THE TALE OF THE THREE BROTHERS by Beedle the Bard

This might be cheating, but I just finished Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows and I want to blog about it.

Spoiler Alert

One of my favorite writing tricks is to include a story within a story that develops plot and strengthens the mythology of the fabricated world. It is very human to search for meaning in books and stories. The Old Testament, The Torah, The Koran, The Bothers Grim, and Aesop Fables, are a few examples of books that are full of stories that are supposed to help us better understand ourselves and the world around us.

The collection of stories that enriches the already beautiful world created by Rowling puts this reader completely under her spell. The Tale of the Three Brothers plays a very important role in story. What really great about a myth or fable that becomes true, as this one does, is that there are always the believers and the non-believers. But what are myths and stories but the truth thinly veiled in small beautiful lies. This way the believers can seek with faith and the non-believers can dismiss the story as childish and irreverent.

I won’t go on too much about this plot turning story, just in case; I’d hate to ruin it for anyone. Three Brothers is about three brothers that find themselves confronted by Death. However, they get one up on Death and Death is forced to grant each one wish. Each of the three brothers wish for magical items (that play a role in the lager plot of HP 7) that enable them to evade Death’s wrath with varying degrees of success.

That is it; that is all I’ll say. Enjoy!

Rowling, J.K. The Tale of the Three Brothers. In Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows. New York: Scholastic, 2007. p 406 - 409