or with the golden plumage is known in the folklore of many peoples around the world, such as Russian “zhar-ptica”, Slovak “fire bird” and Armenian "Kush-Pari". It has been noted that the tale "is told in Middle East and in Europe", but its variants are present in traditions from the world over, including India, Indonesia and Central Africa, as well as North Africa, North, Central and South America. Swedish folktale collectors George Stephens and Gunnar Olof Hyltén-Cavallius suggested an Eastern origin for the story. Literary history Scholars Stith Thompson, Johannes Bolte and Jiří Polívka traced a long literary history of the tale type: an ancient version is attested in The Arabian Nights. A story titled Sagan af Artus Fagra is reported to contain a tale of three brothers, Carolo, Vilhiamo and Arturo of the Fagra clan, sons of the King of the Angles, who depart to India on a quest for the Phoenix bird to heal their father. It was published in an Icelandic manuscript of the 14th century. Swedish folktale collectors George Stephens and Gunnar Olof Hyltén-Cavallius listed Danish tale Kong Edvard och Prints Artus, collected in 1816, as a story related to Sagan of Artus Fagra. Dutch scholarship states that a Flemish medieval manuscript from the 11th century, Roman van Walewein (en het schaakspel) (English: "The Romance of Walewein (and the chessboard)") (nl), is an ancestor of the ATU 550 tale type. In that vein, folklorist Joseph Jacobs also suggested the romance of Walewein as predecessor to "The Golden Bird" tale, albeit in regards to an Irish variant of the type. Scholars Willem de Blécourt and Suzanne Magnanini indicate as a literary version a tale written by Lorenzo Selva, in his Metamorfosi: an illegitimate son of a king searches for the Pistis, a plant with healing powers. Later, he is forced to seek the maiden Agape, a foreign princess from a distant land, and a winged horse to finish the quest. An almost immediate predecessor to the Grimms' tale was published in 1787, in an anonymous compilation of fairy tales. In this story, Der treue Fuchs ("The loyal fox"), the youngest son of King Romwald, Prince Nanell, shares his food with a fox and the animal helps him acquire the Phoenix bird, the "bunte Pferdchen" ("colored horse") and the beautiful Trako Maid. The publisher was later identified as Wilhelm Christoph Günther (de). Oral versions Europe France A French