View source for Three Billy Goats Gruff

{{Short description|Norwegian fairy tale}}
{{Infobox folk tale
|Folk_Tale_Name=The Three Billy Goats Gruff
|Image_Name=File:WhiteHouseTheThreeBillyGoatsGruff2003.jpg
|Image_Caption=The [[White House]] 2003 [[Christmas]] decoration using "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" as the theme
|Aarne-Thompson Grouping=122E
|Country=[[Norway]]
|Published_In=''[[Norwegian Folktales]]''}}
"'''The Three Billy Goats Gruff'''" ({{langx|no|De tre bukkene Bruse}}) is a [[Norwegian folklore|Norwegian fairy tale]]<ref>''Encyclopedia of American folklore: Facts on File library of American literature''. Linda S. Watts. Infobase Publishing, 2007. {{ISBN|0-8160-5699-4|978-0-8160-5699-6}}. p. 383.</ref> collected by [[Peter Christen Asbjørnsen]] and [[Jørgen Moe]] in their ''[[Norwegian Folktales|Norske Folkeeventyr]]'', first published between 1841 and 1844.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.answers.com/search|title=Answers.com: Asbjørnsen and Moe|website=Answers.com}}</ref> It has an [[Aarne-Thompson classification system|Aarne-Thompson type]] of 122E. The first version of the story in [[English language|English]] appeared in [[George Webbe Dasent]]'s translation of some of the ''Norske Folkeeventyr'', published as ''Popular Tales from the Norse'' in 1859.<ref>{{cite book|author1-last=Asbjørnsen  |author1-first=Peter Christen |author1-link=Peter Christen Asbjørnsen |author2-last=Moe |author2-first=Jørgen Engebretsen |author2-link=Jørgen Engebretsen Moe |translator-last=Dasent |translator-first=George Webbe |translator-link=George Webbe Dasent |title=Popular tales from the Norse |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9o3Z-kw5GqcC&pg=PA313 |publisher=Forgotten Books |isbn=978-1-60506-787-2|page=313}}</ref> The heroes of the tale are three male goats who need to outsmart a ravenous troll to cross the bridge to their feeding ground.

==Characters==
The story introduces three [[billy goat]]s ([[male]] [[goat]]s), sometimes identified as a youngster, father and grandfather, but more often described as brothers. In other adaptations, there is a baby or child goat, mama goat and papa goat.

