The Elves and the Shoemaker

Never underestimate the happiness of elves getting their first clothes.

Salutations, readers! I realized that I never looked at The Elves and the Shoemaker! Since it's one of the well-known stories from the Grimm brothers, I had to fix that. Refresh your memory and reread the story by following the link above. Then continue with me below to analyze it.



First of all, I have to know how the elves came to be there in the first place. Did they just stumble on this shop on the same night the cobbler left the leather out and decide to go to work? Maybe they were hoping they could get some clothes in trade, but they couldn't let the humans see them. I know, it's not a very solid idea, but I've seen worse in fairy tales. I am also reminded of the house elves in Harry Potter. Once these elves got clothes, they were free too.

However they came to be there, these tiny elves are incredibly gifted cobblers. I know it would be easier for them to do detail work since they are smaller, but they can also keep up with whatever the shoemaker gives them! Sure, two tiny elves can make one pair of shoes in a night, but two pairs? Four? It seems like the number of shoes doubles every night, and they keep up with it and never work so late the shoemaker or his wife see them in the morning. I'm impressed!

I also understand the shoemaker's hesitation to see how these shoes were appearing. The first several nights, he might not have wanted to know. After all, he was starving and only these magnificent shoes kept him from having nothing. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, right? But once he was stable again, he wanted to see what was happening.

I also appreciate the shoemaker's wife. Once she saw who was gifting them with such marvelous work, she knew they had to give something back. So she made them tiny clothes and the shoemaker made them tiny shoes. And when the shoemaker and his wife left their presents out for the elves, there was no work left out to be done. I think that's a crucial detail. The shoemaker and his wife are grateful to the elves for helping them out of a tough time, but now that they're back on their feet, the couple just wants to reward their helpers without expecting the helpers to keep working for them. Fantastic. For once, a fairy tale without awful characters!

The moral of this story is that even when you think you're down and out, someone can still come along to help you. Alternatively, if you're a starving shoemaker, you'd better leave your work out overnight in the hopes that some kind elves will do the work for you.

Happy this tale was so nice? Annoyed there was no villain besides poverty? Want me to analyze another fairy tale? Comment below! And if you like what you just read, subscribe so you don't miss an update! Next week, I'll write a modern version of this story. Although, now that we have security cameras, I think this would go a lot differently.