Fitcher's Bird

German fairy tale

"Fitcher's Bird" (German: Fitchers Vogel) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 46. It is Aarne Thompson type 311, the heroine rescues herself and her sisters. Another tale of this type is How the Devil Married Three Sisters. and although this "swan" theory was endorsed by Albert Teodor Lysander [sv], later commentators merely gloss fitfugl as "web footed bird," which is the Cleasby Vigfusson dictionary definition. Others scholars advocate the view that the word derives from German Feder "feather" or Fittich "wings". A large comprehensive list of analogues to Fitchers Vogel, spanning many languages, can be found in the companion volume to the Grimms' KHM, the Anmerkungen edited by Johannes Bolte and Jiří Polívka, although this list is not culled down to contain only the AT 311 types. A Norwegian analogue, The Old Dame and Her Hen (in the AT 311 tale group) was noted as analogue by the Brothers Grimm. This Asbjørnsen and Moe folktale shares some essential features, such as the rescuer being of female gender, the other sisters being restored to life, and the villain being tricked into carrying the revived sisters back to their home. However, it lacks the "forbidden chamber" element, and she is merely confined to her captor's dwelling. The Italian tale How the Devil Married Three Sisters belongs in this group. Here, the forbidden door is not bloody but leads to fiery hell. There are at least ten published Italian variants, e. g. Il diavolo dal naso d'argento "The Devil with the silver nose", more fully listed in the article for the Italian counterpart. Another tale of similar plot and setting is the Scottish "The Widow and her Daughters", Campbell's Popular Tales, No. 41. Some European variants of the ballad Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight, Child ballad 4, closely resemble this tale.

Gregory Frost sets the tale among the doomsday religious cults of 19th century New York in his 2002 novel Fitcher's Brides. In 2007, the theatre group BooTown adapted a short play based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, called Fitcher's a Bastard, but his bird's alright. American artist Cindy Sherman adapted the story in a photographic spread for Vanity Fair. In the mobile game Identity V, during the third anniversary, the costume Monstrous Bird was released, and it is based on the tale.