Three Billy Goats Gruff
"Three Billy Goats Gruff" is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their Norske Folkeeventyr, first published between 1841 and 1844. It has an "eat-me-when-I'm-fatter" plot. The first version of the story in English appeared in George Webbe Dasent's translation of some of the Norske Folkeeventyr, published as Popular Tales from the Norse in 1859. The heroes of the tale are three male goats who need to outsmart a ravenous troll in order to cross the bridge to their feeding ground.
Plot
The story introduces three male goats, sometimes identified as a youngster, father and grandfather, but more often described as brothers. In other adaptations, there is a baby or child goat, mama goat and papa goat. "Gruff" was used as their family name in the earliest English translation, by Dasent; the original Norwegian version used the name "Bruse".In the story, there is almost no grass left for them to eat near where they live, so they must cross a river to get to "sæter" or hillside on the other side of a stream in order to eat and fatten themselves up. To do so, however, they must first cross a bridge, under which lives a fearsome and hideous troll, who is so territorial that he eats anyone who tries to cross the bridge.
The smallest billy goat is the first to cross and is stopped abruptly by the troll who threatens to "gobble him up!" However, the little goat convinces the troll to wait for his big brother to come across, because he is larger and would make for a more gratifying feast. The greedy troll agrees and lets the smallest goat cross.
The medium-sized goat passes next. He is more cautious than his brother but is also stopped by the troll and given the same threat. The second billy goat is allowed to cross as well after he tells the troll to wait for the biggest billy goat because he is the largest of the three.
The third billy goat gets on the bridge, but is also stopped by the hungry troll who threatens to devour him as well. However, the third billy goat challenges the troll and knocks him off the bridge with his horns. The troll falls into the stream and is carried away by the current. From then on the bridge is safe, and all three goats are able to go to the rich fields around the summer farm in the hills, and they all live happily ever after.
Adaptations and cultural references
Audiobooks
- Scholastic Corporation produced an audio recording in 1963, with music composed and directed by Arthur Rubinstein, narrated by Bob Thomas, and cover illustration by Susan Blair and Ellen Appleby. It was first made available as a phonograph record, and then on Compact Cassette.
- TaleThings offers a storybook program for iOS and Android mobile devices that is a humorous retelling of the classic tale. It features animated visuals and narration in any of six languages.
Comics
- Bill Willingham's 2002 comic book Fables contains mention of the goats, and the troll is an ongoing character.
Films
- In the Norwegian film Trollhunter, the title character attempts to bait a troll by placing three goats on a bridge.
- Mike Flanagan's Kickstarter-funded film Absentia is a modern-day retelling centred around a tunnel, a series of abductions, and a troll-like creature.
- "Team Juan" at the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at the University of Dundee produced a version with a Spanish twist on the story: .
- In My Neighbour Totoro the eponymous creature Totoro is named after misspelling 'Toro-ru', which means 'troll' in Japanese. In the end scene is a book of the story "Three Billy Goats Gruff" with Totoro on it visible, indicating that Totoro is named after this story.
- In Toy Story 4, it is revealed that Bo Peep's three-headed sheep, previously unnamed, were named "Billy", "Goat", and "Gruff", after the story.
Games
- The tale also comes into play during the first King's Quest game. A troll is guarding a bridge Graham needs to cross. The optimum solution to the puzzle is to lure a goat over to the bridge. Upon seeing the troll, the goat is angered, and butts it into the river below.
- The tale also comes into play during Magicland Dizzy. A troll is guarding a bridge Dizzy needs to cross. He says the only way to cross is to give him 30 diamonds before kicking Dizzy in the air away from him, but this is a red herring, as there are 30 in the whole game with one behind him and many in the Ice Palace afterwards. The only solution to the puzzle, is to cut the rope holding the goat using the dagger, before hitting him with the stick to make him charge towards the troll. Along his way, the goat butts the troll into the air.
- The tale is also included in the video game Simon the Sorcerer.
- In the video game , near a place called Purewater Run, there is a stone bridge near a waterfall. If it is the player's first time there, they will see three goats; upon looking under the bridge, they will find a dead troll.
