2816) "Das tapfere Schneiderlein," (or "The Brave Little Tailor"), Federal Republik of Germany: "200 Years of Grimm's Fairy tales Coin Series - 1812-2012": A €20 Silver Collector Coin released by the Karlsruhe State Mint featuring the popular children's tale: Date of Coin issue: 19.01.2023:
The German Federal Republic’s Ministry of Finance and Munze Deutschland have launched their first €20 silver collector coin for 2023, which features the stories from the famed Brothers Grimm.
The series launched in 2012 in time for the 200th Anniversary of their first collection of children’s tales titled "Kinder- und Hausmärchen" (“Children’s and Household Tales”), which was first published in 1812.
The numismatic collector series began as 10-Euro Coins and transitioned to €20 denominations in 2016. A Proof Quality Coin in the denomination of 5 Euros has also been issued.
In recognition of the literary value to European and World culture, the work of the Brothers Grimm was added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 2005.
This Silver Coin titled - "Brave Little Tailor" is the 8th issue of the series "200 years of Grimm's fairy tales", which started in 2012.
On 20.12.1812, the first volume of children's and house fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm was published. It belongs to the World Documentary Heritage since 2005.
"Das tapfere Schneiderlein," (or "The Brave Little Tailor"):
The Brave Little Tailor" or "The Valiant Little Tailor" or "The Gallant Tailor" (German: "Das tapfere Schneiderlein") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm.
It was a story of Aarne–Thompson (Type 1640), with individual episodes classified in other story types.
Andrew Lang included it in "The Blue Fairy Book". The tale was translated as "Seven at One Blow".
Another of many versions of the tale appears in "A Book of Giants" by Ruth Manning-Sanders.
The Brothers Grimm published this tale in the first edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen in 1812, based on various oral and printed sources, including "Der Wegkürzer" (c. 1557) by Martinus Montanus.
The Tale:
The "Brave Little Tailor" is about a humble tailor who tricks many giants and a ruthless king into believing in the tailor's incredible feats of strength and bravery, leading to him winning wealth and power.
A tailor is preparing to eat some jam, but when flies settle on it, he kills seven of them with one blow of his hand.
He makes a belt describing the deed, reading "Seven at One Blow".
Inspired, he sets out into the world to seek his fortune.
The tailor meets a giant who assumes that "Seven at One Blow" refers to seven men. The giant challenges the tailor.
When the giant squeezes water from a boulder, the tailor squeezes milk, or whey, from cheese. The giant throws a rock far into the air, and it eventually lands. The tailor counters the feat by tossing a bird that flies away into the sky; the giant believes the small bird is a "rock" which is thrown so far that it never lands.
Later, the giant asks the tailor to help him carry a tree. The tailor directs the giant to carry the trunk, while the tailor will carry the branches. Instead, the tailor climbs on, so the giant carries him as well, but it appears as if the tailor is supporting the branches.
Impressed, the giant brings the tailor to the giant's home, where other giants live as well. During the night, the giant attempts to kill the tailor by bashing the bed.
However, the tailor, having found the bed too large, had slept in the corner. Upon returning and seeing the tailor alive, the other giants flee in fear of the small man.
The tailor enters the royal service, but the other soldiers are afraid that he will lose his temper someday, and then seven of them might die with every blow. They tell the king that either the tailor leaves military service or they will. Afraid of being killed for sending him away, the king instead attempts to get rid of the tailor by sending him to defeat two giants along with a hundred horsemen, offering him half his kingdom and his daughter's hand in marriage if the tailor can kill the giants.
By throwing rocks at the two giants while they sleep, the tailor provokes the pair into fighting each other until they kill each other, at which time the tailor stabs the giants in their hearts.
The king, surprised the tailor has succeeded, reneges on his promise, and requires more of the tailor before he may claim his rewards.
The king next sends him after a unicorn, another seemingly impossible task, but the tailor traps it by standing before a tree, so that when the unicorn charges, he steps aside and it drives its horn into the trunk. The king subsequently sends him after a wild boar, but the tailor traps it in a chapel with a similar luring technique.
Duly impressed, the king relents, marries the tailor to the princess, and makes the tailor the ruler of half the original kingdom.
The tailor's new wife hears him talking in his sleep and realizes with fury that he was merely a tailor and not a noble hero. Upon the princess's demands, the king promises to have him killed or carried off.
A squire warns the tailor of the king's plan. While the king's servants are outside the door, the brave little tailor pretends to be talking in his sleep and says "Boy, make the jacket for me, and patch the trousers, or I will hit you across your ears with a yardstick! I have struck down seven with one blow, killed two giants, led away a unicorn, and captured a wild boar, and I am supposed to be afraid of those who are standing just outside the bedroom!"
