by Whitney Ho
Names, if you must be succinct, can be considered nothing but a series of mismatched syllables that one is conditioned to respond to. However, after some contemplation, a name becomes something that appears to hold greater significance than we often believe it to be. For example, names in Chinese culture hold a special place as they are believed to be capable of determining one’s future. The significance of names is also seen in the Brothers Grimm’s version of “Rumpelstiltskin” when the queen declares Rumpelstiltskin’s name resulting in the violent end of Rumpelstiltskin. Through the lens of the fairy tale Rumplestiltskin and Chinese traditions and superstitions, it is revealed that by “calling upon” Rumpelstiltskin’s name his death was inevitable because the queen was able to hold him accountable to his word while Rumpelstiltskin could not truly hold the queen accountable to her word and force her to offer up her child’s life after there was a change to her name.
In fairy tales, enchantment is the process by which words and sentences capture the audience into the story and names are the most basic spell or enchantment. Although enchantment is something typically associated with fantasy or the mythical, the enchantment or spellcasting of calling someone by their name is one of the most fundamental “spells” a person can cast (and one of the most varied). In Teresa White’s article,“What is a name, then?”, she argues that “If we see a written name and it happens to be the same as our own, it ‘jumps out’ at us and we find we cannot ignore it” (52). Given this fact, a name can be considered a type of spell that captures someone’s attention, especially because fairy tales typically do not give actual names to the characters, such as, “the witch”, “the wolf”, and, within “Rumpelstiltskin”, “the maiden”. These “names” carry an element of anonymity that allows the reader to relate more closely with them. An example of the name spell would be if I heard someone say “She is so mean” versus “Whitney is so mean”. Feel free to insert your pronouns and names into this scenario and see how the first allows one to dismiss it as irrelevant gossip. However, for the second statement, my attention is immediately captured. I have fallen for the spell (or perhaps curse) of my name.
Within “Rumpelstiltskin”, the guesses that the queen makes when she is attempting to figure out what Rumpelstiltskin’s name is shows how names are representative of the person they refer to. In Ann Schmiesing’s article, “Naming the Helper: Maternal Concerns and the Queen’s Incorrect Guesses in the Grimms’ ‘Rumpelstiltskin’”, she provides an analysis on the names that the queen guesses:
“Since Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar have been the names traditionally attributed in the West to the Magi. . .The names suggest the queen’s hope—however unrealistic it may be—that the diminutive dwarf will relinquish his demand for her child and instead exercise the benevolence and wisdom associated with the Three Wise Men.” (Schmiesing 303)
With this analysis, we can see that the queen is using these names as a way of trying to change the situation that she is caught in by attempting to give Rumpelstiltskin a benevolent name and “Naming things, naming people, so the psychologists tell us, is a way of exercising power over them”(White 54). The queen’s attempts to give Rumpelstiltskin a name and change what he is seeking ultimately fails because he already has a name. Most importantly, the queen’s attempts fail because the queen believes that Rumpelstiltskin has a name other than the names that she had presented. This belief implies that the name is so significant that no one would think that Rumpelstiltskin’s “That’s not my name”(627) is a lie.
The concept of a name being what you are connects closely with the Chinese tradition. The baby’s first name (the milk name) is originally something simple or cute and doesn’t hold much significance for the person in the public sphere(Henry 109). As the child becomes an adult they are bestowed an actual name symbolizing that they now have authority attached to their person to participate in society (hence due to the patriarchal system of ancient China some women, especially those of lower classes were left unnamed). The person’s actual name involves a communal proces and generally has an auspicious meaning (Henry 109). My grandmother once said that a name was capable of determining one’s future and used my cousins as examples. One of them had the character for literature/language while the other had the character for military/martial arts and sure enough, the second turned out to be much more sporty in comparison to the first cousin. Obviously, I had chalked it up as a mere coincidence until I had found myself writing and enjoying poetry and came to the realization that the character for “poem” was in my Chinese name. Perhaps, my grandmother was on to something.
