The Brothers Grimm’s Fairy Tale, ‘The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was’

When a silly young man has never experienced what it’s like to shiver in fear, the Princess takes it into her own hands to show him.

Legend has it that the Hermitage Castle, located just across the Scottish border, is haunted by ghosts from its bloody centuries-long history. Neil Turnbull/CC BY-SA 2.0

A problem must be solved, so we get to work solving it. But, alas, we sometimes unnecessarily complicate matters and make the problem harder to solve.

Such over-complex problem solving radiates throughout the brothers Grimm’s fairy tale, “The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was.“ A young man seeks to learn how to ”shudder.” The young man’s journey seems to show that the simplest way is the most effective.