"Gruff" was used as their family name in the earliest [[English language|English]] translation by Dasent and this has been perpetuated; but this has been pointed out as a mistranslation of the Norwegian name {{lang|no|Bruse}} which was here employed in the sense of "tuft, clump" of hair on the forehead of domesticated livestock.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.bl.uk/european/2015/10/the-goats-that-got-away.html |last=Hawes  |first=Barbara |author-link=<!--Barbara Hawes, Curator Germanic Collections--> |author-mask=Hawes, Barbara, Curator Germanic Collections |others=Posted by Olga Kerziouk |title=The Goats that Got Away |website=European Studies Blog |publisher=British Library |date=19 October 2015 |quote=The story's original Norwegian title in full (a bit less snappy than the English one we know) was De tre Bukkene Bruse, som skulde gaa til Sæters og gjøre seg fede which roughly translates as 'The three Billy-Goats Gruff who were going to mountain pastures to fatten themselves up'.  'Bruse', which is the name of the goats, was translated as 'Gruff' in the first English version, and this translation has stuck ever since but in fact the word refers to the hairy tuft on a goat's forehead}}</ref> The word can mean "fizz" or "effervescence", but also a "frizzle (of hair)" according to Brynildsen's Norwegian-English dictionary,<ref name="brynildsen-dict-bruse"/> but the secondary meaning is better explained as "a tuft/clump of hair on a horse (or buck goat)" in the ''[[Great Norwegian Encyclopedia]]'' (''SNL''), and [[Ivar Aasen]]'s Norwegian-Danish dictionary.<ref name="snl">''Store Norske Leksikon'' s.v [https://snl.no/bruse Bruse]: "{{lang|no|Bruse er en tett og lav busk, særlig av einer. Ordet brukes også om en hårdusk i pannen på en hest eller bukk (bukkene Bruse)}}"</ref><ref name="aasen-ordbog1873-bruse2"/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Both ''SNL'' and Aasen agree in giving the primary meaning as "a dense bush esp. juniper"<ref name="snl"/> or "juniper-tree, juniper".<ref>{{harvp|Aasen|1873}} ''Norsk ordbog med dansk forklaring'' "Bruse 1": Enebaertræ ({{=}}Einer)</ref> whereas {{interlanguage link|Hans Ross|no}} explains the word to mean a "flower cluster" or bushy inflorescence.<ref name="ross-ordbok1895-bruse"/><!--Note that such flower clusters can also be a "spray", just as [[wikt:Bruse]] means "fizz, spray" in Danish.-->}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|On dialect forms and cognates: Hans Ross gives the form {{lang|no|Brusk}}, in [[Telemark]] and [[Smaalenene]] dialect, corresponding to {{lang|no|Brus}} in standard Norwegian, with apparently the same meaning<!--"Haar-Brust" (sic.) but perhaps "Haar-Burst", hair bristle-->, cognate to Icelandic {{lang|is|[[wikt:brúskur|brúskr]]}} meaning 'clump of hair'.<ref name="ross-ordbok1895-brusk"/> Cf. also Faroese {{lang|fo|[[wikt:brúsa|brúsa]]}} (sense 2, verb) "clip.. the hair on the forehead.. of lamb"<ref name="young&clewer-faroese1985-brusa"/><!--Cf. also the ''Brúsajøkils_kvæði'' (commemorated on stamps of the [[commons:Faroese_ballads#Brúsajøkils_kvæði]]) where a evil "Brúsa" giant gets "the beard" (skeggið) yanked at severely. -->}}

== Plot ==
Three [[billy goat]]s, all named "Gruff", live in a valley with very little grass. They must walk across a bridge to reach a [[Transhumance|mountain pasture]] where they can graze. However, a fearsome [[troll]] lives under the bridge and eats everyone who tries to cross.

The smallest billy goat goes first. The troll stops him and threatens to "gobble him up!" The little goat tells the troll he should wait for his big brother to cross, because he is larger and would make for a more gratifying feast. The greedy troll agrees and lets the smallest goat pass.

The medium-sized billy goat approaches the bridge. He is more cautious than his brother, but the troll stops him too. The second goat convinces the troll to wait for their eldest brother, the largest of the three, and the troll lets him pass as well.

The largest billy goat steps on to the bridge and meets the troll waiting to devour him. The goat challenges the troll to fight and then throws him into the water with his horns. The troll drowns in the stream, and from then on the bridge is safe. The three billy goats live happily ever after.

==Retellings==
Writer {{interlanguage link|Bjørn F. Rørvik|no}} and illustrator {{interlanguage link|Gry Moursund|no}} have created three books in Norwegian based on this story. The first, ''Bukkene Bruse på badeland'' (''The Three Billy Goats Gruff at the Waterpark''), came in 2009 and had by 2014 sold over 110,000 copies in Norway, making it one of the biggest selling [[picture book]]s in the country. By March 2019, the three books had sold over 450,000 copies in Norway.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://norla.no/nb/books/622-the-three-billy-goats-gruff-at-the-water-park|title=The Three Billy Goats Gruff at the Water Park |website=norla.no|access-date=29 March 2019}}</ref>

