The Master Maid
| The Master Maid | |
|---|---|
The Master Maid prepares herself to the task with her magical Glass Axe. Illustration from Jacobs' version by John D. Batten | |
| Folk tale | |
| Name | The Master Maid |
| Also known as | Mestermø |
| Aarne–Thompson grouping |
|
| Region | Norway |
| Published in | Norske Folkeeventyr, by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe |
| Related | Jason and Medea; The Two Kings' Children; The Water Nixie; Jean, the Soldier, and Eulalie, the Devil's Daughter, Nix Nought Nothing; "Foundling-Bird" |
"The Master Maid" is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their Norske Folkeeventyr. "Master" indicates "superior, skilled." Jørgen Moe wrote the tale down from the storyteller Anne Godlid in Seljord on a short visit in the autumn of 1842. Andrew Lang translated the tale to English and included it in his The Blue Fairy Book (1889). A later translation was made by George Dasent, in his Popular Tales from the North.
It is Aarne–Thompson type 313. Others of this type include "The Two Kings' Children", "The Water Nixie", "Jean, the Soldier, and Eulalie, the Devil's Daughter", "Nix Nought Nothing", and "Foundling-Bird". It also includes an episode of The Forgotten Bride.