The Children with the Golden Locks

The tale is classified in the Georgian folktale index as tale type ATU 707, "Wonderful Children" (or "The Three Golden Children", in the international index). According to the Georgian folktale index, the children are born with golden hair and, years later, a "beautiful maiden" reveals the truth to the king.[7]

Georgian scholarship also states that the "starting episode" of Georgian variants is another tale type, indexed as -480G*, "Stepmother and Stepdaughter": a man remarries and his new wife orders him to abandon his daughters in the woods; they fall into a hole, but dig a way out to the king's stables.[8][9]

In The Three Sisters and their Stepmother, published by Marjory Scott Wardrop, a widowed man with three daughters remarries. His new wife orders her husband to get rid of them. The man goes to the forest and digs a hole under an apple tree. He lures his daughters and they fall in the hole. Down in the hole, the youngest sister prays to God for a way out and her hands become a shovel and pickaxe. They dig an exit to the king's stables and eat almonds and raisins. The horse groom catches them one day and takes them to the king. The king inquires each of them about their skills: the youngest says she will bear two golden-haired boys. The truth is told by one of the brothers during a banquet with the king.[10]

In another Georgian tale titled The Horse Lurja or Lurdzhasi (lurǯa meaning a 'blue-gray' color),[11] the heroine's parents are tricked by a witch that they can regain their youth by killing their daughter and eating her liver and heart. The heroine escapes with her horse to another kingdom, where she takes part in masculine competitions while the king wants to unmask her. She eventually marries the king and gives birth to a golden-haired son. A letter is falsified with a command to kill the queen and her son, but her horse takes its rider and her son to safe place, and loses a leg in the process. At a safe distance, the horse begs the heroine to be sacrificed. The heroine kills it with a knife and places its three legs around her and her son; a temple, a house and a spring appear out of the three legs.[12][13] This tale is classified by Georgian scholarship as its own tale type of the Georgian Folktale Index, numbered -538*, "The Beauty and her Horse".[14]

In an Azeri tale, "Продавец шиповника" ("The Wild Rose Seller"), an old man sells wild roses for a living for him and his three daughters. He remarries. One day, his new wife tells him that his earnings are not enough for the whole family, and issues an ultimatum for him: either he stays with his three daughters and she leaves, or he stays with her and abandons his three daughters. He chooses the second option. The man goes to the market to buy some apples, while the stepmother covers up a well with grass. The man brings home the apples and the daughters ask where he got them. The stepmother tricks the girls to go outside. They fall into the well and the man leaves them there. Some time later, the girls begin to feel hungry and decide to eat the one who jumps the lowest. Every time, it is the youngest sister who does. However, they find some raisins on the ground to sate their hunger. After three days, they decide to excavate their way out of the well and discover where the raisins are coming from: the king's stables. They enter it to forage for more food from the horses. The king notices something wrong with the horses and investigates. He discovers the three girls and inquires about their skills: the eldest promises to weave a large carpet where the royal army would sit and there would still be space left; the middle sister that she can cook food for the while army in an egg shell; the youngest that she can bear twins, a boy and a girl with hair with a half of gold and a half of silver. The king marries all three sisters; the elder two fail in their boasts, while the youngest bears the twins, who are cast in the water and saved by a miller. Years later, the king meets his twins and takes them to dinner, where the whole truth is revealed.[15]

In a variant from Dagestan, "Три сестры" ("Three Sisters"), a man loses his wife. His three daughters convince their father to marry their neighbour. The woman becomes their step-mother, but, after some time, she convinces her husband to abandon the girls in the woods. The man goes to the market, buys some ambar beads and goes to the woods to dig a up hole. He throws the beads into the hole and draws his daughtes to the hole. They fall into the hole and the father covers the hole with a large rock. The sisters wish for their hands to become a shovel, a pickaxe and a spade, and begin excavating an exit. They reach the king's stable and hide under its roof, while one of them descends to get dates for the others. Time passes, and the king notices that his horses haven't been eating properly and sends his three sons to investigate. The two elders sleep on the job, but the youngest prince discovers the third girl, the prettiest of the sisters, who has been stealing the food. The king marries his three sons to the three women. The youngest gives birth to twins, a boy and a girl, with golden hair, but her sisters cast them in a box in the water. The twins are saved by an old woman. Years later, she takes them to a king's celebration. He notices the children and asks the old woman about them, then discovers they are his son and daughter.[16]

