ABSTRACT
Rumpelstiltskin invades humanity from the outside. Rumpelstiltskin’s diminished condition offered the story-tellers something positive. Rumpelstiltskin travels invulnerable to romantic attachment, yet the roaming outsider, nameless but helpful, is nevertheless done in by a woman. When he hears his name pronounced the narrative motif of the “nameless stranger” collapses. Rumpelstiltskin’s story warily side-stepped the whole question of romantic or perverse affections by ignoring a common fairytale motif, true love. Rumpelstiltskin’s hidden name parallels Moses’ story in the Bible. Rumpelstiltskin hoards his precious name and he’s compelled to flee in disgust at its unwarranted and revelatory use. A human who learned Rumpelstiltskin’s secret would gain the ancient and terrible power of reciting his hidden name to designate the soul, the core of being. The idea proves crucial to understanding Rumpelstiltskin’s tale which, though a far simpler achievement than the Bible is, nevertheless, not mono-dimensional.
