Jacob Grimm documented the oral stories which had been passed down to continue the traditional pre-Christian goddess and her beliefs, but these stories he heard in more proper 19th century Germany, the selection over-emphasezed one aspect of this tripple goddess. There are cultural reasons for this.
But then along comes the new MGM launched Robin Hood, creating traditional Saxon beliefs, and introduce us to the Saxon name for Holle. (Guda, Godda, Godde, Gude) This was the name for the same diety in the northern coast of Germany, lowland German Saxons. What the show uses to refer to by these names isn't just a pretty forest spirit but the goddess herself. The ancient tripple goddess, fully alive in her maiden, mother, and crone aspects. This is a celebration of feminine power that runs deeper than the surface on the story. The show introduces a local myth at the start:https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/tv/a69249340/who-were-eadric-and-godda-robin-hood/
The MaidenThe young, beautiful, blonde forest gaurdian represents Holle's maiden form. She's life, light, spring, and fertility, the pulse of nature itself. Her role in the forest shows the land is alive, protective, and remembering generations. Her role in the forest shows the land is alive, protective, and worth of respect. The hero must earn her trust, symbolizing the human need to live in harmony with nature.
The Mother
Though subtler on screen, Holle's nurturing aspect is implied in her guidance, protection and care for the Saxon people. She embodies growth, sustenance, and interconnectedness, reminding us that the land and community thrive under her watch. A stark contrast in the cut throat lack of community of the Normans, guided by women, and men, who care about empire, ambition, and themselves, over community.
The Crone
In the Grimm collection, Holle most often appears in this form. the old woman spinning at the hearth, rewarding and punishing hard work and laziness. These stories reflect one facet of the goddess, one that had become popular in 19th century Germany to communicate moral lessons. These stories relegated the powerful goddess to traditional gender roles, and ignored the full aspect of her identity. The three appearances represent the full cycle of life, nature, and the feminine power.
The voices that survived in the 19th century were partial. They focused on tales that were told by peasants with moralizing twists. They tended to emphasize the domestic/ crone aspect because it fit the moral and household centered narratives of the time. Stories celebrating Holle's maiden and mother forms, her erotic, forest, or wild nature sovereignty, were sometimes considered too "pagan" or inappropriate for children.
Jacob Grimm had scholarly fascination with ancient Germanic religion, but even he framed Holle as the moralizing old woman, rather than exploreing her full tripple-goddess complexity. Therefore their collection over-represented one aspect, relegating her to the bibbity-boppity-boo fairy, partly becamse of the limitations of oral traditions, and cultural biases toward moralism.
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