[2] Across numerous versions differing significantly in lyric content, the consistent themes are:[3] The boy's ability to evade the devil may spring from the devil's inability to dumbfound him; gaining power over people by this means is a motif found in other folktales.
His character is developed, transformed in a story that shows the different ways in which a person moves from one category to the next.
The ballad implies that children in school should answer questions but here an adult in the form of a threatening stranger may be rebutted in a forthright manner.
In addition to these very serious and quite obvious rationales of learning to speak well, there may be associated seemingly playful but profound functions in cognitive, social development.
[5]A Swedish variant features the little boy, but an old woman, presumably a witch, in the place of the knight.