A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
A mysterious richly dressed man gives two sisters golden balls on condition that losing one will mean death. The younger sister’s ball rolls into a house, and her lover agrees to spend three nights there to recover it. On the first night the courtyard fills with bogles and a giant five times the young man’s height enters upstairs. The lover hides, then cuts the giant into two while it bends toward the window. The upper body falls outside; the lower portion remains at the window until he throws it after the first.
The bogles call for the remaining half of their master and become quiet when they receive it. The second night brings another giant, whose legs continue toward and up the chimney after the same division. The young man throws the head after them. On the third night the ball is passed between bogles beneath his bed, and he drives them away as their limbs protrude. Returning the ball interrupts the woman’s hanging at York. The giants’ autonomous fragments are the episode’s distinctive marvel, but the text gives neither personal names nor a general rule that every severed giant survives. The paired profile preserves the consecutive household encounters rather than generating two almost identical entries.
Origins & earliest records
Jacobs cites a contribution by S. Baring-Gould to the first edition of Henderson’s Northern Counties collection, pages 333–335. His notes compare the instalment-like body motif with The Strange Visitor. The edition chain establishes recorded circulation, not the story’s original composition.
Records & interpretation
The surviving movement of severed parts and the haunting courtyard are folktale events. The published episode and its attributed collecting source provide textual evidence, without bodily remains or biological demonstration. The tale’s hanging condition is not a documented legal rule.
In the literature
“the legs walked on to the chimney”
The Golden Ball; The second giant is divided during the second night
The severed lower body continues moving in this selected tale.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
More English Fairy Tales
Inspected complete selected episode “The Golden Ball” and compiler’s editorial source note.
- 02
More English Fairy Tales — The Golden Ball
Joseph Jacobs, More English Fairy Tales; first publication1894, selected Gutenberg14241 witness explicitly Fourteenth Impression, undated. Jacobs’s preface acknowledges rewriting, combined sources and altered incidents. Exact heading/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.
More English Fairy Tales — The Golden Ball
Joseph Jacobs, More English Fairy Tales; first publication1894, selected Gutenberg14241 witness explicitly Fourteenth Impression, undated. Jacobs’s preface acknowledges rewriting, combined sources and altered incidents. Exact heading/anchor used; no invented print pagination.
- A young man must sleep three nights in a house to recover his sweetheart's lost golden ball. He cuts the first giant in two at a window and gives both halves to courtyard bogles; on the next night he divides a second giant whose legs climb the chimney and throws its head after them.
The Golden Ball; First and second nights in the guarded house
- On the third night, bogles play with the ball beneath his bed. He cuts limbs reaching out until they flee and leave it. He retrieves the ball and arrives in time to stop his sweetheart's execution. The two giants are distinct from these smaller under-bed opponents.
The Golden Ball; Third night recovers the ball from the bogles
Complete selected tale and its source note read. Jacobs’s edited narrative is distinct from direct oral transcription. No song or ritual-formula excerpts; no invented print page or earliest date.
Primary source witness
Joseph Jacobs, More English Fairy Tales; first publication1894, selected Gutenberg14241 witness explicitly Fourteenth Impression, undated. Jacobs’s preface acknowledges rewriting, combined sources and altered incidents. Exact heading/anchor used; no invented print pagination.
- Jacobs cites Rev. S. Baring-Gould's contribution to Henderson's first edition pp333–335 and notes a later Nutt version. His discussion connects the execution scene with a children's game, but those underlying witnesses are not independently read in this enrichment.
Notes and References, XLVI The Golden Ball; Jacobs's source and ballad-game context
This verifies what Jacobs reports and changes; listed earlier works and informant claims are not independently verified by this note alone.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textJacobs, More English Fairy Tales: The Golden BallResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
