The Golden Arm

The following is an English fairy tale by Joseph Jacobs. This story has many variations.

 In a previous post, I mentioned a children’s story Teeny Tiny about a little old woman who finds a bone in a graveyard and takes it home to make soup. The ghosts then come and demand it back from her with the classic “Who has my bone... You’ve got it!” The Golden arm is another version which is much more morbid.

The following is most of what I remember of Jacobs’ fairy tale:

There once was a man who traveled all over the land in search of a wife. He met many women some pretty, some plain, some rich, some poor but not one of them inspired him to give up his freedom. 

Then one day he met a woman who possessed a golden arm. He married her at once, they were happy, and the other people in the town where they lived took note of this. Unfortunately, in reality, this man loved his wife’s golden arm more than he loved her.

When at last his wife died the husband took great pains to let everyone see how grieved he was at her loss. He wore a black suit and a long, somber face to her funeral. 

Soon after her burial, he went in the middle of the night to her grave where he dug up her body and removed her golden arm. He hurried home with his stolen treasure thinking that no one would ever suspect.

Safely home, he tucked the golden arm under his pillow. He fell asleep satisfied that it was finally his. 

To his shock, he awoke to the sound of his dead wife’s ghost gliding into the room. She stopped at the edge of the bed and looked at him with disapproval and reproach. 

Gathering his wits the husband swallowed his guilt and pretended not to be afraid, he spoke to his wife’s ghost.

“What happened to your checks so red?”

She replied in a hollow tone, “My death and the grave withered them away.”

“What happened to your red lips?’

“My death and the grave withered them away.”

“What happened to your golden arm?”

"YOU HAVE IT!"

When this story is told, the last part is always shouted in order to startle an unsuspecting listener. Therefore The Golden Arm is a traditional jump story.

The following recording on YouTube is an album that was produced in the 1970s. It was entitled “Scary Spooky Stories”, Troll Records put it out. 

My favorite story told on it is "The Golden Arm," I first heard this version at a friend's house as a preteen; I remember it well because at the time it scared me.

They say when the wind howls late at night, it is Elvira coming to get her golden arm…