Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin

Bruno and Frederick recapture Rump, but it makes little difference because the rumpel forces him to go to the castle anyway. Opal weeps and pleads with Rump, but the magic forces her to hand over her son, Archie, just as it compels Rump to take the baby. The gleeful miller reveals that he knew all along that Rump would spin straw into gold to save Opal’s life. Rump realizes that the miller is the merchant responsible for his “mother’s sorrow, her entrapment, and her death” (218). The miller calls Rump a “little demon” and tells him that he wants to make a new bargain (217). When Rump adamantly refuses to make any more gold, the miller drags a captive Red out of a pile of straw.

Rump begins spinning straw into gold in exchange for the promise that the miller won’t harm Red. The miller ties Rump to the spinning wheel, tells him that he has three days to finish before the king returns from a hunt, and then falls asleep. Rump laments to his friend, “This is my destiny, Red. I don’t have any choice” (223). However, Red is certain that there is more to Rump’s name and to his destiny, and she urges him not to give up.

The distraught queen rocks back and forth so much that she weakens the floorboards. Opal is so desperate that Rump tells her she can keep her child if she guesses his true name. In actuality, he believes this task is impossible and simply hopes to calm her and keep her busy. Opal leaves to “speak to the king’s wise men and search all the Name Books” (227), but none of her guesses starts with “Rump.”

On the second day, Rump continues spinning, and Opal continues guessing every obscure name she can find. To each, he answers, “That is not my name” (231). That night, Frederick and Bruno take Rump outside so he can relieve himself. The miller, who has been stealing some of the king’s magical gold for himself, tells his sons to bring the baby along. Remembering the trolls who helped him before, Rump tells the miller’s sons that he has a trove of gold hidden in the woods, and they greedily leap at the chance to claim the treasure.

Frederick, Bruno, Rump, and Archie ride to the forest in a carriage. Rump carefully sets the baby on the ground beneath the apple tree and then intentionally sets off the snare. The trolls burst out of the woods, and the frightened Frederick and Bruno flee, leaving their nephew behind. The trolls help Rump down, and he tells them everything about his spinning and his name.

Later that night, a troll named Bork leads Rump back to the apple tree, explains that he’s seen animals eat its fruit and live, and postulates, “Maybe poison doesn’t have to grow from poison” (240). Bork startles Rump by eating one of the apples, but he’s unharmed. The troll tells Rump that humans are incorrect in thinking that magic and destiny are more powerful than their own choices. Bork gives Rump some privacy to ponder his words. Rump thinks about his destiny and realizes that his magic is not just a trap but also a power that no one can steal from him. His mother gave him “a name that would overpower all the magic that had trapped her”—Rumpelstiltskin (242). Reveling in the magic coursing through him, he eats an apple and composes a triumphant poem about his name and how it has freed him from the curse.

Bruno and Frederick blunder into the forest and demand that Rump return with them. Although he no longer fears the miller’s sons, Rump knows that he has to go back to the castle so that he can help Red, confront the miller, and return Archie to his mother.

Rump tells the miller’s sons that he needs to relieve himself again and quickly gathers the materials for his plan. He hides nests full of hibernating pixies in Archie’s basket, places Opal’s necklace and ring in the basket, and fills his coat with dirt. When they return to the castle, the sight of the miller makes Rump’s fear return. Rump sees that the miller has hit Red. This renders his bargain with the miller null and void because the man said that he would return Rump’s friend unharmed if he spun all the gold. As a result, the miller can’t take any of the gold strewn about the chamber.

Opal hasn’t forgotten her bargain with Rump either. Her father tells her to be quiet, but she defies his orders and reminds him that she is the queen. Her brothers sympathize with her, and they tell her the name they heard in Rump’s poem in the forest. When the queen declares that his name is Rumpelstiltskin, he remembers his destiny and overcomes his fear of the miller. Recalling the repeated reminders from the Witch of the Woods to watch his step, Rump stomps on the pixie nests. Archie is already muddy from his time in the woods, and Rump protects himself and Red from the pixies with the dirt bundled in his coat. The pixies swarm over the miller, his sons, and the spinning wheel. Rump and Red break through the weakened floorboards and land in the kitchen. A startled Martha helps him untie Red, gives them some pies, and then hurries them out the door.

As Red and Rumpelstiltskin make their escape, they see pixies tossing clumps of gold thread out the windows and people struggling in vain to lift them. He tells Red all about his true name and his plan. Red observes, “That’s crazy. You’re trapped and tangled, but then you’re really powerfully magical” (254). He replies that everyone is. Red invites Rumpelstiltskin home with her, but he needs some time alone. He looks around the Village, wondering who will take Oswald’s place as the miller and reflecting on how he has changed since he left. He sees that Red tended to the seed they planted outside Gran’s cottage; it has grown into a sapling. He hopes that it will become an apple tree. Inside the cottage, he sits at his mother’s spinning wheel, which he still cherishes because it reminds him of her and of his destiny. Rumpelstiltskin manages to spin some straw without turning it to gold. He knows that his mother and grandmother would be thrilled, and he feels their presence with him, which is “its own kind of magic—to feel that people who are gone are still here” (256).

In the spring, Red and Rumpelstiltskin climb the Mountain. From its height, he can see his entire journey laid out before him. He plans to return to his aunts and “spin and weave with their magic” one day (257). For now, however, he is content to be home. He tells Red that everything should have a name and a destiny, and she points out that this would likely cause trouble. While he agrees with her, he is undeterred, and he gives the mountain a name. He feels magic “sinking into the ground” beneath his feet because a “name is a powerful thing” (258).