The Tales of Beedle the Bard facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Harry Potter books The Tales of Beedle the Bard
The cover of the UK public paperback edition.
Author	J. K. Rowling
Illustrator	J. K. Rowling
Genre	Fantasy
Auction date	13 December 2007 (handmade edition)
Winning bid	£1.95 / US.98 / €2.28 million (Amazon.com)
Publisher	Children's High Level Group in association with Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Publication date	4 December 2008 (public edition)
Pages	Handmade edition: 157 Paperback edition: 110 Collector's edition: 180

The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a collection of fairy tales written by J. K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series. This book is also mentioned in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the last novel in the Harry Potter series.

Only seven special copies of the book were first made. J. K. Rowling wrote and drew pictures in each one by hand. One of these unique books was sold at an auction in 2007. It was bought by Amazon for a huge amount of money: £1.95 million (about $3.98 million or €2.7 million). This was the highest price ever paid for a modern handwritten book at an auction. All the money from this sale went to a charity called The Children's Voice.

The book was later released for everyone to buy on December 4, 2008. The money from these sales also went to charity, specifically to the Children's High Level Group. This charity was later renamed Lumos in 2010.

The Book in Harry Potter

The symbol of the Hallows found in "The Tale of the Three Brothers"

The Tales of Beedle the Bard first appeared as a fictional book in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. This was the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series, published in 2007.

In the story, Albus Dumbledore, the former headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, leaves the book to Hermione Granger in his will. It is described as a very popular collection of fairy tales for wizarding children. Because of this, Ron Weasley knows the stories well. However, Harry Potter and Hermione had never heard of them before. This is because they grew up in the non-magical world.

The copy Hermione gets from Dumbledore is an old version of the fictional book. It looks ancient, with its cover "stained and peeling in places." The book's title is written on its cover using special old symbols called runes.

This book helps introduce the Deathly Hallows to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Above the story "The Tale of the Three Brothers," Hermione finds a strange symbol. Later, Xenophilius Lovegood explains that this symbol represents the Hallows.

• The triangle in the symbol stands for the Cloak of Invisibility.
• The circle inside the triangle means the Resurrection Stone.
• The vertical line represents the Elder Wand.

These three magical objects are also mentioned in "The Tale of the Three Brothers." They are said to belong to the Peverell brothers. These brothers are later revealed to be ancestors of both Lord Voldemort and Harry. Dumbledore also confirms Harry's connection to the Peverells. He suggests that the three brothers might have actually created the Hallows themselves.

J. K. Rowling wrote an introduction for the public editions of the book. In it, she says that the fictional character Beedle the Bard was born in Yorkshire. He lived in the 15th century and had "an exceptionally luxuriant beard."

How the Book Was Made

J. K. Rowling began writing The Tales of Beedle the Bard after finishing the seventh Harry Potter novel. She shared that other books inspired her tales. For example, "The Tale of the Three Brothers" was inspired by "The Pardoner's Tale" from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. This is the only story from Beedle the Bard that is fully included in The Deathly Hallows.

Handmade Copies

At first, only seven special handmade copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard were created. J. K. Rowling wrote and illustrated each one herself. These books were bound in brown morocco leather. They were decorated with silver ornaments and semi-precious stones. A silversmith and jeweller named Hamilton & Inches from Edinburgh made these decorations. Each silver piece represents one of the five stories in the book. Rowling also asked for each of the seven copies to have a different semiprecious stone.

Six of these unique handwritten copies were given by Rowling to six people. These people were very important to the Harry Potter series. Their names were not known at first. However, two of them have since been identified. One is Barry Cunningham, Rowling's first editor. The other is Arthur A. Levine, an editor for Scholastic, the U.S. publisher of the Harry Potter books. Both Cunningham and Levine allowed their copies to be shown in Beedle the Bard exhibits in December 2008.

Rowling decided to create a seventh handwritten copy. This one had a moonstone jewel. She sold it at an auction to raise money for The Children's Voice charity.

The Auction

The Moonstone edition of the book was auctioned in December 2007.

The "Moonstone edition" of the book had 157 pages. It was shown to the public before the auction. This happened on November 26 in New York and December 9 in London. The book was auctioned on December 13, 2007, at Sotheby's in London.

