! The daughter convinced the shoemaker to take her with him.
She then magically created a silver pigeon and a gold pigeon, along with some grains. The silver pigeon ate the grains. Then the golden pigeon reminded the prince of everything the giant's daughter had done for him. At that moment, the prince remembered her! He married her a second time.
Similar Stories Around the World
Many fairy tales from different countries share parts of "The Battle of the Birds." These similar stories are called "variants."
European Versions
- In Ireland, there's a tale called The Giant and his Royal Servants.
- Joseph Jacobs noted that many similar stories have been found among the Celtic people.
- In Finland, stories often involve rescuing an eagle or raven. They also feature a magical journey and a special box that's hard to close.
- An Estonian tale, Rüütli poeg ("A Knight's Son"), also starts with animals fighting. It includes a knight helping a bird and getting a magical box.
Eastern European Versions
- In places like Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, it's common to find stories that combine the "animal battle" and "magical flight" themes.
- A Ukrainian story called The Magic Egg tells of a lark and a shrew-mouse fighting. An archer helps an eagle and gets a magic egg. When he opens it, a magical ox appears, and he needs help to put it back.
- In Russia, the famous "The Sea King" character appears in a similar tale. It's called The Water King and Vasilissa the Wise. Here, a king helps an eagle and gets two magical caskets. He can't close them until the Sea Tsar helps him.
- Many Russian versions collected by Alexander Afanasyev in the 1800s also start with a hero's father helping an eagle. He then gets a magical box that he can't close.
Asian Versions
- The Evenk people have a story called The Grateful Eagle. It begins with an eagle and a lion fighting. The eagle is hurt and helped by an old couple. The eagle then takes the old man on a journey and gives him a casket. Like other versions, the man opens it and can't close it. A mysterious man helps him in exchange for his newborn son.