The following is a list of children's book adaptions of the story into the English language, suitable for the elementary school classroom:<ref name="tussey&haas2024">{{citation|last1=Tussey |first1=Jill T. |author1-link=<!--Jill T. Tussey--> |last2=Haas |first2=Leslie |author2-link=<!--Leslie Haas--> |chapter=Chapter 2. First Grade―Fairy Tales |title=Exploring Genre through Gamified Adventures in Elementary Classrooms |publisher=Springer Nature |date=2024 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f7jrEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA20|page=20 |series=<!--Springer Texts in Education--> |isbn=<!--3031417178, -->9783031417177}}</ref><ref name="mcelmeel1996">{{citation|last1=McElmeel|first1=Sharron L. |author1-link=<!--Sharron L. McElmeel--> |chapter=Chapter 2. Folklore |title=Educator's Companion to Children's Literature: Folklore, Contemporary Realistic Fiction, Fantasy, Biographies, and Tales from Here and There |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |date=1996|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-OTEEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA30 |pages=29–30|isbn=<!--0313079390, -->9780313079399}}</ref>

* Arnold, Tim <!--own illustr.-->(1993) ''The Three Billy Goats Gruff''  Macmillan<ref name="mcelmeel1996"/>
* [[Mac Barnett|Barnett, Mac]] (Illustr. by [[Jon Klassen]] (2022). "The Three Billy Goats Gruff."  Orchard Books.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/88451-cover-reveal-the-three-billy-goats-gruff-by-mac-barnett-and-jon-klassen.html |title=Cover Reveal: 'The Three Billy Goats Gruff' by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=Feb 3, 2022 |website=publishersweekly.com |access-date=June 25, 2024}}</ref> 
* [[Marcia Brown|Brown, Marcia]] <!--own illustr.-->(1991) [1957] ''The Three Billy Goats Gruff''. Harcourt<ref name="mcelmeel1996"/>
* [[Richard Chase (folklorist)|Chase, Richard]] (Illustr. by Berkeley Williams, Jr.) (1948), "Sody Sallyraytus" in ''Grandfather Tales'', Houghton<ref name="mcelmeel1996"/>
* [[Paul Galdone|Galdone, Paul]] <!--own illustr.-->(1981) [1973] ''The Three Billy Goats Gruff''. HMH Books for Young Readers<ref name="tussey&haas2024"/>
* Langley, Jonathan (1995) <!--own illustr.-->''The Three Billy Goats Gruff''. Harper Collins<ref name="mcelmeel1996"/>
* Loewen, Nancy (Illustr. by Cristian Bernardini) (2018). ''Listen, my bridge is SO cool!: The Story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff as Told by the Troll''. Picture Window Books<ref name="tussey&haas2024"/>
* Mortimer, Rachel (Illustr. by [[Liz Pichon]]) (2010). ''The Three Billy Goats Fluff.'' Scholastic<ref name="tussey&haas2024"/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|"Scholastic-Australia"|Cf. [[Kel Richards|Richards, Kel]] (Illustr. by Janine Dawson) (2011) ''Three Kangaroos Gruff'', Scholastic Australia''[[bunyip]]''}}
* Ottolenghi, (Illustr. by Carol Mark Clapsadle) (2009). ''The Three Billy Goats Gruff.'' Brighter Child<ref name="tussey&haas2024"/>
* [[Margie Palatini|Palatini, Margie]] (Illustr. by [[Barry Moser]])(2005). ''The Three Silly Billies''. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers<ref name="tussey&haas2024"/>
* [[Ann Patchett|Patchett, Ann]] (Illustr. by [[Robin Preiss Glasser]]) (2020) ''Escape Goat''. Puffin Books<ref name="tussey&haas2024"/>
* [[Jerry Pinkney|Pinkney, Jerry]] <!--own illustr.-->(2017). ''The Three Billy Goats Gruff''. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers<ref name="tussey&haas2024"/>
* Pye, Katie (Illustr. by Rodrigo Paulo) (2020). ''Trip Trap Trouble: A Story about the Three Billy Goats Gruff and Gratitude''. Headstart Thinking<ref name="tussey&haas2024"/>
* [[Glen Rounds|Rounds, Glen]] <!--own illustr.-->(1993). ''The Three Billy Goats Gruff''. Holiday House<ref name="mcelmeel1996"/>
* [[:da:Svend Otto S.|S., Svend Otto]] <!--own illustr.-->(1989) ''The Three Billy Goats Gruff''. D. C. Heath 
* Shaskan, Stephen <!--own illustr.-->(2013) ''The Three Triceratops Tuff''. Beach Lane Books<ref name="tussey&haas2024"/>
* Sims, Lesley (Illustr. by [[David Semple]]) (2015). ''Goat in a Boat''. [[Usborne Publishing]] Ltd<ref name="tussey&haas2024"/>
* Stevens, Janet <!--own illustr.-->(1987)  ''The Three Billy Goats Gruff''. Harcourt<ref name="mcelmeel1996"/>
* [[Harriet Ziefert|Ziefert, Harriet]] (Illustr. by Laura Rader) (1994) ''The Three Billy Goats Gruff''. Tambourine <ref name="mcelmeel1996"/>
*Rudin, Ellen (Ill. Lilian Obligado) (1982) ''The Three Billy Goats Gruff''. Western Publishing Co. (a first little golden book)

