Fairy tales with the number 3

Why Fairy Tales Often Feature a Triple

10 December, 2015

FairyTalez.com

The phrase “Once upon a time” is something you’ll often find in a fairy tale, however, there’s another common element that you may’ve noticed in these rich stories. The pattern of three is all over fairy tales and folklore originating from various regions, but have you ever wondered why?

“Somebody has been at my porridge, and eaten it all up!” Illustrations by Arthur Rackham. Published in English Fairy Tales by Flora Annie Steel (1918), MacMillan and Company.

There’s actually a name for this writing choice, and it’s known as “the rule of three” or “the power of three.” This technique is used throughout all forms of entertainment, including comedy. Have you ever watched a show and noticed they often do three jokes, especially if it’s slapstick comedy? That’s the power of three. You can also see three in marketing slogans and in advertising, but nowhere is three more apparent than in fairy tales.

Why Three?

“Once upon a time there was an old Sow with three little Pigs, and as she had not enough to keep them, she sent them out to seek their fortune.” Published in The Story of the Three Little Pigs (1904), Frederick Warne & Co.

Let’s remember that fairy tales originated from the oral tradition, when storytellers would tell stories, and eventually, scholars and historians would write those down. These story collectors included Hans Christian Andersen and The Brothers Grimm, however, there are even more fairy tale authors, and many used the power of three. Having characters undergo three tests or trials makes for good suspense-building, such as when Rumpelstiltskin gives the queen three tries to guess his name. The pattern of three can also illustrate the personality of characters. In fairy tales, families typically have three daughters or three sons, and often, two of the children are lazy, cruel, wicked, and other “negative” qualities. The third child is the hero of the story, the one who’s rewarded for their goodness, or cleverness.

Another reason why the pattern of three is common in fairy tales and folk tales is to make it more memorable to those who heard the tale. Fairy tales were told from person to person, and having groups of three is a handy memory device for the storyteller to recall of the elements of the story. It doesn’t matter how long ago you heard the story of Cinderella, you probably remember that she had two evil stepsisters, don’t you? That’s the power of three at work.

We can examine the use of three in different ways. In psychology, experts believe that 3 plays a big part of persuasion, which is probably why Snow White’s stepmother came back three times to try to kill her, and finally succeeded on the third try! In terms of religious themes, three is a common element in virtually every religion, such the trinity of Christianity, and more. It’s important to note this, since so many tales have religious tones.

What Comes in Threes?

In fairy tales and folk tales, nearly anything can come in groups of threes. For instance, three can be the number of children a woodcutter has, or how many animals are present in a group, such as the Three Little Pigs. Three can also be the number of magical gifts received, such as those by Cinderella: a pair of glass shoes, horses and a coachmen who were formerly rodents, and a pumpkin that becomes a carriage. In Maid Maleen, the main character speaks to three things: a nettle-plant, a foot-bridge, and a church door, while in East of the Sun, West of the Moon, the girl in search of her husband receives three gifts. As you can see, three is just as common in fairy tales as towers and enchanted animals!

Listen to The Three Little Pigs, The Three Bears, and other stories of three in audio in the Fairytalez Audio Book App for Apple and Android devices.

Numbers in Fairy Tales: 3, 7, and 12 [+ Examples]

Storyteller Rudolf Roos March 31, 2022

3 Sisters, 3 sons, 3 quests. Why is 3 so common in fairy tales? And what about the 7’s? The 7 dwarfs, the 7 brothers, etc. Let’s look into numbers in fairy tales.

While I was reading the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, it struck me again: all these things happening in threes! Of course, as a storyteller, I knew about this rule of three. Let me tell you what else I discovered about other numbers in fairy tales (7 and 12).

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Examples of Numbers in Fairy Tales: 3, 7, and 12

Why is the number 3 important in fairy tales?

The number three in fairy tales establishes patterns. When something happens twice, we notice a pattern. The third time completes the pattern or overthrows it. These patterns needed to be as short as possible because most fairy tales have initially been orally told stories.

So you will find heroes that have to fulfill three quests, completing a pattern of three. And you will find three brothers, the first failing, the second failing, the third overthrowing the pattern by succeeding.