The bidding started at £30,000 (about $62,000 or €46,000). People thought it would sell for around £50,000 (about $103,000 or €80,000). But the final bid was much higher. A representative from Hazlitt Gooden and Fox, on behalf of Amazon, bought it for £1.95 million (about $3.98 million or €2.28 million). This was the highest price ever paid for a modern handwritten book at that time. J. K. Rowling donated all the money from the auction to The Children's Voice charity.

Sotheby's also printed a special catalog for the auction. It had pictures from the book and comments from J. K. Rowling. This catalog was sold as a collector's item, and its sales also helped The Children's Voice.

Barry Cunningham's copy of the book was auctioned in November 2016. It sold for £368,750 on December 12, 2016. This book was also auctioned by Sotheby's in London. It was a leather-bound book decorated with rhodochrosite gemstones and a silver skull. This copy had a special note from Rowling to Cunningham. It thanked him for believing in her "overlong novel about a boy wizard." She also added a note saying the gemstones are "traditionally associated with love, balance and joy."

Public Editions

On July 31, 2008, it was announced that The Tales of Beedle the Bard would be available to everyone. It came in two versions: a standard edition and a collector's edition. The book was published by Children's High Level Group. It was printed and sold by Bloomsbury, Scholastic, and Amazon.com. This decision was made because many Harry Potter fans were disappointed when they first heard the book would not be widely released.

Like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages, this book also includes notes from Albus Dumbledore. He was the headmaster of Hogwarts and a main character in the series. The standard edition has illustrations copied from the handmade book that was auctioned. It also has an introduction written by J. K. Rowling.

The special collector's edition has ten extra illustrations by J. K. Rowling. These are not in the standard edition or the original handmade book. It also includes a copy of Rowling's handwritten introduction and other special items. These include fake gemstones and an emerald ribbon.

The book was released on December 4, 2008. Bloomsbury published it in the UK and Canada. Scholastic published the US edition. Amazon sold the limited collector's edition in all three countries. The limited edition cost £50 (about $100 or €100). Around 100,000 copies were printed. The book has been translated into 28 languages. All profits from the book sales went to the Children's High Level Group. By January 2010, the book had raised an estimated £11 million (about $17 million or €13 million) for charity.

The Stories in the Book

J. K. Rowling wrote five stories for The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

• "The Warlock's Hairy Heart" is not mentioned in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
• Three other stories are briefly mentioned: "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot," "The Fountain of Fair Fortune," and "Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump."
• "The Tale of the Three Brothers" is the only story that is fully included in The Deathly Hallows.

The Wizard and the Hopping Pot

This story is about an old man who was very kind. He used his magic to help people in need. He always said his special pot was the source of his helpful potions. When he died, he left everything to his only son. But the son was not kind like his father.

After his father's death, the son found the pot. Inside it was a single slipper and a note from his father. The note said, "In the fond hope, my son, that you will never need it." The son was angry because he only got a pot. He refused to help anyone who asked. Each time he turned someone away, the pot would start acting like the person who needed help. It would disturb the son and not let him rest. This continued until the son finally gave up and helped the town. As he helped, the pot's problems disappeared one by one. The son's trouble ended when the slipper fell out of the pot. He put the slipper on the pot's foot, and they walked off together.

The Fountain of Fair Fortune

This story tells of a magical fountain. Once a year, one person could bathe in it to solve their problems. Three witches decided to go to the fountain together:

• Asha, who had a serious illness.
• Altheda, who had lost her wand and money.
• Amata, who was sad after her boyfriend left her.

On their way, a knight named Sir Luckless, who was always unlucky, joined them.

On their journey, they faced three challenges:

• A giant worm that wanted "proof of [their] pain." Asha cried tears of frustration, which the worm drank.
• A steep slope where they needed to bring the "fruit of their labours." Altheda encouraged them to climb with her hard work and sweat.
• A river that needed "the treasure of [their] past" to cross. Amata used it like a Pensieve. It washed away her sadness about her cruel lover, so she no longer needed the fountain.

After crossing the river, Asha collapsed from tiredness. To save her, Altheda made a potion that also cured Asha's illness. This made Altheda realize she could earn money with her skills without the fountain. Sir Luckless then bathed in the fountain. After that, he asked Amata to marry him, and she happily agreed. Everyone found a solution to their problems, even though the fountain actually had no magic at all.

