the virtues of loyalty and trust. Indeed, variants of the tale have been collected from "all over Europe", as well as from India, Turkey, Middle East, South America and the West Indies. In a German variant, the three speaking ravens are actually three witches in disguise that converse among themselves the plan to kill the royal couple. Parallels Croatian folklorist Maja Bošković-Stulli noted that the theme was explored as the subject matter of a Serbo-Croatian epic song: Pero Vitkovic offers to bring the Banica of Misir (the margravine of Egypt) as bride to Viennese Prince Karlo, despite his mother's objections. On the way there, Pero overhears a carrier pigeon describing the three perils Karlo and the margravine will have to face until their wedding, and notices that the carrier pigeon belongs to Karlo's mother, the Empress. Pero Vitkovic rescues the prince and the margravine from the perils and becomes stone, due to the bird's omens. She also reported versions of the song that contain the motif of the false merchant expedition as the protagonist's disguise to kidnap the foreign princess. Adaptations Comics Trusty John is a supporting character in the long-running comic book series Fables. See also The Enchanted Pig Long, Broad and Sharpsight How Ian Direach got the Blue Falcon References Bibliography Baughman, Ernest Warren. Type and Motif-index of the Folktales of England and North America. Indiana University Folklore Series No. 20. The Hague, Netherlands: Mouton & Co 1966. p. 13. Bolte, Johannes; Polívka, Jiri. Anmerkungen zu den Kinder- u. hausmärchen der brüder Grimm. Erster Band (NR. 1-60). Germany, Leipzig: Dieterich'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung. 1913. pp. 42-57. Thompson, Stith. The Folktale. University of California Press. 1977. pp. 110-112. Further reading Chiasson, Christopher. "The Economy of Sacrifice in the Grimms’ "Der treue Johannes"". In: Deutsche Vierteljahrsschrift für Literaturwissenschaft und Geistesgeschichte 91 (2017): 126–151. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41245-017-0035-1 Rösch, Erich. Der Getreue Johannes: Eine Vergleichende Märchenstudie. Helsinki: Suomalainen tiedeakatemia, Academia scientiarum fennica, 1928. External links Faithful Johannes German fairy tales Grimms' Fairy Tales Fictional servants Fictional German people Fiction about shapeshifting Fictional ravens ATU 500-559 cs:Mahuliena, zlatá panna it:Il fedele Giovanni sk:Mahuliena, zlatá panna