Three in fairy tales

"The power of three" in fairy tales: a great story lesson

Explore the significance of the number “three” in fairy tales and discover the recipe for a great story-based lesson for young learners.

Why do we tell stories?

According to scientists, stories are the oldest form of human communication, dating back to prehistoric times. More than half of our daily conversations are around exchanging stories or gossip. So, what makes stories so popular? The answer is in a pattern. Our brains have evolved to prefer working with patterns as an important survival skill.

In the surrounding landscape the patterns include shapes of animals, objects or plants. Our faces form recognisable patterns. Stories too are a type of pattern, a pattern of events or information. Our brains derive meaning from these patterns, making sense of information, predicting sequences of events and the roles of participants.

“The power of three”

Three is the smallest recognisable pattern, which makes it easy to remember. A plot based on “threes” also creates suspense more effectively than events occurring in twos or fours. Memorable tales were more likely to be repeated from person to person and survive in the oral tradition. Many of these fairy tales we love reading even today. Notice how traditional folk tales often feature sequences of threes:

The plot structure is most often based on three elements: the beginning, the middle and the end of a journey.
Three protagonists such as the three little pigs or the three good fairies from Sleeping Beauty.
Three trials of the main protagonist, for example, three days in which to guess Rumpelstiltskin’s name and three wishes granted by a genie.

Ask your students to give examples of stories in which three plays a significant role. They will likely be able to name a lot!

Neuroscience and stories

Thanks to modern fMRI technology we also know that stories stimulate the human brain in a way that is different to other types of linguistic input. A common conversation activates two parts of the brain: that involved in listening (auditory cortex) and that concerned with deciphering language (Werner’s area).

Hearing a story has a more stimulating effect on our brain. When we hear a story, our brains react as if we are experiencing the events in real life. For example, the empathy centres in our brain come to life when we hear about the protagonists’ sadness; on the other hand, olfactory and motor cortex can be activated by descriptions of smell or activities. In this sense, stories transport us to alternative worlds and our brains enjoy it.

A recipe for a great story-based lesson

So, we know that fairy tales are memorable, easy to repeat and engage listeners on a deeper intellectual and emotional level. How can we use this science in class? Here’s a simple recipe for a rich reading experience.

A healthy dollop of preparation. Read the story beforehand and get to know the characters. Pre-teach and practice key vocabulary in the story by showing students flashcards, demonstrating or miming the actions to the class.

A spoonful of questions – the magic ingredient to engage your audience. Ask questions as you read in order to draw your students in and keep them hooked. Questions help us think about the story and understand it better. Ask questions about the title and the pictures, ask about emotions of the characters and what happens next. Carmen Zavala’s blog post on dialogic reading explores questions in greater detail while Dr Roxana Herescu shares advice on how to talk to children about emotions in her interview with Delia Kidd.
A sprinkle of acting out to bring theatre to your reading. Read with expression, move your audience, help them understand the mood of the story. Act out events in the story, mime the characters’ emotions, incorporate props, invite the class to join and repeat lines. See activities ideas later in the blog.

Why not try some creative drama activities such as ‘Whoosh’ by Rachel Jeffries. Download Rachel’s free ebook Come Alive for details!

Next steps…

Download the story of the Gingerbread Girl’s Adventure and try the ideas in class. Once your students are familiar with the story you can raise the challenge and introduce story theatre. As the story is read (by yourself or another student), the rest of the class mime the actions, re-tell the story using prompts (word cards or illustrations), until finally, they can narrate the story, act out scenes with dialogue and props for a full theatre production!

And, the icing on the cake is that the students’ reading adventure can continue beyond school. Encourage your students to talk about their favourite fairy tales at home. We hope you enjoyed reading.

References

Simon Lancaster “Winning Minds”

If you’re looking for more fun classroom ideas for young learners, why not check out six ideas for using finger puppets in class.

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).

Beautiful Christmas Fairy Tales List

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Beautiful Christmas Fairy Tales List

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.

