3/5 Stars (%63/100)
Iron Hans or Iron John is a fairy tale by Grimm brothers. It is tale number 136 and about a wild man and a prince. According to the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index (ATU Index), it is type 502 in other words “the wild man as a helper.” The story is also analysed as a boy maturing into adulthood. I agree that the story is very similar to novels which are considered to be bildungsroman. Though I have not read this tale before, it was really easy to follow since we are familiar with this structure and characters. The story is about a wild man who is imprisoned for years until a young prince sets him free. Iron Hans is revealed to be a very powerful with certain powers. The prince, at first, fails Iron Hans’s test but later he proves himself worthy. In the end, the prince marries the princess and is reunited with his parents. Iron Hans also looks normal because we learn that he needed someone worthy to free him from an enchantment. The story reminded me of Enkidu and Gilgamesh. Enkidu is a wild man who is sent by the gods to discipline Gilgamesh. Similar to the prince, Gilgamesh is also royalty and a man of power. The two become friends and the wild man Enkidu becomes a civilized man. I believe Grimm brothers was inspired by this ancient story and created a modern version of it. The prince symbolizes the innocence of the child while Iron Hans is the perfect example of male power and masculinity. The key to the cage is hidden under the queen’s pillow and it can also be referred that the prince is finally leaving her mother and growing up. In the end, the prince is a now man with experience and knowledge enough to let him marry the princess. Though there are many variations of the tale, the ending and the message is more or less the same.
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