Part of the story in the children's book [[The Troll]] by [[Julia Donaldson]] is based on the tale, with a troll that lives under varying bridges and waits for goats but in this story only other animals walk over the bridges.

[[Neil Gaiman]]'s "Troll Bridge" (1993) in the anthology ''[[Snow White, Blood Red (book)|Snow White, Blood Red]]'' is also an adaption of the fairy tale, for adults.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The troll approaches a young boy who has crossed his bridge and demands to "eat his life." The boy eventually persuades the troll to wait until he has lived a little more, after which he will return to the bridge. The goats in this adaptation are represented by the protagonist as a child, a teenager and finally a middle-aged man. The story was nominated for a 1994 World Fantasy Award.}}<ref>Neil Gaiman, "Smoke and Mirrors"</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Gaiman  |first=Neil |author-link=Neil Gaiman |chapter=The Toll Bridge |editor1-last=HDatlow les |editor1-first=Ellen |editor1-link=Ellen Datlow |editor2-last=Windling |editor2-first=Terri |editor2-link=Terri Windling |title=Snow White, Blood Red |location=New York |publisher=Open Road Media |year=2019 |orig-year=1993 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lGl0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT230 |page=|isbn=<!--1504055764, -->9781504055765 |quote=}}</ref>

Golden Books did a version of the story that was similar to the book. The only difference is that when the troll is washed away by the stream, he is later mentioned to have moved into a cave.

== Media adaptations ==

===Audiobooks===
* [[Scholastic Corporation]] produced an audio recording in 1963, with music composed and directed by [[Arthur Rubinstein]], narrated by [[Bob Thomas (actor)|Bob Thomas]], and cover illustration by Susan Blair and Ellen Appleby.<ref>{{YouTube|id=lTzsorFjzLw|title=Three Billy Goats Gruff}}</ref> It was first made available as a [[phonograph record]],<ref>Scholastic Records CC 0612, Long Play 33-1/3 RPM</ref> and then on [[Compact Cassette]].

===Films===
* ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx9Pc2NftlA The 3 Billy Piñatas]'' (2015) is a version with a Spanish twist, produced by "Team Juan" at the [[Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design]] at the [[University of Dundee]]