You can get a feel of how this works by telling two simple stories yourself. In one of them, you use a pattern of three; in another, a pattern of two. Let me show an example with the story of the president who is out of toilet paper.

Once is luck,
twice is coincidence,
thrice is a pattern.

Example ‘The President is out of Toilet Paper’

Let’s look at this storytelling phenomenon of ‘the rule of three’ using a story. Marco Holmer (link to his website), one of my storytelling teachers, used this example. I retell it like this:

One day the president entered his royal toilet. After he was finished doing what presidents do there, he found out that there was no toilet paper left. And toilet paper was severely needed.

He called an agent of the secret services and ordered him to buy new toilet paper. As quickly as possible!

The president sat down and off went the agent. First of all, he ran to Walmart to find out they were fresh out of toilet paper!

Out of breath, he ran on to Trader Joe. But, horror of horrors, all toilet paper was gone.

Luckily, he knew one more option: the 7-11 that was close by. And with a sigh, he found some presidential-quality toilet paper there. All well, end well.

You will find that if you change this story and let the agent find toilet paper in Trader Joe’s, it is over before it ever began. You need the two failures to establish a pattern, to build suspense. And then the third try to resolve this suspense.

Nowadays, we call this use of 3’s “the rule of three” or “the power of three.” It is used in many, many places, from jokes to ads to presidential speeches.A video that explains the rule of three and gives many examples

There are many different ways you can recognize groups of threes in fairy tales. Let me give you some examples (not exhaustive) from the Brothers Grimm fairy tales:

Brothers Grimm fairy tales with 3 characters

The Wonderful Musician: A fiddler meets three animals in the forest who love his music and want to keep him company.
The Three Little Men in the Woods: A sister and a stepsister both meet the three little men in the woods. How they behave towards them shapes their destiny.
The Three Spinners: Three spinning aunts manage to save the princess, both from the queen and from a life of spinning.
The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean: This fairy tale has exactly three main characters, who mostly come to a tragic end.
Cinderella: Cinderella and her two stepsisters: a triplet. And don’t forget the three times she goes to the ball and the three fittings of the slipper.
The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage: Deep in the forest these three characters live peacefully and orderly together. Then things need to be different, and chaos ensues.
Fitcher’s Bird: Three sisters are captured by a devious wizard. The youngest one succeeds in freeing them all.
Knoist and His Three Sons: Knoist has three very interesting sons who are going on an adventure: one blind, one lame, one stark-naked.

Brothers Grimm fairy tales with 3 quests

Faithful John: Trusty servant John overhears three ravens who prophecy three ways the king will die. He needs to prevent them.
Little Brother and Little Sister: The brother only drinks from the third brook, the king finds their house on the third try and the sister is only saved in the third night.
Rumpelstiltskin: Rumpelstiltskin helps the princess three times with spunning straw into gold.

Brothers Grimm fairy tales with 3 items

The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs: The luck child needs to get three golden hairs from the devil. At the same time he solves three problems he encountered on the way to the devil.
Wishing Table, Gold Ass, and Cudgel in the Sack: Three sons of a tailor are sent out into the world to find their luck. They find three magic items, but only the youngest one succeeds in bringing them home.
The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was: The young man gets to stay three nights in a haunted castle and he can bring with him three items: a fire, a turning lathe, and a cutting board with a knife.

Other notable Brothers Grimm fairy tales with the number 3

The Three Languages: The son of a count learns the languages of three groups of animals: dogs, birds and frogs.
Fundevogel: Lisa and Fundevogel escape the cook who wants to boil them. Three times they shapeshift in something else before they are finally free.
Looking for a Bride: A young shepherd has three candidate women to be his bride. To find out who is his true love, he watches them eating cheese.

Of course, there are even many, many more threes and triplets in the Brother Grimm fairy tales.

Why is the number 7 important in fairy tales?