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. nine0003

“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. nine0007 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…”

40 riddles about fairy tales and fairy tale characters

Riddles about the names of fairy tales

Animals lived in the house tom,
But the bear broke their house,
He couldn't get into it. ..
This is a fairy tale...
(Teremok) nine0003

Everyone wanted to eat him,
But he fell into the mouth of a fox.
Sweet, small ball
This is a fairy tale - ...
(Kolobok)

From the king's ballroom
The girl ran home,
Crystal shoe
Lost on the stairs.
The carriage became a pumpkin again ...
What fairy tale is this?
(Cinderella)

What a fairy tale: cat, granddaughter,
Mouse, another dog Bug
Grandfather and woman helped,
Have you harvested root crops?
(Turnip)

Near the forest, on the edge,
Three of them live in a hut. nine0007 There are three chairs and three mugs,
Three beds, three pillows.
Guess without a clue,
What is this fairy tale?
(Three Bears)

What kind of house on the edge of the forest
Gave shelter to the Hedgehog, Frog,
Mouse, Hare, Rooster?
House with a chimney at the top,
Smoke comes out of the chimney.
This house is …
(Teremok)

This tablecloth is famous
The one that feeds everyone to the full,
That by itself she
Full of delicious food.
(Self-assembly tablecloth)

Both a hare and a wolf -
Everyone runs to him for treatment.
(Aibolit)

Father had a strange boy,
Unusual, wooden,
He had a long nose.
What is a fairy tale? – Here is the question.
(Golden Key)

Gobbling up rolls,
The guy rode on the stove. nine0007 Ride through the village
And he married a princess.
(Emelya)

Riddles about fairy-tale heroes

The most important baby in a fairy tale,
Although she lived in the cellar:
Pull the turnip out of the garden
Helped my grandparents. nine0007 (mouse)

he left his grandfather
And he left his grandmother.
Only, unfortunately, in the forest
I met a sly Fox.
(Kolobok)

I fly with a broom in a mortar
I kidnap small children,
Kostyan my leg
Who am I?…
(Baba Yaga)

Lots of silver and gold
He hid in his chests.
He lives in a gloomy palace
And steals other people's brides.
(Koschei the Deathless)

The swamp is her home.
The Waterman visits her.
(Kikimora) nine0003

He flies over the earth -
At the same moment, the grass burns.
He knows how to shoot fire,
Three-headed fairy dragon.
(Zmey Gorynych)

Round spout,
It is convenient for them to dig in the ground,
Small crochet ponytail,
Instead of shoes - hooves. nine0007 Three of them - and how friendly the brothers are alike.
Guess without a clue,
Who are the heroes of this tale?
(Three piglets). Riddle author: Tatyana Dvoretskaya

He is a robber and a villain,
His whistle scared people.
(Nightingale the Robber)

Answer the question:
Who carried Masha in the basket,
Who sat on a stump
And wanted to eat a pie?
You know this story!
Who was it?
(Bear)

I bought a samovar,
And the mosquito saved her.
(Fly Tsokotukha) nine0003

Who Frost plays hide and seek with,
In a white coat, in a white hat?
Everyone knows his daughter,
And her name is ...
(Snow Maiden)

She was the dwarfs' girlfriend
And, of course, you know.
(Snow White)

The fat man lives on the roof,
He flies above all.
(Carlson)

What a strange boy,
Wooden man?
On land and underwater
Looking for a golden key.
It has a long nose everywhere.
Who is this?
(Pinocchio) nine0003

My simple question
You won't spend a lot of energy.
Who is the boy with the long nose
Did you make it from a log?
(Papa Carlo)

An elderly person
With a huge dark beard.
Offends Pinocchio, Artemon and Malvina,
And in general for all people
He is a notorious villain.
Does any of you know
Who is this?
(Karabas)

She was an artist
As beautiful as a star
From evil Karabas
She ran away forever.
(Malvina) nine0003

Everyone laughed at him as a child,
They tried to push him away:
After all, no one knew that he was
Born a white swan.
(Ugly duck)

They are always together everywhere,
Animals - "do not spill water":
Him and his furry friend
Joker, bear Winnie the Pooh. nine0007 And if it's not a secret,
Rather give me an answer:
Who is this cute fat man?
Piggy mom's son - ...
(Piglet)

Lemon grabbed his father,
He threw dad into the dungeon ...
Radish - boy's friend,
Didn't leave that friend in trouble,
And helped me get free
To the father of the hero from the dungeon.
And everyone knows without a doubt,
The hero of these adventures.