Wolf of the Seven Kids

Overview

The wolf in Hunt’s translation of Grimm tale 5 attacks a household whose mother has warned her seven children how to recognize him. His rough voice and black feet initially betray him when he pretends to be their mother returning with presents. He buys and eats chalk to soften his voice, but the children still reject him after seeing his paws against the window. The deception is therefore revised in response to the children’s tests rather than succeeding immediately.

He next tells a baker that his feet are injured and obtains a coating of dough. A miller then refuses to whiten them with meal because he suspects a trick. The wolf threatens to eat the miller, who gives in. These are two different methods of obtaining help: a false injury story and an explicit threat. On the third visit, the children accept the pale paws as proof of their mother’s identity and open the door.

Six kids are found in their hiding places and swallowed. The youngest escapes inside the clock-case and tells the returning mother what happened. Outside, the wolf sleeps beneath a tree and snores loudly enough to shake its branches. The mother sees movement in his belly and sends the survivor for scissors, needle and thread. Cutting him open releases all six children alive and uninjured; the narrator explains their survival through his having swallowed them whole.

All seven children gather stones, which replace the swallowed kids, and their mother sews the sleeping wolf up. He wakes thirsty, hears the stones rattling and wonders why his expected meal feels different. At the well, their weight makes him fall into the water and drown. The reunited family celebrates around it. The stones thus connect the rescue to the particular ending; this wolf does not simply fall dead on waking as the first wolf in Hunt’s Little Red-Cap does.

This is a speaking, disguising fairy-tale animal whose bodily events obey the story. The passage provides no personal name, pack, parents or transformation into a human. Similar swallowing-and-rescue episodes can be compared without assuming that every tale features the same individual wolf or describes the behaviour of a real species.

Origins & earliest records

This entry follows tale 5 in the Grimm brothers’ Household Tales, using Margaret Hunt’s 1884 English translation. The collection was repeatedly revised during the nineteenth century and mediates material from storytellers and earlier literature. Its publication and translation dates identify the selected witness, not the beginning of every related oral narrative.

Records & interpretation

Complete Grimm tale 5 in Hunt’s translation read, including its ending. The textual evidence supports these particular narrative actions; animal speech, knowledge and extraordinary bodily events are not presented as zoological observations.

In the literature

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Household Tales, tale 5: The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids

   Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm; translated by Margaret Hunt · English translation 1884

   Complete selected tale read from opening through ending. This English witness is distinguished from other editions and related oral narratives.

2. 02

   Household Tales: 5 The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids

   Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm · 1884

   Margaret Hunt’s English translation, London: George Bell and Sons, 1884; Gutenberg e-text identifies Hunt. Translation date corroborated by the Wikisource scanned title page and National Library of New Zealand catalogue.

Family, evolution & connections

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Primary textGrimm/Hunt, complete tale 5Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

Wolf of the Seven Kids

Image associated with the exact linked encyclopedia article; consult credited file description for its interpretation.