===Television===
* In 1995, Australian children's TV series [[Johnson and Friends]] adapted this fairy tale, with the characters 'roleplaying' and acting out the story in a humorous fashion.
* In 2004, the story is retold on ''[[Hi-5 (American TV series)|Hi-5]]''. This version has the goats replaced by sheep and instead of the troll wanting to eat them, he just wanted to sleep and was annoyed by their noise. The story ended with the biggest sheep giving him earmuffs made out of wool. In the [[Hi-5 (Australian TV series)|original Australian version of the show]], three sheep crossing a bridge disturb the napping [[bunyip]] underneath.<ref>Hi-5 Series 1, Episode 22 (Animals), segment of "{{URL|1=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqMA2Nk5Jz4 |2=Grumpy Bunyip}}" @ Hi 5 Official Channel</ref>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|"Scholastic-Australia"}}
* In 2008, the [[BBC]] created a modern adaptation for its ''[[Fairy Tales (TV series)|Fairy Tales]]'' TV series. In this, the story was given a twist in that the troll was presented as a tragic, cruelly maligned victim.<ref>{{cite news |author=Horne, Mathew |author2=Deacon, Michael |work=Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/01/05/nosplit/bvtvsatfeat05.xml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307141542/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/01/05/nosplit/bvtvsatfeat05.xml|archive-date=March 7, 2008|title=Once upon a time...|date=May 1, 2008|quote=The troll character is dirty and smelly and everybody is frightened of him, and I think that heightens the pathos of the ending, because it's a witch hunt, without any evidence}}</ref>

===Music and musicals===
[[Frank Luther]] wrote a version of "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" geared towards music education for elementary school grade children, published in "Singing on Our Way", Our Singing World Series by the Ginn and Company (c. 1949).<ref name="frederick1955"/><ref name="MusEdJ1957"/> It was often played on the [[BBC Radio]] programme ''[[Children's Favourites]]'', in the 1950s and early 1960s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/radio/childrensfav.htm |title=Children's Favourites |publisher=Whirligig-tv.co.uk |date=2005-11-28 |access-date=2010-06-09}}</ref> Some years earlier Yvonne Ravell had recorded a version she wrote in sung (1940),{{Refn|Ravell, Yvonne [pseud.  of Yvonne Rapeer Shanley<!--retreived from copyright office-->] (soprano); Leaman, Harold (piano) (1940) "Little Black Sambo"; "The Gingerbread Boy"; "The Wee Wee Woman"; "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" (3 album set, J-20, Nos. 35-651, 35-652, and 35-653).<ref name="barton1998"/>}} cited as suitable education material for the theatre in one journal.<ref name="EdTheatreJ1949"/>

James Scott Balentine composed ''Kinderkonzerts'', a chamber music setting for [[string quintet]] and narrator, with the text adapted by [[Stephanie Sant'Ambrogio]], recorded in the album "Klassics 4 Kids: Cactus Pear Music Festival Artists" (2010).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cpmf.us/ |website=Cactus Pear Music Festival|title=Kinderkonzerts |author=Balentine, James Scott |author2=Sant'Ambrogio, Stephanie |publisher=Guildhian Music}}</ref>

Gwen Edwards adapted the story into a popular children's musical called ''Billy, Goat, Gruff: The Musical'' (summer 2007), at [[Barter Theatre]] in [[Abingdon, Virginia]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gotricities.com/content/article.dna?idNumber=4301 |title=It's curtains up on Barter's '07 season |website=GoTricities.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070502140501/http://www.gotricities.com/content/article.dna?idNumber=4301 |archive-date=2007-05-02 }}</ref>

A musical adaptation by British composing team [[George Stiles (composer)|George Stiles]] and [[Anthony Drewe]] was commissioned by the [[Singapore Repertory Theatre]]. It premiered there in 2015 and made its North American debut in 2017 at the Aurora Theatre in [[Lawrenceville, Georgia]].

===Play productions===
* Lazy Bee Scripts published ''Billy Goat Gruff'' (2009), a simple play for young children.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lazybeescripts.co.uk/Scripts/script.aspx?iSS=137|website=Lazy Bee Scripts|title=Billy Goat Gruff|date=2009}}</ref>

===Games===
* ''The Three Billy Goats Gruff'' (2013) game adaptation for tablets and mobile phones was developed by the Norwegian game studio ''Agens''. The game was made with support from the ''[[Norwegian Film Institute]]''.

