Jack and the beanstalk

 

Jack and the Beanstalk is an English fairy tale that comes from ancient times. It was written down through the ages and became the story we know today because of the many retellings. It was in 1734 within the publication Round About our Coal Fire, or Christmas Entertainments by J. Roberts, with "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 4th edition. Author Benjamin Tabart wrote "History of Jack and the Beanstalk" in 1807 but this version is still too dark. Soon it was retold in a 1845 book called Home Treasury by Henry Cole a.k.a. Felix Summerly. The pleasant story that became loved by children was in the book English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs who published it in 1890 who gave it a moral twist. 

It's Jacobs' version of Jack and the Beanstalk we know now.  It's much friendlier and comes across as a fantasy adventure tale of a hero seeking to right his wrongs, who started off as naiive and ended up on an epic voyage. He locates magical objects and takes them from the owner, who was a nasty giant that ate humans. Included in the stolen goods was a pretty harp, a big bag of coins and a hen that laid golden eggs. His purpose taking them was to help his poor sick mother. The giant chased after Jack on the tall beanstalk. Giant was catching up with him fast as Jack was loaded with heavy goods. Still Jack finally made it to the bottom, quickly took an axe and chopped down the beanstalk, sending the giant plummeting to his death. A very tense moment of the story. 

There's much more symbolism involved. First, Jack was sent to the market to sell a cow because his mother was sick and they could not afford medicines. Keeping the cow would've been more practical as she could provide milk for them and prevent hunger. They wanted coin for meds although nice Jack was "conned" into giving the cow away in exchange of "magic beans". His mother was furious. She flung the beans out of the window and as soon as they all landed these were sown right away. Quickly there grew a very tall beanstalk reaching up into the sky. Jack climbed up it and he reached a strange land among clouds with a huge castle. 

It's believed this story is originally an ancient tale called "The Boy Who Stole Ogre's Treasure". There's also a parallel with an 18th century story "Jack the Giant Killer". That particular tale was loosely based on older versions, set during the mists of Arthurian legendary Dark Ages. This story of a warrior Jack is violent and not at all for kids. This became popularised because of a 1962 fantasy film "Jack the Giant Killer" with special effects by Ray Harryhausen. There's also much similarities with the Norse legend of Thor and the giants in the Eddas. Thor was often fighting off giants and keeping them away. Such beautiful narratives play in the psyche. 

For more info read this page on Wikipedia: Jack the Giant Killer and The History of Jack the giant killer at Once Upon an Algorithm. Read about the 10 symbols from Jack and the Beanstalk page at Wizzley.    

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