The Juniper Tree

It's haunted, but in a good way.

Salutations, reader. This week, we'll be looking at The Juniper Tree. Although it's pretty gruesome, this fairy tale is one of my favorites, so we have looked at this story before on this blog. Still, it warrants another look.

When I read this story, I'm always struck by how similar it is to one of the versions of Cinderella: the main character's mom dies in childbirth and is buried under a tree, the stepmother is abusive and when the protagonist can't take it any more, the mother/tree performs magic to make it all work out. Of course, in Cinderella's story, her magic is to get someone else to save her, while in the Juniper Tree the protagonist can save himself. Then again, in The Juniper Tree, he had to die first.

Moving right along, let's talk about Marlene, the stepsister. She is clearly a nice person, but she's either not very bright, or she got overwhelmed when her stepbrother's head slid off. I would be shocked by that too, but I would know there was no way smacking him on the ear would make his head fall off. She obviously regrets it because she spends the rest of the story crying, eventually crying blood. Despite her lack of sense in thinking she killed her brother, Marlene's actions let him come back. It was only after she put his bones under the juniper tree that he turned into a bird and eventually became a little boy again. So her actions ended up working out.

What makes less sense is the father's reaction to his second wife's death. He could have put it together that the pretty bird killed her, but he doesn't say anything about that. He doesn't ask where the bird went, or why his son is home so soon from his trip. No questions. He just goes back inside and they all eat. Magic seems to be a pretty common thing since no one finds the bird strange. Maybe the dad was afraid to question it. The bird gave him a gold necklace, but maybe he thinks it would drop a millstone on him too if he asked questions. Of course, the story does say all three of them were very happy at the end. I guess he didn't like the stepmother either.

The moral of this story is: if you murder someone and cook them into a stew, don't let your daughter take the bones anywhere or your victim will come back for revenge. Either that or, don't be a jerk and kill someone.

Like that story? Have one you want me to talk about? Comment below!