Rumpelstiltskin

From German Rumpelstilzchen, possibly from rumpeln meaning “make noise” and Stelze meaning “stilt,” with the diminutive suffix -chen; it has also been suggested that the name was inspired by the children’s game Rumpele stilt oder der Poppart mentioned in Johann Fischart’s 1577 book Geschichtklitterung. The Brothers Grimm used the name in an 1812 fairy tale about Rumpelstiltskin, a magical little man who saves a miller’s daughter in exchange for her firstborn child, and who can be defeated only if she guesses his name. The story was based on earlier European folktales that give the little man different names.