In an Ossetian variant published by Ossetian-Russian folklorist Grigory A. Dzagurov with the title "Своевольная кривобокая девица Каскатина" (German: Das eigensinnige krumme Mädchen Kaskatina;[17] English: "Maiden Kaskatina"), on her deathbed, a wife warns her husband not to marry a woman of cartain aspect. He becomes a widower and his three daughters insist he remarries. He finds a woman just like his late wife warned him about and declines her proposal. The woman dyes her hair and tricks the man into marrring her. After the wedding, she begins to poison the father against the daughters. One day, he comes home with fine looking apples and their daghters ask where he found them. The man takes the three girls to the woods and draws them to a hole with a pile of apples. The girls fall into the hole and their father goes home. The three sisters pray to their deities for their fingers to become shovels and spades, so that they can excavate an exit out of the hole. They dig a way to the khan's mill, where they begin to live, sing and dance. Their activities draw the court and the khan's attention, who finds the trio. He inquires about their skills: the eldest claims to be able to weave a hundred felts from one bundle of wool, the middle that she can cook a meal for a hundred people with a single egg, and the youngest says she will bear him golden-haired twins, a boy and a girl. The khan marries the youngest and she gives birth to the golden-haired twin, but her sisters place them in a box an cast them in the iver. The box washes ashore and the children live by themselves by the river bank. When they are older, their aunts convince the female twin to ask her brother to build an iron tower deep within the dark forest. After the tower is built, the midwife visits them and tells the girl to get a music-producing furcoat, a magical mirror (looking glass) and a girl named Kaskatina, who possesses magical petrifying powers. The brother fails to get Kaskatina; the sister saves him and brings Kaskatina with them. Kaskatina marries the male twin.[18]

In another Ossetian tale, "Ӕрхуы мӕсыджы бадӕг бурчызг" or "Бронзовая девушка Медной башни" (French: "La fille blonde qui se tient dans la tour de cuivre", English: "The blond girl at the tower of copper"), a widowed man marries a woman that wants his three daughters to be abandoned in the woods. He leads them to a tree with bright red fruits and throws them in a pit. The three girls pray for salvation, and three shovels and pickaxes appear. They use the tools to excavate an exit to the prince's mill, where they rest and eat food. One day, the prince finds the three sisters and inquires about their abilities: the elder says she can stich many types of footwear with only a quarter of leather; the second that she can prepare a great meal with a handful of flour, and the last that she can bear twins, a boy with golden hair and a girl with silver tresses. The king chooses the third girl as his wife, and takes the other two to live at the castle with them. Jealousy burning at their hearts, the two elder sisters take the children as soon as they are born and abandon them in the woods, to be suckled by a she-dog. As they grow up, they build a makeshift hut to house themselves and the she-dog; the sister stays at home and the brother hunts. One day, the two aunts visit them and convince the pair to seek a woman with blond hair that lives in a tower of copper. The boy takes his talking horse and gets the girl. The next day, their hut becomes a mansion of copper, with a tower of copper. Next, the two aunts convince them to look for a fur coat ("pelisse") stamped with a sun on the plastron and a moon on the back, and that produces music and sings.[19][20]

