Home > Myths and Legends of the World > Pied Piper of Hamelin

The Pied Piper is the man who rid the town of Hamelin of rats. According to a medievalrelating to the Middle Ages in Europe, a period from about A.D. 500 to 1500 legend, the north German town of Hamelin was overrun with rats in 1284. Then one day, a mysterious man in a multicolored outfit appeared and offered to take care of the rats for a fee. After the people of Hamelin agreed to the deal, the man played his pipe and led the rats out of town.

Afterward, the people refused to pay the piper. So he came back a short time later and once again played his pipe. This time however, it was the children of Hamelin who followed him away. He led them to a cave in the mountains, where they disappeared.

Another version of the story claims that the piper led the children to Transylvania, where they founded a colony The story of the Pied Piper appears in a poem by the...