The youngest son is a stock character in fairy tales, where he features as the hero. He is usually the third son, but sometimes there are more brothers, and sometimes he has only one; usually, they have no sisters.
In a family of many daughters, the youngest daughter may be an equivalent figure.
Read more about Youngest Son: Traits, Plots, Youngest Daughters, Sibling Pairs, Brothers With A Sister, Modern Variants, Fairy Tales
Famous quotes containing the words youngest and/or son:
“Typically, the hero of the fairy tale achieves a domestic, microcosmic triumph, and the hero of myth a world-historical, macrocosmic triumph. Whereas the former—the youngest or despised child who becomes the master of extraordinary powers—prevails over his personal oppressors, the latter brings back from his adventure the means for the regeneration of his society as a whole.”
—Joseph Campbell (1904–1987)
“All know that all the dead in the world about that place are stuck
And that should mother seek her son she’d have but little luck
Because the fires of Purgatory have ate their shapes away;
I swear to God I questioned them and all they had to say
Was fol de rol de rolly O.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)