In another Ossetian tale collected by philologist Bernhard Munkácsi, Ärtʼä čəˈzʒə āˈrɤau, and translated as Märchen von den drei Töchter ("The Tale of Three Daughters"), an old man loses his wife and remarries. His new spouse forces him to abandon his three daughters in the woods. He does just that; the girls fall into a hole. The youngest prays to God to give them shovels and pickaxes to excavate an exit. They dig a way out of the hole and into the king's stables, where they find food. The king's horses are getting thinner and he orders a night watch. His servants find the three maidens, the youngest promises golden-haired twins, a boy and a girl. Some time later, she bears the children, which are abandoned with a she-dog and replaced for puppies. Years later, the aunts send the twins for the jowl of a swine in the "Milchsees" and for a wife for the Brother, a "golden maiden" that lives in a mountain beyond seven mountains.[21]

In a variant from the Adyghe people with the title "Три дочери старика" ("The old man's three daughters"), first collected in the mid-19th century and published in 1872, an old man brings some apples home and his daughters want to go with him the next time he picks up fruits. The man goes to the woods, digs up a hole nwar an apple tree and covers it with a carpet. He lures his daughters to the hole, they fall into it and he abandons them there. The three girls pray to God to save them and to provide them with food. With God's help, they climb out the hole and take shelter atop a tree. The khan passes by the forest and finds the three girls on the tree. He then inquires about their skills: the eldest says she can sew clothes for his army in one day; the middle one that she can sew clothes for 50 horsemen, and the youngest saying she will bear twins (a boy and a girl), both with a half of white gold and a half of yellow gold. The khan chooses the youngest as his wife. She gives birth to her twins, who are taken by her jealous sisters and cast in a box. The box with the children wash ashore and is found by a lady of the river,[lower-alpha 1] who raises the twins by the river bank, while their biological mother, as punishment, is tied to the khan's palace's gates. An old woman passes by the disgraced queen and asks for some flour, and bakes two cakes with her breastmilk. The old woman goes to the river bank and gives the children the cakes. They taste it; the boy recognizes their mother's milk, while the girl complains that hers was baked with water. They tell their adoptive mother the event and she says she has to let them go into the world. The boy then builds a house for him and his sister. A passing old man convnces the female twin to find them a dove and a maiden named Ayrish-Ayrishakan. The Brother gets the bird, but becomes stone due to the maiden's powers, and is rescued by his Sister.[23]

In a tale from the Ingush people, collected in 1963 with the title "Мальчик с солнцем во лбу и месяцем между лопаток" ("The Boy with the Sun in his Mouth and the Moon between his shoulders"),[24] a man remarries. His new wife wants him to get rid of his three daughters, so he abandons them in the woods under the pretence of picking up apples. The girls climb a tree to shelter themselves. A prince passes by with his retinue and finds them. He then inquires them about their skills: the oldest says she can weave clothes for 60 men in one night; the middle sister says she can cook a meal for 60 men with the quantity of wheat in a copper thimble, and the youngest that she can bear a son with a shining sun on the front and a moon between the shoulders. The prince marries the youngest sister and she gives birth to a boy just as she described. The boy is cast in the water by his aunts, but is saved and grows up. He is then sent to tame a red stallion, [wild] like a tiger, and to bring back a girl who can petrify people.[25]

In a tale from the Abaza people, collected from a 48-year-old teller with the title "Златоволосая и Среброволосый" ("Goldenhair and Silverhair"), an old man has three daughters. He remarries, and his new wife orders him to get rid of the girls, else she will leave him. He leads the girls to the forest under the pretense of picking pears, and abandons them in a hole. The girls manage to excavate an exit through the walls of the hole and find a cellar that belongs to the khan. The king notices some food missing and discovers the girls. The khan inquires them about their skills: the eldest boasts that she can sew clothes for a hundred people in a day; the middle one that she can feed a hundred people in a day, the youngest promises to bear him twins, a girl with golden hair and a boy with silver hair. The khan marries the youngest sister and she gives birth to her children. The jealous elder sisters replace the twins with puppies and throws them into the sea in a barrel, while the khan orders his wife to be sewn in a bull's hide and banished to the crossroads with her puppies. The children break free of the barrel and build a house by the shore. One day, the khan meets the silver-haired twin when going to the mosque. The jealous aunts, knowing that their deceit may be discovered, send a messenger to the twins' house. While the silver-haired brother goes hunting, the golden-haired sister stays at home. The messenger tell her about the shining golden comb of the maiden Dshakhyaki, her mirror that can see everyhing its owner wishes to see in it, and her golden apple. The brother obtains the items, then goes for Dshakhyaki herself. With the mirror, the golden-haired girl sees her mother abandoned in a road with the two puppies, and feels sorry for them; their golden apple frutifies into a garden of golden apple trees. The Brother turns to stone when facing Dshakhyaki, and his sister rescues him. The maiden marries the Brother and reveals the truth to the king and the entire court at her wedding.[26]

