9 h 22 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 9 h 22 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a servant obeys every word you say—and ignores everything you mean?
Tyll Owlglass has no useful trade and no talent for staying welcome. A peasant's son and wandering rogue, he moves from job to job, leaving trouble behind. In these short medieval trickster tales, retold by Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie, a careless order gives him all the room he needs.
His adventures take him from the baker of Hildesheim to a landgrave's court and the scholars of Prague. Masters expect obedience; learned men trust their own wisdom. Tyll turns those expectations against them. Beneath the jokes, the collection explores power, pride, and life seen from the bottom of a medieval town.
What you’ll discover
- Words turned into weapons Watch Tyll follow orders to the letter, making everyday speech a trap for his masters.
- A baker's costly mistake Meet the baker of Hildesheim, whose careless instruction gives his troublesome worker an opening.
- Pride at the court Follow Tyll as a painter among people who fear shame more than they value truth.
- Learning meets its match Encounter the scholars of Prague and the promise that an ass can learn to read.
- Life beneath the powerful See lords, churchmen, and guild masters through the pranks of a peasant who refuses deference.
Who will love it
Readers fond of trickster tales, medieval comedy and sharp satire will delight in Tyll. Lovers of folk tales and clever comebacks will enjoy these short stories made for sharing aloud.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Tyll learns to turn words sideways
- Hunger gives his tricks a purpose
- Exact obedience makes careless orders collapse
- Learning cannot protect the proud
- Crowds help a lie succeed
- Religious authority can shelter ordinary greed
- A bargain depends on its words
- A quick answer opens an escape
- Listen for the pride behind commands
Who’s who
- Tyll OwlglassA peasant's son from Brunswick who wanders from town to town, living by his wits and taking every order exactly at its word.
- Anna WertbeckTyll's widowed mother, who scolds him to learn a trade and keeps hoping he will settle into honest work.
- Claus OwlglassTyll's father, who tries to curb his mischievous boy and moves the family to the land of Magdeburg.
- The Landgrave of HesseA prince fond of alchemy who hires Tyll to paint his ancestors and fears being thought low born.
- The Duke of LunenburgA ruler who banishes Tyll on pain of hanging, yet cannot help laughing at his answers.
- LamprechtThe proud cellarer of the Lübeck town hall, who boasts that nobody can outwit him.
- The Duke of BrunswickA lord who enjoys Tyll's cunning and rewards him for winning a priest's prized horse.
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The Marvellous Adventures and Rare Conceits of Master Tyll Owlglass
by Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie (reteller)
A peasant rogue takes every order word for word and leaves bakers, tailors and bishops baffled.
Medium level2–5 hours to read2 languages
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In short
What happens when a servant does exactly what he is told? A baker snaps, bake owls and monkeys, and Tyll Owlglass bakes owls and monkeys.
The Marvellous Adventures and Rare Conceits of Master Tyll Owlglass at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 35 min3 h 40 min fast, 5 h 30 min slow
- Length
- 65,700 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A rogue is born in a muddy ditch
Tyll is born in Kneitlingen, a village in the land of Brunswick, to Claus Owlglass and his wife, Anna Wertbeck. After a great feast he is sent to be christened.
On the way home the godparents are hot, tired and careless. One of them trips on a stone and drops the baby into a muddy ditch. The child is unhurt, because weeds are not easily harmed. He is washed in warm water at home, so he has been baptized three times in a single day.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 6 h 5 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Mackenzie, Kenneth R. H. The Marvellous Adventures and Rare Conceits of Master Tyll Owlglass. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-marvellous-adventures-and-rare-conceits-of-master-tyll-owlglass.
Mackenzie, K. R. H. (2026). The marvellous adventures and rare conceits of Master Tyll Owlglass. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-marvellous-adventures-and-rare-conceits-of-master-tyll-owlglass
Mackenzie, Kenneth R. H. The Marvellous Adventures and Rare Conceits of Master Tyll Owlglass. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-marvellous-adventures-and-rare-conceits-of-master-tyll-owlglass.
@book{mackenzie2026marvellous,
author = {Mackenzie, Kenneth R. H.},
title = {The Marvellous Adventures and Rare Conceits of Master Tyll Owlglass},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-marvellous-adventures-and-rare-conceits-of-master-tyll-owlglass}
}
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What is Till Eulenspiegel about?
It follows Tyll Owlglass, a wandering peasant rogue in medieval Germany. In over one hundred short adventures he tricks bakers, doctors, priests, scholars, innkeepers and lords, often by taking their words exactly as spoken.
What does Owlglass or Eulenspiegel mean?
Eulenspiegel means owl mirror in German, and Owlglass is its English form. Tyll leaves an owl and a glass as his sign. The name later became a word for a prank in several languages.
Was Tyll Owlglass a real person?
Tradition places a real peasant rogue of that name in the fourteenth century in the Brunswick region. The tales gathered many jests from other sources, so the book mixes a legendary hero with older stories.
The author
Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie
The book is an anonymous folk tradition, often linked with the Franciscan friar Thomas Murner, who is said to have given it its High German form. It grew around a wandering peasant rogue of the fourteenth century. Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie brought it to English readers in 1859, in an old chronicler's voice.
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