After the number 3, the number 7 appears the most in fairy tales. Why? The answer to this question is less clear, but let me give you three possible reasons:

In many religions (Jewish, Christianity, etc.) 7 is the number that denotes completeness. So when in a fairy tale the number 7 is used, it gives of a feeling of ‘all’.
According to research, seven objects is the highest number of objects a brain can immediately recognize, i.e. without consciously counting them.
Seven is generally recognized as a lucky number. According to research, it is the number people most think of when asked to say a number.

7 is a fascinating, unique number. It still gives me a feeling of completeness. Like The Chronicles of Narnia or the modern The Sisters, many book series contain seven volumes.

The power of 7 does not flow from setting up a pattern, like the number 3, so it might be something that could change in the future.

3 Brothers Grimm fairy tales with 7 characters

Snow White: When you think about the number 7 in fairy tales, you might, like me, immediately think about the seven dwarfs who offer their shelter to Snow White. They were made even more famous by Disney.
The Seven Ravens: A sister grows up with seven brothers. By a fit of an angry father they change into ravens. She sets out to rescue them.
The Six Swans: A family of six brothers and one sister is only complete when all seven of them are together. She rescues them and goes to great length to bring them back.

Why is the number 12 important in fairy tales?

The number 12 in fairy tales most likely comes from religious significance of this number. Twelve is the number of the Jewish tribes in the Torah. Twelve is the number of the apostles of Jesus. Twelve is the number just before the unlucky thirteen.

Examples of the number 12 in the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales

The Twelve Brothers: After their sister is born, her brothers need to feel for their father. She ends up going after them and rescuing them.
Mary’s Child: There are thirteen doors, and she gets thirteen keys. Twelve doors she may open, one she may not. She opens it anyway and that unleashes a world of hurt.

The Twelve Brothers (Brothers Grimm...

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The Twelve Brothers (Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale)

Final thoughts about numbers in fairy tales

After reading this blog post, I’m sure that you will see more and more of these numbers popping up in the fairy tales you read.

If you want to dive even deeper into numbers in fairy tales, check out this more scholarly study about fairy tales beyond the Brothers Grimm:

Liabenov, A. 2014. The Significance of the Numbers Three, Four, and Seven in Fairy Tales, Folklore, Mythology

For some more ‘fairy tale study’ like you just read, check out my article on magic in fairy tales.

Photo credits: Pixabay

💡 Once a month, I send out an email with new writings on storytelling and fairy tales.

In what fairy tales is the number (number) 3 found?

The number 3 is probably the most popular fabulous number. In Russian folk tales and in the tales of the peoples of the world, it is found quite often. How many sons does the old man have? Three. How many bears lived in the house that Masha got into? Of course, three. How many girls were spun under the window in A.S. Pushkin's fairy tale? We all know from childhood that there are three.

Fairy tale "Three Bears"
How cleverly everything is arranged in the house of three bears. Everyone has their own: dishes, bed, chair. But then a stranger appears in the bears' house. This person is a girl Masha. Oh, how the bears did not like the intruder ...

“Three bears lived in this house. One bear was a father, his name was Mikhail Ivanovich. He was big and shaggy. The other was a bear. She was smaller, and her name was Nastasya Petrovna. The third one was a little bear cub, and his name was Mishutka…”

Fairy tale “The Bear and Three Sisters”
Three sisters live not in a tower and not in mansions, not in a house and not in a hut, but in a bear's lair. They thought, thought, how would they return home, to their father-mother? And they came up with…

“Once upon a time there was an old man. He had three daughters. He went to the forest to chop wood and said: “You, daughters, bake bread, bring me lunch ...”

The fairy tale "Three Little Foresters" The Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm are great storytellers. They not only collected fairy tales, but also processed them in such a way that for several centuries they have been read and re-read, studied and remembered.

“…The girl went to the forest and went straight to that little hut. Three little people looked out of the window, just like that time, but she didn’t greet them…”

“Three spins” The Brothers Grimm
“Once upon a time there was a girl, a sloth and not a hunter to spin, and no matter what her mother told her and couldn't get it to work.

