Fitcher’s Sorcerer
Actual Gruelle1914 image individually inspected: bearded bent sorcerer carries basket on his back outside castle. Exact Fitchers Bird illustration; opening beggar disguise, not title-bird disguise of escaping heroine.
Overview
The wizard visits homes as a weak-looking beggar with a basket on his back. When a young woman offers bread, a touch forces her into the basket, and he carries her to a luxurious forest house. An egg and forbidden chamber become his tests. The first two sisters discover murdered victims, stain the egg with blood that will not wash away, and are killed themselves.
The youngest puts the egg safely aside before entering and restores her dismembered sisters by arranging their parts together. Passing the test changes the balance of power: he must obey her demands. He unknowingly carries the rescued women home beneath gold. A decorated skull then impersonates his waiting bride while she escapes covered in feathers. That bird appearance is a deliberate disguise, not an actual metamorphosis. Her family burns the house with the wizard and guests inside.
Origins & earliest records
The abductor belongs to Grimm's tale46, Fitchers Vogel, selected through Margaret Hunt's1884 English Household Tales. The opening explicitly calls him a wizard who takes a poor man's form. This is a literary attestation of supernatural captivity and rescue; the title's bird concerns the heroine's disguise rather than establishing a separate transformed bird species.
Records & interpretation
Compulsory capture by touch, persistent blood on the egg and the wizard's lost authority after the successful test are directly narrated. The sisters' restoration is supernatural, but the youngest's feathers are ordinary material used for concealment. These distinctions supply textual evidence for the plot's rules, not zoological proof or a historical account of an actual serial abductor.
In the literature
“He now had no longer any power over her”
Tale 46, Fitcher’s Bird; The youngest sister passes the egg test · Margaret Hunt
The narrator marks a reversal of control before the heroine arranges the sisters’ escape.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Household Tales, tale 46: Fitcher’s Bird
Specific numbered primary tale inspected. English translation terms and literary transmission remain distinct from oral origin.
- 02
Household Tales — Fitcher’s Bird
Margaret Hunt historical English translation (1884); Project Gutenberg5314. Exact numbered tale and observed HTML anchor used; no inferred printed page or earliest oral date.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Household Tales, tale 46: Fitcher’s Bird
Margaret Hunt historical English translation (1884); Project Gutenberg5314. Exact numbered tale and observed HTML anchor used; no inferred printed page or earliest oral date.
- The wizard disguises himself as a beggar and forces girls into his basket with a touch. A forbidden room contains dismembered victims; an egg exposes the first two sisters’ visits because blood cannot be washed away. He murders them.
Tale 46, Fitcher’s Bird; Beggar disguise, abduction and blood-marked test
- The youngest stores the egg safely, rejoins her sisters’ body parts and revives them. Passing the test removes the wizard’s power over her; she makes him carry the hidden sisters home, disguises herself with honey and feathers, and escapes. Her relatives burn the house with the wizard and guests inside.
Tale 46, Fitcher’s Bird; Youngest sister restores the victims and defeats him
Complete named tale read. Original narrative curse causes and modern species identities are not inferred; prose only, no song or ritual-formula excerpts.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textHunt's Household Tales — 46 Fitcher’s BirdResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
Historical illustrationFitcher’s Sorcerer
Actual Gruelle1914 image individually inspected: bearded bent sorcerer carries basket on his back outside castle. Exact Fitchers Bird illustration; opening beggar disguise, not title-bird disguise of escaping heroine.
