History Literature / MollyWhuppie

The king, impressed by the story, sends Molly back on three successive errands to steal a treasure from the Giant. On the third try she is caught, but once again she escapes death by her wits, causing the Giant to batter -- possibly kill -- his hapless wife instead of her. When the Giant gives chase, he is unable to cross a narrow bridge over the river and must rage futilely from the other bank. As the reward for her efforts, Molly and both of her older sisters marry the king's three sons.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Multiple times, and all at the hands of the Giant.
** First, he beats his own daughters to death, thinking he is killing Molly and his sisters.
** Then he beats his wife to death inside a sack, thinking he is killing Molly.
** In some versions, Molly gets the giant to kill ''himself'' by telling him to drink the river dry. He drinks so much that he bursts.

* MurderByMistake: The Giant kills his own children by mistake. Later he kills his ''wife''.

* SociopathicHero: Molly tricks the giant into killing his three daughters, who hadn't done anything wrong. Later she tricks him into beating and possibly killing his wife, who had ''actively warned'' Molly and her sisters that her husband was a dangerous giant they should stay away from.

The king, impressed by the story, sends Molly back on three successive errands to steal a treasure from the Giant. On the third try she is caught, but once again she escapes death by her wits, causing the Giant to murder his hapless wife instead of her. When the Giant gives chase, he is unable to cross a narrow bridge over the river and must rage futilely from the other bank. As the reward for her efforts, Molly and both of her older sisters marry the king's three sons.

** Finally, he attempts to drink the river so he can pursue Molly further, only to burst in the attempt.

* RuleOfThree: Three errands to the Giant's house to steal a certain treasure.

* SociopathicHero: Molly tricks the giant into killing his three daughters, who hadn't done anything wrong. Later she tricks him into killing his wife, who wasn't only innocent but had ''actively warned'' Molly and her sisters that her husband was a dangerous giant they should stay away from.

* SociopathicHero: Molly tricks the giant into killing his three daughters, who hadn't done anything wrong. Later, she tricks him into killing his wife, who wasn't only innocent but had ''actively warned'' Molly and her sisters that her husband was a dangerous giant.

Molly is the youngest and cleverest of three daughters, who were turned out of their home because there was nothing for them to eat. They take shelter with a Giant and his wife, who receive them with apparent kindness before attempting to murder them while they are sleeping. The quick-witted Molly arranges it so that the Giant slays his own three children instead, and the girls escape in the night to the palace of a king.

* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: Molly escapes the Giant each time by crossing the "bridge of one hair," which the Giant cannot get over. Whether it is literally as wide as a single hair is never specified.

* RuleOfThree

* StandardHeroReward

* YoungestChildWins: A variant, as all three sisters win a Prince and the elder two didn’t even have to do anything. But Molly won in the sense that she was the member of the family who inherited all the brains.

* YoungestChildWins: As ever so often in fairy tales.

Molly is the youngest and cleverest of three daughters, who were turned out of their home because there was nothing for them to eat. They seek shelter with a Giant and his wife, who receive them with apparent kindness before attempting to murder them in the night. The quick-witted Molly arranges it so that the Giant slays his own three children instead, and the girls escape in the night to the palace of a king.

The king, impressed by the story, sends Molly back on three successive errands to steal a treasure from the Giant. On the third try she is caught, but once again she is quick-witted enough to cause the Giant to murder his own wife instead of her. When the Giant gives chase, he is unable to cross a narrow bridge over the river and must rage futilely from the other bank. As the reward for her efforts, Molly and both of her older sisters marry the king's three sons.

* {{Catchphrase}}: Yet another Ogre saying "Fe Fi Fo Fum".

* MurderByMistake: The Ogre kills his own children by mistake. Then he kills his ''wife''.

* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: Bridge as thick as a human hair.

* MurderByMistake: The Ogre kills his own children by mistake.

* GenderFlip: The folklorists classify this type as "The Small ''Boy'' Defeats the Ogre"

"Molly Whuppie" is a Scottish fairy tale popularized by the Anglo-Australian folklorist Creator/JosephJacobs with his ''English Fairy Tales'' (1890). It is practically identical with the Scottish-Gaelic "Maol a Chliobain" that was first printed in 1862 in John Francis Campbell's ''Popular Tales of the West Highlands''.

"Molly Whuppie" is a Scottish fairy tale popularized by the Anglo-Australian folklorist JosephJacobs with his ''English Fairy Tales'' (1890). It is practically identical with the Scottish-Gaelic "Maol a Chliobain" that was first printed in 1862 in John Francis Campbell's ''Popular Tales of the West Highlands''.

!!Tropes found in this fairy tale: