Ep. 16. Iron John (Der Eisenhans): A Brothers Grimm Fairytale Interpreted as an Initiation Manual for Men

The Grimm brothers fairy tale Iron John (or Der Eisenhans in German) was the subject of study by prize winning American poet and author Robert Bly, who was a prominent figure in the mythopoetic men's movement that began in the 1980's. In it he saw the remnants of pre-industrial male initiation, told through the story of a young prince, who goes off to live with a wild, hairy man in the forest, encounters a magical golden spring, and then later works anonymously as a servant in the castle of a great king. He eventually goes on to perform great feats of bravery and skill, to eventually win the hand of a princess. The many peculiar adventures of the boy were interpreted by Bly as metaphors for the necessary steps in becoming a man. In this video, I've split the story into four parts, and following each one, I've offered interpretations of the symbology and meaning as well as some contemporary context according to my own understanding, as well as that of Bly's book. If you want to skip the interpretations and go straight into the story, the relevant parts on the time line are shown below:

Part1   2:09 - 14:12
Part2    22:41 - 27:06
Part3    35:39 - 39:53
Part4    41:50 - 48:52

#eisenhans, #robertbly, #ironjohn, #maleinitiation, #masculinity, #manhood, #mythopoetic 

For the video montage of this episode please visit the Triarius Project Youtube Channel, or follow this link:

https://youtu.be/HcF_dd3agMw

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