# Hänsel — Household Tales character guide

> Hänsel in Household Tales by Jacob Grimm.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0014-h-nsel-and-grethel

## Snapshot

Raised in a robbers' cave, Hans builds a fir club and demands his father's name—then carries home a sack heavy enough to break the floor.

## Who they are

Hans grows up tall and strong among robbers, taught to read by his captive mother, who withholds his father's identity to keep him from longing for a home he cannot reach. At nine he hides a club behind the bed; at ten he beats the whole band senseless and walks out of the cave into daylight he has never seen. His enormous strength and blunt persistence set the story's course—and the sack of gold he hauls home is only the first thing his size will overturn.

## In the story

### [Hänsel and Grethel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/household_tales_se/chapters/h-nsel-and-grethel)

The boy who uses pebbles and later a bone to outwit the witch, ultimately escaping with jewels.

### [Hans in Luck](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/household_tales_se/chapters/hans-in-luck)

The protagonist who serves his master for seven years and then makes a series of trades on his way home.

## Links

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