== In popular culture ==
{{trivia|section="In popular culture" material|small=1|date=February 2024}}
Mere allusions are listed here.
;In literature
* The tale is the inspiration of Kevin P. Futers's novel ''The Adventures of the Billy Goats Gruff'', which is set in seventh-century [[Northumbria]] and includes goats named Edgar, Bert, and Frith.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}}
* The tale in brief is incorporated into [[Gordon R. Dickson]]'s  "3-Part Puzzle" (1962).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dickson|first1=Gordon|title=Beginnings|date=1988|publisher=Baen Books|isbn=0-671-65429-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/beginnings00dick/page/51 51–53]|url=https://archive.org/details/beginnings00dick/page/51}}</ref> translated into an ET language as "The THREE (Name) (Domestic Animals) (Name)" (and the (horrendous, carnivorous, mythical creature)). The ET Envoy is puzzled over the glee that children show over this "simple and boring" "lesson in tactics".
* The Billy Goats Gruff make an appearance in [[Jim Butcher]]'s book ''[[Small Favor]]'' (2008), the tenth novel of the ''[[Dresden Files]]'' series.
* [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[It (novel)|It]]'' (1986) alludes to this story.
* [[Terry Pratchett]]'s Discworld novel ''[[Lords and Ladies (novel)|Lords and Ladies]]'' (1992) refers to this story, as does a joke made in the first chapter of [[Monstrous Regiment (novel)|''Monstrous Regiment'']] (2003).
* [[Andri Snær Magnason|Andri Snær Magnason's]]'s ''[[Tímakistan]]'' (2013) is a retelling of ''Snow White'' features a troll who meets a kid, its mother, and her husband. When the mother goat tells the troll to eat her husband instead of her, "the troll lost his appetite. 'What's the world coming to?', he cried. 'The kid tells me to eat its mother, and she tells me to eat her husband! Crazy family!'."<ref>'Þá missti tröllkarlinn matarlystina. Hvert er heimurinn að fara? hrópaði hann. Kiðlingurinn segir mér að éta móður sína og hún segir mér að éta manninn sinn. Hvílík fjölskylda!'; Andri Snær Magnason, ''Tímakistan'' (Reykjavík: Mál og Menning, 2013), p. 131.</ref> The troll goes home leaving the goats uneaten.

;In comics
* [[Bill Willingham]]'s 2002 comic book ''[[Fables (comics)|Fables]]'' contains mention of the goats, and the troll is an ongoing character.
* Pierry Radrik's 2020 One comic book.

;In film
* In ''[[My Neighbour Totoro]]'' (1988) the eponymous creature Totoro is named after misspelling 'Toro-ru', which means 'troll' in Japanese. In the end scene is a book of the story "Three Billy Goats Gruff" with Totoro on it visible, indicating that Totoro is named after this story.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096283/trivia|title=My Neighbor Totoro (1988) - IMDb|via=www.imdb.com}}</ref>
* In ''[[Toy Story 4]]'' (2019), it is revealed that [[Bo Peep (Toy Story)|Bo Peep]]'s three-headed sheep, previously unnamed, were named "Billy", "Goat", and "Gruff", after the story.
* In the Norwegian film ''[[Trollhunter]]'' (2010), the title character attempts to bait a troll by placing three goats on a bridge.
* Mike Flanagan's [[Kickstarter]]-funded film ''[[Absentia (film)|Absentia]]'' (2011) is a modern-day retelling centred around a tunnel, a series of abductions, and a troll-like creature.

;In television
* In 1994, ''[[Animaniacs]]'', for its second-season premiere, did its own parody of the story in the short "Take My Siblings, Please!". In the story, the goats are portrayed by the Warner Brothers and their sister, Dot. In the end, Yakko simply whacks the troll with a giant mallet.
* In 1996, the TV show ''[[Aaahh!!! Real Monsters]]'' told its version of the Three Billy Goats Gruff in the episode "Oblina and the Three Humans". In this telling, the goats are represented by humans and the monster under the bridge is the main character of the story.
* In the April 19, 2015 segment about "[[patent trolls]]" of ''[[Last Week Tonight with John Oliver]]'', it is referenced with "trolls actually do something, they control bridge-access for goats and ask people fun riddles".<ref>{{Cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bxcc3SM_KA  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/3bxcc3SM_KA |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=Patents: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver|publisher=[[HBO]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* In the TV series ''[[Thomas & Friends]]'' an episode named "Three Steam Engines Gruff" is a reference to this story.
* ''[[Between the Lions]]'' had a few episodes about the characters reading the story.

