The Singing Bone facts for kids

The Singing Bone (German: Der singende Knochen) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. It is tale number 28 in their famous collection. This story is also known as Aarne-Thompson type 780, which is a way to classify different kinds of folk tales based on their plot.

What Happens in the Story?

A long time ago, a wild boar was causing a lot of trouble in a country. It was destroying farms and scaring people. The king offered a special prize to anyone who could defeat the boar: they would get to marry the princess!

Two brothers decided to try and kill the boar. The younger brother was very brave. He met a friendly dwarf who gave him a magical spear. With this spear, the younger brother bravely faced the wild boar and defeated it!

As he was carrying the boar back, he met his older brother. The older brother had been relaxing with friends and felt a bit jealous. He tricked his younger brother into telling him all about his adventure.

The two brothers then started walking towards the king's castle to show off the boar. But as they crossed a bridge, the older brother did something terrible. He attacked his younger brother and hid his body under the bridge. The older brother then took the boar to the king, pretending he was the one who had killed it. The king believed him, and the older brother married the princess.

Much later, a shepherd was walking near the same bridge. He found a strange bone under it. He thought it would make a good mouthpiece for his horn. But when he blew into the horn, it didn't make a normal sound! Instead, the horn sang a sad song:

"Ah! Dear shepherd, you are blowing your horn With one of my bones, which night and morn Lie still unburied, beneath the wave Where I was thrown in a sandy grave. I killed the wild boar, and my brother slew me, And gained the princess by pretending 'twas he."

The shepherd was amazed! He quickly took the singing horn to the king. The king listened to the song and realized something was wrong. He ordered his guards to search under the bridge. There, they found the bones of the younger brother.

The older brother could not deny what he had done. As a punishment for his terrible actions, he was punished. The younger brother's bones were then given a beautiful and respectful burial.

Where Did This Story Come From?

Stories like "The Singing Bone" have been told for a very long time. Some experts, like Graham Anderson, think that this fairy tale might be connected to an ancient Greek story about a hero named Meleager and a creature called the Calydonian boar.

In both stories, a person hunts a wild animal, and then a family member is harmed. The truth eventually comes out, often because of a hidden object, and the person who caused the harm is punished.

Other Versions of the Story

The idea of a singing bone or a magical object revealing a secret is found in many different stories and songs around the world.

In Music

• The famous Austrian composer Gustav Mahler wrote a large musical piece called Das klagende Lied (which means "The Song of Lament") that is partly based on "The Singing Bone."
• This story also appears in old folk songs, like the ballad "The Twa Sisters" (meaning "The Two Sisters"). In this song, the siblings are sisters instead of brothers, and one sister harms the other.

In Books

• A modern suspense novel for adults, called The Singing Bone (2016) by Beth Hahn, was inspired by the folk song "The Twa Sisters."