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==Characters==
The story introduces three [[billy goat]]s ([[male]] [[goat]]s), sometimes identified as a youngster, father and grandfather, but more often described as brothers. In other adaptations, there is a baby or child goat, mama goat and papa goat
"Gruff" was used as their family name in the earliest [[English language|English]] translation by Dasent and this has been perpetuated; but this has been pointed out as a mistranslation of the Norwegian name {{lang|no|Bruse}} which was here employed in the sense of "tuft, clump" of hair on the forehead of domesticated livestock.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.bl.uk/european/2015/10/the-goats-that-got-away.html |last=Hawes |first=Barbara |author-link=<!--Barbara Hawes, Curator Germanic Collections--> |author-mask=Hawes, Barbara, Curator Germanic Collections |others=Posted by Olga Kerziouk |title=The Goats that Got Away |website=European Studies Blog |publisher=British Library |date=19 October 2015 |quote=The story's original Norwegian title in full (a bit less snappy than the English one we know) was De tre Bukkene Bruse, som skulde gaa til Sæters og gjøre seg fede which roughly translates as 'The three Billy-Goats Gruff who were going to mountain pastures to fatten themselves up'. 'Bruse', which is the name of the goats, was translated as 'Gruff' in the first English version, and this translation has stuck ever since but in fact the word refers to the hairy tuft on a goat's forehead}}</ref> The word can mean "fizz" or "effervescence", but also a "frizzle (of hair)" according to Brynildsen's Norwegian-English dictionary,<ref name="brynildsen-dict-bruse"/> but the secondary meaning is better explained as "a tuft/clump of hair on a horse (or buck goat)" in the ''[[Great Norwegian Encyclopedia]]'' (''SNL''), and [[Ivar Aasen]]'s Norwegian-Danish dictionary.<ref name="snl">''Store Norske Leksikon'' s.v [https://snl.no/bruse Bruse]: "{{lang|no|Bruse er en tett og lav busk, særlig av einer. Ordet brukes også om en hårdusk i pannen på en hest eller bukk (bukkene Bruse)}}"</ref><ref name="aasen-ordbog1873-bruse2"/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Both ''SNL'' and Aasen agree in giving the primary meaning as "a dense bush esp. juniper"<ref name="snl"/> or "juniper-tree, juniper".<ref>{{harvp|Aasen|1873}} ''Norsk ordbog med dansk forklaring&& "Bruse 1": Enebaertræ ({{=}}Einer)</ref> whereas {{interlanguage link|Hans Ross|no}} explains the word to mean a "flower cluster" or bushy inflorescence.<ref name="ross-ordbok1895-bruse"/><!--Note that such flower clusters can also be a "spray", just as [[wikt:Bruse]] means "fizz, spray" in Danish.-->}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|On dialect forms and cognates: Hans Ross gives the form {{lang|no|Brusk}}, in [[Telemark]] and [[Smaalenene]] dialect, corresponding to {{lang|no|Brus}} in standard Norwegian, with apparently the same meaning<!--"Haar-Brust" (sic.) but perhaps "Haar-Burst", hair bristle-->, cognate to Icelandic {{lang|is|[[wikt:brúskur|brúskr]]}} meaning 'clump of hair'.<ref name="ross-ordbok1895-brusk"/> Cf. also Faroese {{lang|fo|[[wikt:brúsa|brúsa]]}} (sense 2, verb) "clip.. the hair on the forehead.. of lamb"<ref name="young&clewer-faroese1985-brusa"/><!--Cf. also the ''Brúsajøkils_kvæði'' (commemorated on stamps of the [[commons:Faroese_ballads#Brúsajøkils_kvæði]]) where a evil "Brúsa" giant gets "the beard" (skeggið) yanked at severely. -->}}
== Plot ==
Three [[billy goat]]s live in a valley, all named "Gruff." There is very little grass in the valley, so they must cross a river to get to "[[Transhumance|sæter]]" (a mountain pasture) to graze and fatten themselves up. But under the [[bridge]] lives a fearsome and hideous [[troll]] (guarding the bridge) who kills and eats everyone who tries to cross.
The smallest billy goat goes first. The troll stops him and threatens to "gobble him up!" The little goat tells the troll he should wait for his big brother to cross, because he is larger and would make for a more gratifying feast. The greedy troll agrees and lets the smallest goat pass.
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Then the medium-sized billy goat approaches the bridge. He is more cautious than his brother, but the troll stops him too. The second goat convinces the troll to wait for their eldest brother, the largest of the three, and the troll lets him pass as well.
Then the largest billy goat steps on to the bridge and meets the troll waiting to devour him. The largest goat challenges him to fight and then throws him into the water with his horns. The troll drowns in the stream, and from then on the bridge is safe.
==Retellings==
Writer {{interlanguage link|Bjørn F. Rørvik|no}} and illustrator {{interlanguage link|Gry Moursund|no}}
The following is a list of children's book adaptions of the story into the English language, suitable for the elementary school classroom:<ref name="tussey&haas2024">{{citation|last1=Tussey |first1=Jill T. |author1-link=<!--Jill T. Tussey--> |last2=Haas |first2=Leslie |author2-link=<!--Leslie Haas--> |chapter=Chapter 2. First Grade―Fairy Tales |title=Exploring Genre through Gamified Adventures in Elementary Classrooms |publisher=Springer Nature |date=2024 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f7jrEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA20|page=20 |series=<!--Springer Texts in Education--> |isbn=<!--3031417178, -->9783031417177}}</ref><ref name="mcelmeel1996">{{citation|last1=McElmeel|first1=Sharron L. |author1-link=<!--Sharron L. McElmeel--> |chapter=Chapter 2. Folklore |title=Educator's Companion to Children's Literature: Folklore, Contemporary Realistic Fiction, Fantasy, Biographies, and Tales from Here and There |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |date=1996|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-OTEEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA30 |pages=29–30|isbn=<!--0313079390, -->9780313079399}}</ref>
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