Iron John
"Iron John" (aka Iron Hans or Der Eisenhans) is a German fairy tale found in the collections of the Brothers Grimm, tale number 136, about a wild man and a prince. (The original German title is Eisenhans, a compound of Eisen "iron" and Hans, like English John a common short form of the personal name Johannes) It represents Aarne-Thompson type 502, "The wild man as a helper".
Most people see the story as a parable about a boy maturing into adulthood. The story also became the basis for the book Iron John: A Book About Men by Robert Bly which spawned the Men's Movement in the early 1990s after spending 62 weeks on the The New York Times Best Seller list.
Famous quotes containing the words iron and/or john:
“With our principles we seek to rule our habits with an iron hand, or to justify, honor, scold, or conceal them:Mtwo men with identical principles are likely to be seeking fundamentally different things with them.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Am I making myself clear, boys?”
—Harvey Thew, U.S. screenwriter, John Bright, screenwriter, and Lowell Sherman. Lady Lou (Mae West)