Beanstalk Hero Myths

From Plastic Tub

In the English-speaking world, every child is familiar with the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk, about the naïve young man who trades his cow for some "magic beans" that in fact do produce an enormous beanstalk by which Jack ascends to the clouds--and the home of a malevolent giant. Jack is captured, to be eaten later, but escapes by the aid of the ginat's wife, along with a hen that lays golden eggs. Jack is a greedy boy, however, and ascends once again, this time to steal a harp that resents being taken. Its calls attract the giant who pursues jack down the stalk. Jack, once sfely on the ground, attacks the stalk with an axe, felling it and killing the giant. This tale, both alchemical parable and re-telling of the Prometheus myth, is in turn based upon the older story of Jack the Giant killer, who encounters a series of five giants which through cunning and magical assistance Jack is able to defeat. He even removed the last giant's head and sends it to King Arthur.

What most people do not realize is that these tales derive from legends native to the Baltic Sea area--Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, etc. In these original tales, Jaani unwittingly retrieves a magic stone from an unscrupulous merchant who is unaware of the value of the stone. In Baltic version Jaani gives up his pig, and not a cow. With this stone,