In this week’s reading for #GRIMMread2019 I’m zooming in on the magical items in story #36: The Magic Table, the Gold-Donkey, and the Club in the Sack.


This was an amusing story about a father who angrily drives away each of his sons after he thinks they lie to him about feeding his one and only goat. When he is the left alone with the cantankerous animal, he realizes it’s the poem-quoting goat who has been lying this whole time. End Part One.

Part Two: The boys go off into the world to make their way. Once they have succeeded in their various apprenticeships, they are given a magical object by their mentor, and then they go home to show their father, hoping he’s not angry anymore. However…

Along the way, each son stays at an inn. The first two foolishly show off their magical item, which the innkeeper schemes to take for himself.
The story continues, but that is all you need to know for background.

My interest in this story was piqued with the magical items. After all, my Fairy-tale Inheritance Series is based on magical items being passed down through the generations from the original fairy tale owners to their future great-grandchildren.

I’m curious to see if any patterns develop in Grimm’s tales regarding magic objects. So far, I’ve noticed:

In fairy-tale land, magic just is.

No magical source is given. No one ever seems surprised at the magic, just happy when they find something that can help them. Magic is part of the landscape, doesn’t need an explanation, doesn’t need rules.

When writing fantasy today, writers are very concerned with the rules (limitations) that come with magic. Things have to have a reason in modern writing, or at least constraints.

However, as I study fairy tales more, I’m learning that a lot of what goes on in fairy tale land is about the symbolism contained in these old stories. Today’s retellings differ in that stories today are more about the narrative and less about the symbolism.

I’m sure as I keep going in my studies, I’ll have more to say about this, but for now, I’m just rolling with the random magic.

Lessons from Grimm Tip #9 Magical Objects

Magical objects appear common.

In this case, a table, a donkey and a club. Everyday objects can be extraordinary with a dash of magic! This is such a fun concept, especially for kids…that cereal bowl? Might not be just a cereal bowl.

Magical objects are whimsical.

Magic Table. The magic table is super practical at first blush, but also extravagant in that it creates endless supplies of prepared food, and can be used over and over again.

Gold-Donkey. I’ve got to say, there is something humorous about magic randomly happening in a story. Especially when it comes to a donkey spewing gold out of both its front and back end!

Club in the sack. And the club in the sack certainly has a flair for the dramatic, the way it springs out of the sack on command to pummel people.

If you were to choose one of these magical items for yourself, I suspect the last one on your list is the club in a sack. Yet that was the very item that rescued the other two magical items which were so easily stolen.

Just like you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can’t judge a magical item by first glance either.


ALERT! This series of posts has turned into a book! Preorder the ebook now; paperbacks and workbooks to follow!