Donor (fairy tale) by Giambattista Basile. In the Grimm Brothers' variant of "Cinderella", the protagonist is aided not by her fairy godmother but by her dead mother, as is the heroine of the Finnish variant, "The Wonderful Birch". A great variety of other figures may also take this place. In "Vasilissa the Beautiful", the heroine is aided by a wooden doll that her dying mother had given her; in "Rushen Coatie", by a red calf sent to her by her dead mother, a calf that can continue to aid her after its death; in "Katie Woodencloak" by a mysterious dun bull; in "Tattercoats",
The Griffin (fairy tale) The Griffin (fairy tale) "The Griffin" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in "Grimm's Fairy Tales". It is Aarne-Thompson type 610, Fruit to Cure the Princess; and type 461, Three Hairs from the Devil. The Brothers Grimm noted its similarity to "The Devil With the Three Golden Hairs". The opening type is seldom a stand-alone tale; it combines with others, such as type 461, as in this, or type 570, the Rabbit Herd, as in "The Three May Peaches", to form a complete tale. The opening also features in "Jesper Who Herded the Hares". A king's