This tale type involves a human-animal hybrid who becomes a prince after winning the hand of a princess and destroying his animal skin. While usually portrayed as some sort of hedgehog, the protagonist sometimes appears as other animals, such as a pig. While this story is credited to the Brothers Grimm, their source was German storyteller Dorothea Viehmann (1755–1815).

Hans my Hedgehog

"Hans my Hedgehog.” The Juniper Tree, and other Tales from Grimm, Brothers Grimm, translated by Lore Segal, Randall Jarrell, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973, pp. 11-22.

Tale Summary There was once upon a time a peasant who wished very badly for a child, so badly he would even be happy with a hedgehog. His wife told him that he had cursed them as she bore a child that was hedgehog above and boy below, who was...

Jack my hedgehog

“Jack my Hedgehog.” The Green Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1892, pp. 304-310.

Tale Summary There was once a successful farmer who had everything he wanted in life except for a child. He told people he wanted one so badly, he wouldn’t even care if it were a hedgehog! His wife finally gave birth to a boy, but from the waist up he...

Husband reveals himself as human

“Second Night, First Fable.” The Nights of Straparola, Straparola, Giovanni Francesco, translated by Waters, W.G. (William George), London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1894, pp. 55-65.

Tale Summary Gaelotto, noble King of Anglia, and his wife Ersilia are unable to conceive. The queen falls asleep in her garden and is visited by three faeries, who cast spells on her, making it so that she will conceive, that her son will be virtuous, but that he will...