A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
The giant carries a returning king across dangerous water, requesting Nix Nought Nothing as payment. The king assumes this means no payment, unaware that his unnamed son has been called exactly that. Attempts to substitute servants’ children fail when their answers expose their parentage; the giant kills them and finally obtains the prince. He raises the boy, then demands a stable seven miles across be cleaned, a seven-mile lake drained and eggs brought from an immensely tall branchless tree.
The daughter recruits animals and fish to accomplish the first two labours and sacrifices parts of her own body to provide the tree’s climbing route. A broken egg precipitates their flight. In Jacobs’s retelling, her comb grows into thick briars, her hair dagger becomes a hedge of sharp razors, and her explicitly magical flask releases the rising wave that drowns the pursuing giant. The young man is subsequently placed under a sleeping spell by the bereaved hen-wife, making the daughter’s labour and recognition essential to the later reunion. Jacobs explicitly says he inserted the flight incidents and expanded the conclusion. Those elements belong securely to his version, while the earlier Lang text requires separate inspection before they are attributed to it.
Origins & earliest records
Jacobs identifies Lang’s Morayshire Nicht Nought Nothing, published in Revue Celtique and later collections. He changed the title to preserve the English misunderstanding, added the flight sequence and enlarged the ending. The selected 1890 work is thus an adapted witness, not a verbatim original performance.
Records & interpretation
The giant’s scale, cannibal threats and transformed escape obstacles constitute literary evidence. No body, measured stable or historical child-payment contract verifies them. Explicit editorial additions limit what can be inferred about the earlier collected narrative.
In the literature
“made steps of them”
NIX NOUGHT NOTHING; The giant’s daughter cuts her fingers and toes for the tree task
The bodily aid enables the prince to climb, before a broken egg forces their departure.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
English Fairy Tales
Inspected complete selected episode “Nix Nought Nothing” and compiler’s editorial source note.
- 02
English Fairy Tales — Nix Nought Nothing
Joseph Jacobs, English Fairy Tales; first collection1890 context, selected PG7439 print date unresolved. Preface explicitly acknowledges rewriting and changed incidents. Named tale and observed anchor used, no invented print pagination.
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.
English Fairy Tales — Nix Nought Nothing
Joseph Jacobs, English Fairy Tales; first collection1890 context, selected PG7439 print date unresolved. Preface explicitly acknowledges rewriting and changed incidents. Named tale and observed anchor used, no invented print pagination.
- The giant carries a king across a river for Nix Nought Nothing, which the king thinks is no payment but is his son’s temporary name. The king offers two substitute boys; their answers expose them and the giant kills each before obtaining and raising the prince.
NIX NOUGHT NOTHING; River bargain and rejected substitute children
- The giant threatens to eat the prince unless he cleans a seven-mile stable, drains a vast lake and retrieves seven eggs from an immense branchless tree. The giant’s daughter summons animals and fish for the first tasks, then makes climbing steps from her own fingers and toes; a broken egg prompts escape.
NIX NOUGHT NOTHING; Three impossible tasks and the daughter’s assistance
- The daughter directs throwing her comb and hair dagger to create briars and a razor hedge. Her broken magic flask produces a growing wave that overtakes and drowns the pursuing giant. Later recognition and marriage events concern the escaped pair, not another giant return.
NIX NOUGHT NOTHING; Pursuit stopped by transformed obstacles and drowning
Complete selected tale and source note read; earlier cited works remain indirect. No song or ritual-formula excerpts. Strange Visitor evidence limited to six words from its narrative presentation; no separate quotation added.
Primary source witness
Joseph Jacobs, English Fairy Tales; first collection1890 context, selected PG7439 print date unresolved. Preface explicitly acknowledges rewriting and changed incidents. Named tale and observed anchor used, no invented print pagination.
- Jacobs cites Lang’s Morayshire Nicht Nought Nothing and changes its name to retain the bargain’s ambiguity. He explicitly inserted flight incidents typical of related tales and expanded a curtailed original ending; these selected chase obstacles are therefore not untouched oral transcription.
Verifies Jacobs’s stated editorial practice; comparative interpretation is not treated as historical proof.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textJacobs, English Fairy Tales: Nix Nought NothingResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