Finally, in “Rumpelstiltskin”, the queen’s change in her name represents the most significant case of the magical quality of names because it signifies a change in authority. Oftentimes, it is easily assumed that a name and an identity are synonymous things but that is not quite right. A name is the identification for an identity. An identity is made of combinations of a person’s beliefs, experiences, appearance, and other things while the name is the word that specifically identifies that specific set of combinations. Fundamentally, the queen is still the same person because she continues to rely on someone else to complete her task. It is ultimately the messenger who comes back saying “I couldn’t find a single new name. . .I saw. . .a ridiculous little man. . .screeching. . .for Rumpelstiltskin is my name” not the queen (Grimm 627). The type of name that the queen has is of titles and descriptions. However, consider this. When the queen agreed to “promise [her] first child when she became queen”(Grimm 627) she was still a miller’s daughter, the maiden. When the name, or identifier of the “maiden” changes to “the queen”, an opportunity appears for the queen to escape the responsibility of fulfilling her promise to Rumpelstiltskin. The greatest difference between the name of the “maiden” and “the queen” is the amount of authority held by each name. The name “maiden” is anonymous and while anonymity can be a source of protection, in this story, it renders the maiden weak and susceptible to the forces beyond her (her father and the king’s demands). The name of “the queen” on the other hand implies a singularity. There is only one queen in a country and when that name (title) is used, it holds a certain amount of authority with it. In fairy tales, the spoken word means just as much as the written word. So, the agreement between the maiden and Rumpelstiltskin can be viewed as a written document with the signatures of “the maiden” and Rumpelstiltskin on it. However, when the maiden becomes the queen, the authority of the queen overrides the agreement made between the maiden and Rumpelstiltskin. But only partially, because the name of Rumpelstiltskin also has its own authority. From a strict perspective of analyzing the influence of names, when Rumpelstiltskin “appeared in [the queen’s] room and said. ‘Now give me what you promised’”(Grimm 627), he is attempting to act on the deal. However, he cannot simply take the child away (going off the promise between the maiden and Rumpelstiltskin, he has every right to) because he is now dealing with the queen, not the maiden. This new authority from the name of “the queen” had brought the maiden more time and forced Rumpelstiltskin and the queen to renegotiate the terms of their deal and placed Rumpelstiltskin and the queen on equal footing. Indeed, the argument can be made that it was Rumpelstiltskin’s empathy towards the queen because “the little man felt sorry for her”(Grimm 627), but if the queen had remained the maiden, there would be nothing stopping Rumpelstiltskin from simply taking the child.
This change in the queen’s name is similar to how “Chinese names are relational, varying according to the professional, kin, or status relationships between speaker and addressee” (Henry 110). Additionally, like signatures in European countries, China had once used seals as a means to validate an official document. Chinese seals are often written in more traditional script and typically have the owner’s name carved into the stone and serves the same functions as a signature would. Both a signature and the seal depend on the name of the signer or owner as a way to validate the claims on the documents that are being signed. Once again, the amount of trust placed into the name is seen. There is the assumption that the person is not signing someone else’s name and the owner of the seal has the name that matches the name on the seal. This assumption, this trust, especially for signing, is taken completely for granted on a daily basis. At the supermarket, when my mother goes to buy things with a credit card, she is often asked to sign her name on the payment terminal and she often simply scribbles some lines. The cashier on the other side, never asks for confirmation of her name. It is simply assumed that she is not lying.
When it comes to names there is an irrefutable authority to them and therefore, when the queen successfully guesses Rumpelstiltskin’s name, she no longer has to give away her child’s life so the life that must be given is Rumpelstiltskin’s. Rumpelstiltskin has plans to eat the child when he says: “Today I’ll brew, tomorrow I’ll bake”(Grimm 627). The deal is, in essence, a life for a life. By looking at Rumpelstiltskin through the lens of Chinese naming traditions, specifically those that denote to a difference in authority and relationship, it is revealed that Rumpelstiltskin’s decision to allow the queen a way out of her predicament may not entirely be out of mercy, but because the spellcasting of names required this lenience to be shown. The exploration of Rumpelstiltskin with naming traditions show that utilizing the thought processes of cultures other than the Euro-centric view allows for a new understanding in the fairy tale and in other cultures.
Works Cited
Grimm, Jacob & Grimm, Wilhem. “Rumpelstiltskin”.
Henry, Eric S. “When Dragon Met Jasmine: Domesticating English Names in Chinese Social Interaction” Anthropologica, vol. 54, no. 1, 2012, pp. 107-117.
Ho, Whitney. Image of a Chinese seal and stamp. 3 May 2021.
Schmiesing, Ann. “Naming the Helper: Maternal Concerns and the Queen’s Incorrect Guesses in the Grimms’ ‘Rumpelstiltskin’”, Marvels & Tales, vol. 25, no. 2, 2011.
White, Teresa. “WHAT IS IN A NAME, THEN”, The Way, vol. 57, no 1, pp. 51-60, 2018.