“Three feathers” Brothers Grimm
“Once upon a time there was a king; he had three sons. Of these, two are smart and intelligent, and the third one didn’t say much ... "

And the number three is also found in the following fairy tales:
" Three kopecks "
" Three kingdoms - copper, silver and gold "
" Three little pigs " Three fat men»

The number 3 is one of my favorite fairy tale numbers. But it is present not only in fairy tales. In poems, the number three is also not a rare guest.

"Troika rushes, three jumps,
Dust curls from under the hooves.
The bell is crying loudly,
Now it laughs, then it rings…”

And what do you think, how many wise men from the English nursery rhyme ( translated by S.Ya. Marshak ) went to travel by sea, but not in clear weather, but in a thunderstorm ? Well, of course, three. If the pelvis (in the original version, the trough) would have been stronger, then the story of the journey of three rustic people, Gotham wise men, would have been longer.

“Three wise men in one basin
Set off across the sea in a thunderstorm.
If the old basin were stronger,
My story would be longer.

In what fables of IA Krylov is the number (number) 3 found?
"Three men"
Three men came to the village to spend the night.
Here, in St. Petersburg, they hunted as a cart…;
And now they kept the way home to their homeland…

“The old man and three young people”
The old man was about to plant a tree.
“Let them build; Yes, how to plant in those summers, -
Three adult young men of the neighboring reasoned ... "

Pike and Cancer Swan
Who among us hasn't heard of the famous trinity, who "took a load of baggage" and never brought the matter to its logical conclusion. “When there is no agreement among the comrades, their business will not work out…”

And we will return to fairy tales and remember in which fairy tales the number 3 is still found. He had three sons: two smart, the third - the fool Emelya. The brothers work, but Emelya lies on the stove all day, doesn't want to know anything...

“The Tale of Tsar Saltan…” A.S. Pushkin
“Three girls under the window,
Spinning late in the evening…”

Tales about the number 3 - Preparation for school and developmental tasks for children Mama7ya

Mathematical tale about the number 3

Math Tale 3 about Numbers

Who is the friend of number 3

Once upon a time there was a cheerful traffic light. He stood at the crossroads and blinked three lights: green, yellow and red. But one day all three lights went out.

What started here! The cars could not pass because they were all driving at once. Pedestrians could not cross the street because they were afraid to be hit by cars. Fortunately, there was a little girl in the crowd of pedestrians. She knew that the traffic light was friends with the number 3, and rather called her:

- Hello, your traffic light friend is sick and needs help urgently!

Number 3 immediately came running and brought him three delicious triangular cookies. She treated the traffic light with cookies, and it immediately caught fire. It turns out that the traffic light was very hungry and therefore could no longer work.

Since then, the number 3 has been visiting the traffic lights every day. When the traffic light shows the traffic with its red eye and the traffic stops, the number 3 feeds it with three triangular cookies.

Traffic light eats cookies and tries to guess what they are made of:

- Raisins, peanuts and rice.

– No, I treated you to such cookies yesterday, – Troika laughs.

Number 3 always bakes his own 3-food biscuits.

The traffic light has no way of guessing them because it swallows the cookies too fast. He is only allowed to rest for three minutes while the red light is on.

***

Tales with the number 3

In the Mathematical Kingdom, there lived the number Three. And she liked everything. But then one day she decided that she was tired of living in the Mathematical Kingdom, and she came up with the idea of moving to the Poetic Kingdom.

“I will try to compose poems in which my name will sound,” she decided. First of all, the number 3 decided to look for a rhyme for the word "three". And this is what she got: "Wipe, erase, look, sharpen."

“Yes,” thought the number Three, “no good poem, no worthwhile poetic work will come out of these words.”

The number Three thought and thought and decided: “Since I was born as a number, I will remain a number. A poet will not come out of me. Where they think, I feel confident and comfortable. And let the letters rule in the Poetic Kingdom.”

***

Fairy tale number 3 for children

Troika in the Kingdom of Mathematics

Troika also lived in the Kingdom of Mathematics. She lived in this red palace.

Everyone loved her because she was kind and obedient. Her house had three large rooms. Troika's neighbors were three bears. They all lived in love and harmony.

Every day Troika treated the little bear cub with three sweets.