The Three Billy Goats Gruff: The Bedtime Story Retold
Quick answer: The Three Billy Goats Gruff retold for bedtime: three goats, a bridge, a troll underneath, and the biggest goat who settles it. Norwegian origin and how to read it aloud.
Three goats named Gruff want to cross to the hillside where the grass is thick, and under the bridge lives a troll with eyes like saucers. The tale is short enough to tell in the dark and has one of the best rhythms in folk story: trip, trap, trip, trap.
The story
Three billy goats were going up the hillside to make themselves fat, and the name of all three was Gruff. On the way up was a river, and over the river a bridge, and under the bridge lived a great ugly troll with eyes as big as saucers and a nose as long as a poker.
First the youngest billy goat came to cross. Trip, trap, trip, trap, went the bridge. “Who is that tripping over my bridge?” roared the troll. “It is only I, the littlest billy goat Gruff, going up the hillside to make myself fat,” said the goat in a small voice. “I am coming to gobble you up.” “Oh, please don't take me, I am too little. Wait for the second billy goat Gruff. He is much bigger.” “Very well, be off with you,” said the troll.
Soon the second billy goat came. Trip, trap, trip, trap. “Who is that tripping over my bridge?” “It is only I, the second billy goat Gruff,” and his voice was not so small. “I am coming to gobble you up.” “Oh no, don't take me. Wait for the big billy goat Gruff. He is much bigger than I am.” “Very well, be off with you,” said the troll.
Then came the big billy goat Gruff. Trip, trap, trip, trap, and the bridge groaned under him. “Who is that tramping over my bridge?” roared the troll. “It is I, the big billy goat Gruff,” said the goat, in a voice as rough as the troll's. “I am coming to gobble you up.” “Well, come along,” said the big billy goat. “I have two spears on my head, and I will poke you with them.” And he flew at the troll and tossed him off the bridge into the river, and that was the last anyone saw of him. Then the goats went up the hillside and got so fat they could hardly walk home. Snip, snap, snout, this tale's told out.
Where it comes from
The tale is Norwegian, collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe in the 1840s and brought into English by George Webbe Dasent in 1859. Gruff translates a Norwegian word for the goats' rough coats, and the closing rhyme is the traditional Norwegian ending.
What the tale is about underneath
The two small goats are not brave and the tale does not ask them to be; they point at someone bigger. The big goat is not clever and does not need to be. It is a story about knowing your size. Each goat gives the troll the answer that fits it, and the greedy troll waits for a better meal until the better meal arrives with horns.
Reading aloud
Three goat voices going up in size, one troll voice, and tap the trip-trap on the bed.
Write your own
Borrow the gatekeeper and the three who pass. Give your story one obstacle that each character meets in turn, let the first two get by on talk, and save the one who can face it for last. The small ones are not cowards; they are accurate. Let the reader enjoy the promise made on someone else's behalf.
What writers can take from this
- Keep the troll's two lines exactly the same every time; the child is waiting for them.
- Grow the trip-trap each crossing, softer, louder, loudest.
- Let the little goat's voice tremble and the big goat's voice not.
- Do not add a fight. The tossing is one sentence, and the tale moves straight on to the grass.
- Say the closing rhyme every time. It tells the child the story is really over.
Try it yourself
Write a story in which three characters must pass one guarded place in turn. The first two talk their way through by promising something bigger is coming. Make the third the promise kept, and end with all three enjoying what they crossed for.
Questions
What is the moral of The Three Billy Goats Gruff?
Greed is undone by waiting for more, and a bully who lets the small pass to catch the big gets what he asked for. The tale also quietly praises knowing your own size: the little goats are not brave, they are accurate.
Is The Three Billy Goats Gruff too scary for a 3-year-old?
Rarely. The troll roars but never touches a goat, and the big goat settles him in one sentence. Most three-year-olds want the troll voice louder, not softer.
Where does The Three Billy Goats Gruff come from?
It is a Norwegian folk tale, collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe in the 1840s and translated into English by George Webbe Dasent in 1859 in Popular Tales from the Norse. Gruff renders a Norwegian word for the goats' rough coats.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working writers. Updated September 2026.
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