The Warlock's Hairy Heart

This story is about a handsome young warlock. He decided he would never fall in love. He used Dark Arts to stop himself from feeling love. His family hoped he would change, but they did nothing. One day, he heard two servants whispering that he had no wife. So, he decided to find a talented, rich, and beautiful witch to marry. He wanted everyone to be jealous.

By chance, he met such a girl the next day. She was both "fascinated and repelled" by him. The warlock convinced her to come to a dinner at his castle. During the dinner, she told him she needed to know he had a heart. The warlock then showed her his beating heart. It was covered in hair and kept in a crystal box in his dungeon. The witch begged him to put it back inside himself. When he did, she hugged him. However, his heart had been separated from his body for too long. It had become wild and animal-like. He felt a strong urge to take a truly human heart. He tore out the witch's heart to replace his own. But he could not magic the hairy heart back out of his chest. So, he cut it out with a dagger. Both he and the maiden died, with him holding both hearts in his hands.

Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump

This story is about a king who wanted to keep all magic for himself. To do this, he needed to do two things: capture all sorcerers in his kingdom and learn magic himself. He created a "Brigade of Witch Hunters" and asked for a magic teacher. Only a "cunning charlatan" (a trickster) who had no magic responded. The charlatan used simple tricks to prove himself. He then started asking for jewels and money to keep teaching.

One day, Babbitty, the king's washerwoman, laughed at the king. He was trying to do magic with an ordinary stick. This made the king demand that the charlatan join him in a public magic show. He warned that the charlatan would be beheaded if anyone laughed. The charlatan later saw Babbitty doing real magic in her house. He threatened to tell on her if she did not help him. She agreed to hide and help the show.

During the performance, the brigade captain asked the king to bring his dead dog back to life. Babbitty could not use magic to raise the dead. So, the crowd thought the king's earlier acts were tricks. The charlatan then exposed Babbitty, saying she was blocking the spells. Babbitty ran into a forest and disappeared at the base of an old tree. In desperation, the charlatan said she had turned "into a crab apple." He then had the tree cut down.

As the crowd left, the tree stump started cackling. It made the charlatan confess his tricks. The stump cackled again. It demanded that the king never hurt a wizard again. It also asked him to build a statue of Babbitty on the stump to remind him of his foolishness. The king agreed and went back to his palace. Afterward, a "stout old rabbit" with a wand in its teeth hopped out from a hole under the stump and left the kingdom.

The Tale of the Three Brothers

This story is about three brothers who were traveling together. They reached a dangerous river. They used magic to build a bridge over it. Just as they crossed, they met Death himself. Death was angry because he had lost three possible victims. He pretended to be impressed and offered each brother a gift as a reward. He hoped to use these gifts to cause their deaths later.

• The oldest brother asked for an unbeatable dueling wand. Death gave him the Elder Wand.
• The middle brother asked for the power to bring back the dead. He wanted to embarrass Death even more. So, Death gave him the Resurrection Stone.
• The youngest brother was more humble. He did not trust Death. He asked for a way to stop Death from following him. Death reluctantly gave him his Cloak of Invisibility.

Afterward, the brothers went their separate ways.

The oldest brother used the Elder Wand to kill a man he had argued with. But he bragged about the wand's power. This led to him being robbed of the wand and murdered in his sleep. Death then claimed him. The middle brother used the Resurrection Stone to bring back the woman he loved. But she was sad and cold, not truly alive. He eventually took his own life to join her, allowing Death to claim him too.

However, Death could never find the youngest brother. He stayed hidden under the invisibility cloak for many years. When he was very old, the brother took off his cloak and gave it to his son. He was happy with the life he had lived. He greeted Death like an old friend and an equal. He then died peacefully of natural causes.

Live Show

A live puppet show based on "The Fountain of Fair Fortune" and "The Tale of the Three Brothers" is performed daily. You can see it at the Diagon Alley area of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Florida.

Film Adaptation

"The Tale of the Three Brothers" was originally in the novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Because of this, the story was also made into an animated short film. This short appeared in the first movie adaptation of the novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. Ben Hibon directed the animated part, which was made at Framestore. In the movie, just like in the book, Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) narrates the story.

See also

• List of most expensive books and manuscripts