Alexei Kondratiev wrote:

> I heard the story in French as a child, where it was supposed to
> explain the origin of the name _roitelet_. Alexei

I forgot to mention that the wren is called zaunkönig "king of the fences" in German. BTW, Rolley looks like a degenerated variant of roitelet - could this be its etymology?


Dennis wrote:

> It turns out to be one of the Märchen der Gebrüder Grimm!

This doesn't necessarily mean that the story is originally German. It could well be an international motive, as you suggested on Seanchas-L.

David