Terrified, the king's servants leave. The king does not try to assassinate the tailor again and so the tailor lives out his days as a king in his own right.
Adaptations:
- Mickey Mouse appeared in a 1938 Disney short cartoon, "Brave Little Tailor", based on this tale.
- Tibor Harsányi composed a suite, "L'histoire du petit tailleur", for narrator, seven instruments, and percussion in 1950. One of the most famous recordings of this work was performed by the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire conducted by Georges Prêtre, with Peter Ustinov as the narrator reading in both English (Angel Records, 1966) and French (Pour les Enfants, EMI Classics France, 2002).
- The story formed an episode of the second season of Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics, a 1987–1989 anime television series.
- The "Valiant Little Tailor" was featured in the first season of "Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child", a 1995–2000 HBO animated TV series, where it was set in the West African Sahel.
The tailor was called "Bongo" and was voiced by David Alan Grier and also featured the voice talents of James Earl Jones as King Dakkar, Mark Curry as the Giant, Dawnn Lewis as Princess Songe, and Zakes Mokae as an exclusive character named Mr. Barbooska.
- "Le vaillant petit tailleur" is a 2004 French-language novel by Éric Chevillard retelling the fairy tale in a postmodernist way.
- "Satmaar Palowan" ("The Wrestler Who Kills Seven"), a short story by Bengali writer Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury, was inspired by this tale.
- A Soviet cartoon based on the fairy tale was produced in 1964, directed by the Brumberg sisters.
The Coin Album:
The Cover of the Coin Album is titled - "Tapferes Schneiderlein. Grimms Marchen" (in German). The date of the Coin release "2019" is at the top right corner).
In the centre are shown the Reverse and Obverse of the Silver Coin issued. At lower bottom are The Eagle emblem of the Federal Republic of Germany and the name of the country "BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND" (in German).
The Back of the Coin Album and presents the Obverse of the Silver 20 Euro Coin.
Pages 2 and 3 of the Coin Album.
Page 2 gives the tale of the "Brave Little Tailor" (in German).
Page 3 of the Coin Album gives the specifications of the Silver Coin and presents the Reverse of the Coin.
The Coin:
The Collector Coins have been minted by the Karlsruhe Mint (Mint Mark "G").
The design shows the "Brave Little Tailor" from the perspective of the end of the story. The figure wears both attributes of its original craft and the crown as a symbol of the highest ruler position attained.
The slain flies, which originally initiated the plot, are at the tailor's feet.
The commemorative text along the upper edge reads - "TAPEFERES SCHNEIDERLEIN" and "GRIMMS MÄRCHEN" (on the lower periphery).
The Obverse of the 20 Euro Silver Coin depicts a stylised eagle in the centre with the coins’ denomination of "20 EURO" and fineness of "SILBER 925" placed below the eagle.
The year "2019" is shown to the centre right of the eagle, along with the issuer "BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND", (placed along the upper periphery).
Towards the lower periphery are 12, five-pointed stars representing the European Union (EU).
The mintmark "G", (Mintmark of the German Mint of Karlesruhe, is shown to the upper right of the eagle.
The coins include an incused inscription on the edge which reads - "SIEBENE AUF EINEN STREICH!" (“Seven in one Strike”).
The specifications of the 20 Euro Silver Coin Variant are:
Country of issue: Federal Republic of Germany (FRG); Year: 2019; Coin Series Theme: Grimms Fairy Tales (Grimms Marchen"); Coin Theme: "The Brave Little Tailor"; Denomination/Face Value: 20 Euros; Metal Composition: .925 Fineness Silver (Ag); Weight: 18.00 grams; Diameter/Size: 32.50 mm; Mint: Karlsruhe; Mint Mark: "G"; Coin Quality: Proof (P); Mintage: 114,000 pieces; Presentation Box/Case: Yes; Certificate of Authenticity (COA): Yes; Designer: Marianne Dietz.
Remarks:
- Towards the end of 2013, the entire €20 Proof-quality coin collection consisting of four 2023-dated pieces will be available as a set and presented in an official blister-pak type folder.
(The above Coin Album is from the collection of Jayant Biswas. Scanning of the Coin album and post researched and written by Rajeev Prasad)
Posts on Grimm's Fairy Tales on this Blog:
Posts on insect world on this blog:
i) Beetles: A set of five Post Cards issued by Chennai Postal Circle of India Post in 2017
ii) Lady Bug Beetles: A set of four Commemorative stamps brought out by India Post on 23.02.2017
Posts on "Wonderful World of Insects":
Links: Crypto-Currency Stamps & Coin Posts:
Related Links on this Blog:
No comments:
Post a Comment