The Moon

And how it came to hang in the night sky

As the nights are beginning to draw in, I thought a story about the moon would be a good one to start my collection with. It’s a Brothers Grimm tale, but less well-known than some of the others.

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In days gone by, there was a land where the nights were always dark, and the sky spread overhead like a black cloth, because the moon never rose there and no stars shone.

One day four young men who lived in this land set out on a travelling expedition, and presently arrived in another kingdom. In the evening, when the sun had disappeared behind the mountains of this kingdom, a shining globe was placed in an oak-tree. The globe shed a soft light far and wide, by which everything could be seen very well, even though it was not so bright as the sun.

Illustration by Fliss Ward

The travellers stopped and asked a man who was driving past with his cart, what kind of a light this was. "That is the moon," he answered, “our mayor bought it for three gold coins, and fastened it to the oak-tree. He has to pour oil into it daily and keep it clean, so that it may always burn clearly. He receives a silver coin each week from us for doing it."

When the man had driven away, one of the travellers said, "We could do with a lamp like this! We have an oak-tree at home just as big - we could hang it on that. What a pleasure it would be not to have to grope about in the darkness each night!"

"I'll tell you what we'll do," said the second, "we will fetch a cart and horses and take this moon for ourselves. The people here can always buy another."

"I'm a good climber," said the third, "I will bring it down."

The fourth brought a cart and horses, and the third climbed the tree, bored a hole in the moon, passed a rope through it, and let it down.

When the shining ball lay in the cart, they covered it over with a cloth so that no one would see what they had done. They carried it safely back to their own country, and placed it in the branches of a high oak. Old and young rejoiced when the new lamp shone its light over the land, and bedrooms and sitting-rooms were filled with it. The dwarves came forth from their caves in the rocks, and the tiny elves in their little red coats danced in rings on the meadows.

The four young men made sure that the moon was kept topped up with oil, cleaned the wick, and received their payment for doing so every week. Eventually, however, they became old men. When one of them grew ill, and saw that he was about to die, he declared that one quarter of the moon, should, as his property, be laid in the grave with him. When he died, the mayor of the town climbed up the tree, cut off a quarter with some hedge-shears, and placed it in his coffin. The light of the moon decreased, but not visibly.

When the second man died, the second quarter was buried with him, and the light diminished a little more. It grew even weaker after the death of the third, who likewise took his part with him. Finally, when the fourth was taken to his grave, the land was returned to it’s previous darkness, and whenever people went out at night without lanterns they knocked their heads together.

This was not the end of the story, though, because when the four pieces of the moon were united again in the world of the dead below, the dead became restless and awoke from their sleep. They were astonished when they were able to see again; the moonlight was quite sufficient for them. They rose up and were merry, and fell into their former ways of living, drinking and carousing and brawling with each other. The noise in the world below became greater and greater, and at last reached even to heaven.

Saint Peter, who guards the gate of heaven, thought the underworld had broken out in revolt and gathered together the heavenly troops, ready to drive back the Devil when he and his mob approached. When they did not come, however, he got on his horse and rode through the gate of heaven, down into the world below. There he commanded the dead lie back down in their graves peacefully again, and he took the moon away with him, and hung it up in the heavens.

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The original version of this story can be found here: https://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/the_moon

If you’re interested in reading some analysis, there’s a great article about the story here: https://thewindseye.com/2021/09/26/the-light-in-the-underworld-the-moon-by-the-brothers-grimm/