- In 2016 has produced an interactive adaptation of for mobile devices.
- A game adaptation for tablets and mobile phones is developed by the Norwegian game studio Agens. The game was made with support from the Norwegian Film Institute in 2011.
Literature
- An abbreviated version of this tale is used in "3-Part Puzzle" by Gordon R. Dickson, translated into an ET language as "The THREE ". The ET Envoy is puzzled over the glee that children show over this "simple and boring" "lesson in tactics".
- Stephen King's It alludes to this story.
- Golden Books did a version of the story that was similar to the book. The only difference is that when the troll is washed away by the stream, he is later mentioned to have moved into a cave.
- Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel Lords and Ladies refers to this story, as does a joke made in the first chapter of Monstrous Regiment.
- Neil Gaiman adapted the story for Snow White, Blood Red, an anthology of children's fairy tales retold for adults. In Gaiman's version, the troll approaches a young boy who has crossed his bridge and demands to "eat his life." The boy eventually persuades the troll to wait until he has lived a little more, after which he will return to the bridge. The goats in this adaptation are represented by the protagonist as a child, a teenager and finally a middle-aged man. The story was nominated for a 1994 World Fantasy Award.
- The Billy Goats Gruff make an appearance in Jim Butcher, book Small Favor, the tenth novel of the Dresden Files series.
- Andri Snær Magnason's retells the story in the children's book Tímakistan. This variant features a kid, its mother, and her husband. When the mother goat tells the troll to eat her husband instead of her, "the troll lost his appetite. 'What's the world coming to?', he cried. 'The kid tells me to eat its mother, and she tells me to eat her husband! Crazy family!'." The troll goes home leaving the goats uneaten.
- The tale is the inspiration of Kevin P. Futers's novel The Adventures of the Billy Goats Gruff, which is set in seventh-century Northumbria and includes goats named Edgar, Bert, and Frith.
- Writer Bjørn F. Rørvik and illustrator Gry Moursund has created three books in Norwegian based on this the story. The first one, Bukkene Bruse på badeland, came in 2009 and had by 2014 sold over 110,000 copies in Norway, making it one of the biggest selling picture books in the country. By March 2019 the three books had sold over 450,000 copies in Norway.
Music
- A musical version of the story written and performed by Frank Luther was often played on the BBC Radio programme Children's Favourites, in the 1950s and early 1960s.
- The tale appears to be cryptically referenced in the song "John Brown" by indie-rock band Masters of Reality. The lyrics are usually understood to be "John Brown, bring him down; pull his body to the ground. Left him up, for long enough; let me be the Baby Gruff."
- James Scott Balentine composed Kinderkonzerts, a chamber music setting for string quintet and narrator, with the text adapted by Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio, for the Cactus Pear Music Festival.
- The song "Much Chubbier" by Nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot on his album Question Bedtime is a retelling of the story.
Stage productions
- Gwen Edwards adapted the story into a popular children's musical called Billy, Goat, Gruff: The Musical, at Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia.
- Lazy Bee Scripts published Billy Goat Gruff, a simple play for young children.
- A musical adaptation by British composing team George Stiles and Anthony Drewe was commissioned by the Singapore Repertory Theatre. It premiered there in 2015 and made its North American debut in 2017 at the Aurora Theatre in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
Television
- In 1994, Animaniacs, for its second season premiere, did its own parody of the story in the short "Take My Siblings, Please!". In the story, the goats are portrayed by the Warner Brothers and their sister, Dot. In the end, Yakko simply whacks the troll with a giant mallet.
- In 1996, the TV show Aaahh!!! Real Monsters told its version of the Three Billy Goats Gruff in the episode "Oblina and the Three Humans". In this telling, the goats are represented by humans and the monster under the bridge is the main character of the story.
- Between the lions had a few episodes about the characters reading the story.
- In 2008, the BBC created a modern adaptation for its Fairy Tales TV series. In this, the story was given a twist in that the troll was presented as a tragic, cruelly maligned victim:
- In a segment about "patent trolls" on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, it is referenced with "trolls actually do something, they control bridge-access for goats and ask people fun riddles".