"Molly Whuppie"
is a Scottish fairy tale popularized by the Anglo-Australian folklorist Joseph Jacobs with his English Fairy Tales (1890). It is practically identical with the Scottish-Gaelic "Maol a Chliobain" that was first printed in 1862 in John Francis Campbell's Popular Tales of the West Highlands.
Molly is the youngest and cleverest of three daughters, who were turned out of their home because there was nothing for them to eat. They seek shelter with a Giant and his wife, who receive them with apparent kindness before attempting to murder them during the night. The quick-witted Molly arranges it so that the Giant slays his own three children instead, and the girls escape to the palace of a king.
The king, impressed by the story, sends Molly back on three successive errands to steal a treasure from the Giant. On the third try she is caught, but once again she escapes death by her wits, causing the Giant to batter his hapless wife instead of her. When the Giant gives chase, he is unable to cross a narrow bridge over the river and must rage futilely from the other bank. As the reward for her efforts, Molly and both of her older sisters marry the king's three sons.
Tropes in "Molly Whuppie" and/or "Maol a Chliobain":
- Bizarrchitecture: Molly escapes the Giant each time by crossing the "bridge o' one hair," which the Giant cannot get over. Whether it is literally as wide as a single hair is never specified.
- Catchphrase: Yet another Giant saying "Fe Fi Fo Fum".
- Cruel and Unusual Death: The giant beats his own daughters to death, thinking he is killing the human girls. Later, he attempts to kill Molly while she is tied up in a sack with a live dog and cat (at her suggestion), but she has secretly switched places with the giant's wife.
- Gender Flip: The folklorists classify this type as "The Small Boy Defeats the Ogre", a la Hop-o'-My-Thumb
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Everything that the Giant intends to do to Molly ends up falling on his own family instead.
- Murder by Mistake: The Giant kills his own children by mistake.
- Rule of Three: Three daughters. Three errands to the Giant's house. Three escapes.
- Sacred Hospitality: Averted with the Giant, which gives a certain Laser-Guided Karma flavor to what happens next.
- Sociopathic Hero: Molly tricks the giant into killing his three daughters, who hadn't done anything wrong. Later she tricks him into beating his wife, who had actively warned Molly and her sisters that her husband was a dangerous giant they should stay away from.
- Standard Hero Reward: The king marries Molly and her sisters to his three sons.
- Too Dumb to Live: The Giant is stupid enough to ask Molly's advice on what to do with her, which lets her set up a situation she can exploit.
- Youngest Child Wins: A variant, as all three sisters win a Prince and the elder two didn’t even have to do anything. But Molly wins in the sense that the story is all about her and how she saves the day with her sharp thinking.
