# Bearskin — Household Tales character guide

> Bearskin in Household Tales by Jacob Grimm.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** bearskin

**First appearance:** 0101-the-water-of-life

## Snapshot

A soldier with nothing left to lose strikes a bargain with the devil, dons a bearskin, and must endure years of filth before his luck turns.

## Who they are

Bearskin is a discharged soldier with no trade and no prospects, who agrees to wear a bearskin and carry neither money nor weapons for a set term in exchange for future wealth. His pact demands he neither wash nor pray, and his monstrous appearance makes him an outcast even as his hidden gold buys him a place at an inn. His story turns on the tension between outward degradation and inward worth—and on whether the terms of the bargain can be survived.

## In the story

### [Bearskin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/household_tales_se/chapters/bearskin)

The protagonist, a former soldier who makes a pact with the Devil, endures seven years of filth and wandering, and ultimately regains his human form and marries the faithful youngest daughter.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/household_tales_se/characters/bearskin
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/household_tales_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/household_tales_se/characters