The Pied Piper
Hamelin's musical exterminator
The Pied Piper is a figure from German legend who rid the town of Hamelin of its rats by luring them away with his pipe music—then, when the townspeople refused to pay, led their children away the same way.
The story gives us the expression pied piper, meaning someone who attracts followers, often with the implication of leading them somewhere dangerous or foolish: a pied piper of conspiracy theories.
Pied means multicolored, describing his costume.
- ratsLong-tailed urban pests
- rat catcherOne who traps rodents
- fluteTube blown sideways
- HamelinGerman town, medieval legend
- childrenYoung human beings
follow the leader · melody · enchantment · revenge · plague · procession · lure · lead astray · medieval · legend · German folklore · fairy tale · trickster · marching · disappearance · mountain · broken · promise
- Browning WorksPauline, Saul
- German talesBrothers Grimm, Grimm, Grimm tales, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White
- Germanic FolkloreBrothers Grimm, folktales, Valkyrie, Valhalla, sagas
- classicsHomer, Iliad, the Iliad, Odyssey, the Odyssey
The Pied Piperprotector
One who safeguards others
guardian · Moses · guardian angel · shepherd · liberator
The Pied Piperfairy godmother
Magical benefactor figure
Saint Nicholas · guardian angel · guardian · Saint George · Robin Hood