;In music
* The tale appears to be cryptically referenced in the song "John Brown" (1988) by indie-rock band [[Masters of Reality]]. The lyrics are usually understood to be "John Brown, bring him down; pull his body to the ground. Left him up, for long enough; let me be the Baby Gruff."<ref>{{cite web|website=genius.com|url=https://genius.com/Masters-of-reality-john-brown-lyrics|title=Masters of Reality "John Brown" lyrics}}</ref>
* The song "Much Chubbier" by [[Nerdcore]] rapper [[MC Frontalot]] on his album ''[[Question Bedtime (album)|Question Bedtime]]'' (2014) is a retelling of the story.

;In games
* In the card game ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'', a card named "Clackbridge Troll" was printed in the 2019 expansion ''Throne of Eldraine''. In its art, a troll is seen looming over three goats on a bridge.
* The tale also comes into play during the first ''[[King's Quest]]'' (1983) game. A troll is guarding a bridge Graham needs to cross. The optimum solution to the puzzle is to lure a goat over to the bridge. Upon seeing the troll, the goat is angered, and butts it into the river below.
* The tale also comes into play during ''[[Magicland Dizzy]]'' (1990). A troll is guarding a bridge Dizzy needs to cross. He says the only way to cross is to give him 30 diamonds before kicking Dizzy in the air away from him, but this is a [[red herring]], as there are 30 in the whole game with one behind him and many in the Ice Palace afterwards. The only solution to the puzzle, is to cut the rope holding the goat using the dagger, before hitting him with the stick to make him charge towards the troll. Along his way, the goat butts the troll into the air.
* The tale is also included in the video game ''[[Simon the Sorcerer]]'' (1993).
* In the video game ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]]'' (2011), near a place called Purewater Run, there is a stone bridge near a waterfall. If it is the player's first time there, they will see three goats; upon looking under the bridge, they will find a dead troll.

===Eponymy===
* [[Oak Mountain State Park]] near [[Birmingham, Alabama]] has a hiking trail and bridge named after the eponymous bridge in the story.

==Explanatory notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2|refs=
<ref name="aasen-ordbog1873-bruse2">{{cite encyclopedia|editor-last=Aasen |editor-first=Ivar |editor-link=Ivar Aasen |entry=Bruse2 |title=Norsk ordbog med dansk forklaring |location=Christiania |publisher=P.T. Mallings boghandel |year=1873 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mHUxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA85 |page=85}}</ref>

<ref name="brynildsen-dict-bruse">{{cite encyclopedia|editor-last=Brynildsen |editor-first=John |editor-link=<!--John Brynildsen--> |entry=Bruse1 |title=Norsk-engelsk ordbok |location=Oslo |publisher=H. Aschehoug & Company (W. Nygaard) |year=1927 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o78qAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA120 |page=120}}</ref>

<ref name="EdTheatreJ1949">{{cite journal|last1=Voorhees |first1=Lillian W. |author1-link=<!-- Lillian W. Voorhees--> |last2=Foster |first2=Jacob F. |author2-link=<!-- Jacob F. Foster--> |title=Recordings for Use in Teaching Theatre |journal=Educational Theatre Journal |volume=1|number=1 |date=October 1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q9oQAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Goats+Gruff%22 |page=67<!--48–81-->|jstor=3204109 |quote=Music Fairy Stories, written and performed by Yvonne Ravell, the 'Singing Story Lady'}}</ref>

