Thursday, September 13, 2012

GOVERNMENT IN THE WOOD
The frog on my doorstep


The idea of a government in the wood is nicely presented in the Bavarian fairytale called “King Goldenlocks” http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/04/a-brand-new-fairytale.html

The link to the fairytale presents us with some interesting information:

First is that the king’s castle and, thus, kingdom are to be found in a wood;

Second is that the wood about the castle is ruled by a giant, a King of the Wood;

Third is that King Goldenlocks regards the giant as a creature to capture;

Fourth is that not everyone regards the wood as his-her enemy, the king’s son among them;

Fifth is that the son is to be sacrificed by his father in the wood for releasing the giant or king of the wood;

Sixth is that the son of the King of the Wood  is a swineherd of wild pigs;

Seventh is that, both, the giant and his son save the unfortunate prince who appears to love the wood for its own sake;

Eight is that the king of the wood would like to unseat king Goldenlocks;

Ninth is that the swineherd is a good actor-mimic and replaces the son of king Goldenlocks so perfectly that eventually he becomes the new king;

Tenth is that the switch between prince and the swineherd is done through the sacrifice of the tenth finger, very likely the pinky of the left hand, which is—one may presume—how the wood is saved from the axe.

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