In a tale from the Balkars with the Balkar title "Бир кишини юц къызы" (Bir kiṡini üc qızı; Russian: "Три дочери одного человека"; German: Die drei Töchter eines Mannes, English: "Three Daughters of One Man"), a father loses his wife, but remarries a woman that mistreats his three daughters. One day, he comes back from the woods with some pears and apples to feed them, and they tell him they wish to join him next time. The next day, he prepares a trap for his daughters: he digs up a hole near an apple tree and covers it with some branches; he draws the girls to the hole and they fall inside. The man abandons the girls in the hole and returns home. The three girls escape from the hole by using a pickaxe their father forgot there. They climb out of the hole and live in woods, gathering fruits form themselves and climbing up trees to rest. The khan's retinue passes by the same tree one night and the youngest girl climbs down the tree and mends the torn garments from the khan's retinue. The next day, the retinue notice their mended clothes and think that the tree brought luck for them. After two nights of this, a night guard discovers the girls and reports the finding to the khan. The khan asks them about their skills: the eldest promises that she can make garments for her husband and his friends on the same night they return form a hunt; the middle one that she can prepare food in a single night that will feed them during a whole hunt; and the youngest promises to bear twins like the world has never seen. The khan marries all three women, and before he goes on a hunt, orders his wives to fulfill their boasts. The youngest wife gives birth to a boy and a girl, who are replaced for puppies and thrown in the sea by the jealous sisters. Learning of this, the khan orders his third wife to be banished with the puppies to the deepest part of the woods. The twins survive and are adopted by an old couple. The boy becomes a fine hunter. However, their adoptive parents suggest they move out to a nearby house, but to keep visiting them. So, the twins build a hut for themselves with animal hides and live in the forest. One night, the fire is put out, and the female twin goes to a neighbour's house to borrow some coals for her fire, and meets two women - her aunts. The aunts notice that the girl is their niece. The next day, while the male twin is on a hunt, they visit the twins' house and tells about a lake whose water, if sprinkled on four trees, will create a house of gold and precious gems. The brother gets the water and sprinkles on their humble hut and a palace appears overnight. The next time, the aunts visit her to tell the girl about a magical furcoat: its lapels play the fiddle; its sleeves applaud to a rhythm, and its coattails dance. The third object is a magic mirror from somewhere that shows the world. Lastly, the aunts send the twins for a maiden with golden hair and silver teeth as a wife for the male twin. The brother rides his horse to the maiden's tower and is petrified. The sister sees her brother in the mirror, dresses in man's clothes and rides a horse to the maiden's tower to rescue her brother and bring the maiden back with them. Some time later, the brother goes on a hunt and ventures deep in the woods. He sees two dogs run behind a tree. He follows the animals and finds its master: a person that looked like an animal. He brings the person with him and feeds them with bonemarrow; after some time, the person regains some semblance of humanity: it is their mother. One day, the twins' father, the khan, announces he will make a parade, and orders his two elder wives to prepare food and garments. A woman in the crowd tells him about a beautiful maiden that lives with a pair of twins that live nearby, and he agrees to invite her. The maiden goes to the khan's palace and joins the other women in telling stories. She begins her tale from the beginning: the father who remarried; the abandonment of his daughters; the khan in the forest; the promises of the three sisters; the birth of the twins. The khan notices it is the story of his wife's family. The maiden takes the khan to the twins' palace and meets his children and wife.[27][28]