Rumplestiltskin – Maya Interior

To quickly summarize the story: A miller tries to falsely talk himself up to the king by stating that his daughter is impeccably beautiful and can spin gold thread from straw. The king takes the miller’s daughter locks her in a castle room full of straw and gives her an ultimatum to spin the straw into gold until dawn or else she and her father will be executed. An impossible task but in her hour of need, an impish man, Rumplestilkin offers to fulfill that request for a price, to which she gives a necklace.

The following night, the king requests more, and gives the same threat, and Rumplestiltskin returns. She gives her ring as payment.

However, on the third night, the king requests more and will make the miller’s daughter a queen should she succeed. When Rumplestilskin appears again, she has nothing to give. So Rumplestiltskin demands her firstborn child, to which she accepts.

She is made queen and within the year has given birth, when Rumplestiltskin comes to collect. She begs to keep her child, and he gives her a deal: if she can guess his name in 3 days, which he had never told her before, she may keep her child.

When all hope is lost, on the last day, Rumplestiltskin accidentally reveals his name within earshot of one of the queen’s informants. Upon being thwarted he gets so upset that he splits himself in two and disappears.

The Brothers Grimm popularized many folktales that had existed sometimes centuries before them, Rumplestiltskin is one such tale in which its origin is mysterious.

I decided to date this environment further back in time than the classic tale, with an medieval Anglo-Saxon castle room, lit only by the fire and moonlight.

The shadow of the millers daughter weeping stretches from the chair in front of the spinning wheel while the menacing shadow of Rumplestiltskin looms across the backwall over a newborns bassinet. The ring and necklace she has as payment rest on her cloak that has been tossed on the ground.