Attention:

!!! SPOILER !!! SPOILER !!! SPOILER !!!

If you haven't finished reading The Grimm Dossier,
I advise you not to read this chapter!!!

The Grimm File has many little Easter Eggs and clues that can be found in the chapters. 

Some of them will only be revealed in the course of the following volumes, so I won't point them out here yet.

But I would still like to give you a little background information about the inspirations and backgrounds that can be found in the story. 

The Fairy Tales

The following german fairy tales can be found in the Grimm file:

The Tower - Rapunzel

"The king's son was beside himself with pain, and in despair, he leapt down the tower: the life he brought away, but the thorns into which he fell pierced his eyes."

The priest falls from the tower and falls into the wild thorns at the foot of the chapel. It is also mentioned again by Baltimore at a later point that the priest's eyes in particular had suffered severe damage and were gouged out.

The Tar-Frau Holle

"Frau Holle also led them to the gate, but when she stood under it, instead of gold a great cauldron of the pitch was poured out."

The clues - apart from the pithy name - are already in the chapter. Marie (PechMARIE) walks past an apple tree and also past a house from which there is the smell of fresh bread. The large cauldron on the building site is probably also very clear, I think here we all quickly knew which fate was meant.

The Sting - Sleeping Beauty

"But no sooner had she touched the spindle than the spell came true, and she pricked her finger with it. But at the moment she felt the prick, she fell down on the bed that was standing there, and lay in a deep sleep."

The innkeeper does not prick himself on a spindle but on a knitting needle. He dies overnight, i.e. in his sleep, and never wakes up again, which was the allusion to the 'eternal sleep'.

The Red Cloth - Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf

"Once she gave him a little cap of red velvet, and because it suited him so well, and he wouldn't wear anything else, he was only called Little Red Riding Hood."

The allusion in Sandra's case can be found in her grandmother's red woolen shawl and, of course, the wolf. The fairy tale was very clear here ;) 

The Frog - The Frog King

"Near the king's castle was a great dark forest, and in the forest under an old lime tree was a well; now when the day was quite hot, the king's child went out into the forest and sat down at the edge of the cool well... The king's daughter followed her with her eyes, but the ball disappeared, and the well was deep, so deep that no bottom could be seen. Then she began to weep, and wept louder and louder, and could not console herself at all."

The chapter mentions both the lime tree stretching its branches across the pond and a frog leaping away into the waters. The golden ball, Kyle later pulls out of Victor's neck in the form of a ball of leaves.

The Last Breath / The Well - The Wolf and the 7 Little Kids

Kyle, as the wolf, falls into the well and is supposed to drown there. The heavy stones in his pockets stand for the stones that the mother goat sews into the wolf. There is an allusion here both in the silhouette in the symbol of the billy goat (which is associated with the devil) and also directly in the demon's word cry: "The wolf is dead, the wolf is dead". 

The storybook of the Jäger family

The chosen fairy tale book in exactly this version was one of the first fairy tale books of the German version available in England.

The old printing was also published in Stuttgart in a print shop - which fits perfectly with the capital and my home. For this reason, I chose exactly THIS copy :) 

St George and the Dragon

In the chapter 'The Chaririage', the priest tells us for the first time in passing that a knight is said to have once slain a dragon near St George:

"... the knight Sir Godric of Aldwyn is said to have fought a dragon not far from the hill. After a struggle against the beast that lasted twelve days, he finally slew it..."

This story of a dragon slayer parallels the Christian tales of St George, which is why the small village was originally named after him.

St George is a significant dragon slayer and saint whose victory also symbolizes the triumph of 'good' over 'evil'.

St. George and the dragon appear in this narrative from time to time in passing.
Among other things, on the currency (Sovereign, more on that later). Of course, our knight, as mentioned in the quote above, was not St. George but a fictional FIgur, this one slaying his dragon (presumably a crocodile) at the other end of England. Nevertheless, many villages and chapels were named after the saint - including St George.

In this version, I have chosen a sword rather than a lance to emphasize the difference. St George is also always depicted on a horse while slaying the dragon. Therefore, I chose the 'traveling spell' to set the blow afterward.

In the picture I used for inspiration, St. George is also wearing black armor - which I found an amusing gimmick since Kyle primarily wears a black or dark blue cloak and is not necessarily the 'knight in shining armor ;)

The Sovereign 1890 - St. George slays the dragon

The small clue to the end, or the true culprit, reappears in the chapter with the Jäger family in the form of the gold coin that Kyle gives to the girl. The current gold coin features St. George, the dragon slayer. 

Fittingly, St. George also carries a sword instead of a lance on this version of the coin.

The fact that Kyle of all people gives her the coin was my little allusion to the end in which Kyle defeats little Annabeth's demon :)

The Skirrid Inn

The Skirrid Inn exists - just not in Dartmoor. The full title of the inn is the "Skirrid Mountain Inn" and the original namesake is actually in Wales.

Legend has it that the inn is haunted. The first floor of the inn was supposedly used as a courthouse and legend has it that up to 180 criminals were executed right in the building by hanging them from an oak beam above the stairwell, which was supposedly hung in the inn itself. This is the allusion to the end of the poor widow being hanged in her own inn. 

The demon and its names

All the names and stories with which the demon introduces himself exist and originate in and around Dartmoor.

"The Israelites in Egypt called me Balam during their captivity."

Balam (or Balaam or Balan) is a demon. In this Balam then has fiery and burning eyes, as well as a serpent's tail. According to LaVey's Satanic Bible (infernal names), he is a Hebrew devil of greed and gluttony.

"The Serpent of King Teudar"

Supposedly a king owned several serpents, they began to eat each other and eventually became a giant wyrm/dragon.

"The Black Rider of Poundstock"

Is a direct allusion to the devil and thus his hellish nature. In the story, the rider, tying his horse to the church tower, snatched and abducted a boy from Sunday service who had fallen asleep during it.

"The Devil of Brantor Church"

Was a devil who tried to prevent the building of a church and had taken on the Archangel Michael there.

"But my favorite name and the one that best describes my nature is the Dragon of Manaton."

The Dragon of Manaton was a dragon that lived in the mines of Manaton. Its roar could be heard all over the area until one day an unknown dragon slayer came and slew it. 

Continue in "Facts, Inspirations & Hints" Part 2 :)

***The images used in this chapter are taken from sources on the internet. I do not claim any rights to them, they belong to the respective artists.