# The Riddle explained — Household Tales

> Chapter companion for Household Tales by Jacob Grimm.

## What happens

A king's son and his faithful servant encounter a witch, survive a poisoning attempt, and inadvertently kill twelve murderers through a poisoned raven. The prince then poses a riddle to a proud princess, who tries to cheat but is caught, leading to their marriage.

## Themes in this chapter

### Virtue Rewarded and Vice Punished

The honest servant and prince survive while the witch, murderers, and cheating princess face consequences.

### Promises and Their Consequences

The princess's proclamation about the riddle leads to her being outsmarted and forced to marry.

## Character check-ins

### the youth

The king's son who travels with his servant, solves the riddle, and marries the princess.

### the servant

The faithful servant who kills the raven and later helps expose the princess's cheating.

### the princess

The proud princess who tries to guess the riddle by spying but is caught.

### the maiden

The stepdaughter who warns the travelers about her stepmother's wicked arts.

### Unknown

The witch stepmother who poisons the horse and later dies eating the raven.

## Key lines

> One slew none, and yet slew twelve.

A single creature killed no one directly, but caused the death of twelve people.

_The riddle refers to the raven that ate poisoned horseflesh and then was eaten by twelve murderers, killing them._

> She stole into my room in the night and questioned me, otherwise she could not have discovered it.

The princess secretly came to my room at night and asked me about the riddle; without that, she would not have known the answer.

_The prince accuses the princess of cheating by spying on him while he slept._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se/chapters/the-riddle
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se/chapters