<ref name="frederick1955">{{cite thesis|type=Ph.D. |last=Frederick |first=Marilyn D. |author-link=<!--Marilyn D. Frederickn--> |title=Some Music Activities to Correlate with Children's Literature in the Primary Grades |place= |publisher=University of Michigan |date=1955 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1KEgJsXxVBcC&q=%22Singing+on+Our+Way%22+ |page=25 |quote=Singing on Our Way " from Our Singing World . New York : Ginn and Company, ( c . 1949 ) }}</ref>

<ref name="MusEdJ1957">{{cite journal|last=|first= |author-link=<!-- No byline --> |title=Front Matter |journal=Music Educators Journal |volume=43 |number=5 |date=April–May 1957 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KjZH-9TR33cC&q=%22Goats+Gruff%22 |page=32<!--1–61-->|jstor=3388261}}</ref>

<ref name="barton1998">{{cite book |last=Barton|first=Phyllis Settecase |author-link=<!--Phyllis Settecase Barton--> |title=The Pictus Orbis® Sambo: Being a Publishing History, Checklist and Price Guide for The Story of Little Black Sambo |place= |publisher=Pictus Orbis Press |date=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0InAQAAIAAJ&q=ravell|page=250 |isbn=<!--0966011791,--> 9780966011791 }}</ref>

<ref name="ross-ordbok1895-bruse">{{cite encyclopedia|editor-last=Ross |editor-first=Hans |editor-link=:no:Hans Ross |entry=Bruse |title=Norsk ordbok |location=Christiania |publisher=A. Cammermeyer (L. Swanstrøm) |year=1895|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SyhCAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA65 |page=65 }}</ref>
<ref name="ross-ordbok1895-brusk">{{harvp|Ross|1895}} ''Norsk ordbok'', s.v. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=SyhCAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA65 Brusk]"</ref>

<ref name="young&clewer-faroese1985-brusa">{{cite encyclopedia|editor1-last=Young|editor1-first=G. V. C. |editor1-link=<!--George Vaughan Chichester Young--? |editor2-last=Clewer|editor2-first=Cynthia R. |editor2-link=<!--Cynthia R. Clewer-->|entry=Brúsa |title=Føroysk-Ensk ordabók: with Faroese folk-lore and proverbs |location=Peel, Isle of Man |publisher=Mansk-Svenska Publishing Co. Ltd. |year=1985 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XfvZ9J4oABwC&pg=PA65 |page=65 |isbn=<!--0907715222, -->9780907715221}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Children's literature}}
* {{Commons category-inline|The Three Billy Goats Gruff}}
* {{wikisource-inline|Popular Tales from the Norse/The Three Billy-Goats Gruff|The Three Billy-Goats Gruff}}
* {{Wikisourcelang-inline|no|De tre bukkene Bruse som skulde til seters og gjøre sig fete}}
* [http://far.no/index.php?title=De_tre_bukkene_Bruse_som_skulle_g%C3%A5_til_seters_og_gj%C3%B8re_seg_fete Norwegian version], ePub and audio books in Speex format available.
* [http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/billygoats/ SurLaLune website:] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090822045756/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/billygoats/ |date=2009-08-22 }} annotated ''Three Billy Goats Gruff'' in the version from [[Peter Christen Asbjørnsen]] and [[Jørgen Moe]], ''[[Norske Folkeeventyr|Popular Tales from the Norse]]'' [[George Webbe Dasent]], translator. Edinburgh: David Douglass, 1888.
* [https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0122e.html ''Three Billy Goats Gruff''] with other regional variations and [[AT 122E|122E]] stories.

{{Authority control}}{{Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index}}
[[Category:Norwegian fairy tales]]
[[Category:Fiction about goats]]
[[Category:Norwegian folklore]]
[[Category:Animal tales]]
[[Category:Anthropomorphic goats]]
[[Category:Fictional goats]]
[[Category:Fairy tales about talking animals]]
[[Category:Fairy tales about trolls]]
[[Category:ATU 100-149]]
[[Category:Asbjørnsen and Moe]]