Schwartz and Hans, collectively known as the Black Brothers, function as the story’s primary antagonists. They represent the destructive effects of avarice. Their shared name and their physical descriptions, with “overhanging eyebrows and small, dull eyes” (14), reinforce the narrator’s presentation of them as cruel and intimidating figures. Their entire worldview is exploitative; they are successful farmers only because they ruthlessly destroy any life that doesn’t yield a profit and extract unpaid labor from their servants. Their wealth is hoarded, and they are known for refusing charity, even allowing the poor to starve at their door. This foundational cruelty establishes them as foils to their younger brother, Gluck, and sets the stage for their eventual downfall, reflecting the story’s criticism of greed and selfishness.

The brothers’ defining characteristics are greed and inhospitality, qualities that ultimately contribute to their downfall. Their refusal to offer shelter to Southwest Wind, Esquire, is a pivotal failure of basic human decency that leads directly to their financial ruin. The subsequent flood strips them of their wealth and fertile land, yet this catastrophe teaches them nothing. Their greed remains insatiable, leading them to become dishonest goldsmiths and, ultimately, to melt down Gluck’s sentimental mug, their last valuable object. When presented with the opportunity to turn the Golden River into gold, their avarice turns them against each other, and they draw swords to decide who will make the attempt first. This conflict demonstrates that their greed has eroded any sense of kinship, replacing it with competition for wealth. Their journey highlights the theme of The Self-Destructive Nature of Avarice, as their obsession with wealth isolates them and propels them toward their doom.

The separate quests undertaken by Hans and Schwartz to the Golden River serve as parallel examples of moral failure. Each brother steals what he believes to be holy water, a profane act that foreshadows the unholy nature of his intentions. On the mountain, both are subjected to the same tests of compassion that Gluck later faces. Hans encounters a dying dog, a thirsty child, and an old man, refusing each one with scorn. Schwartz is similarly tested and callously rejects the pleas for water, even mocking what he perceives to be the ghost of his lost brother. Their refusal to perform acts of charity renders their stolen water unholy, and their attempts to claim the river’s treasure result in their transformation into black stones. This fate reflects the emotional hardness and selfishness that shape their actions throughout the story. They become inanimate objects, permanent fixtures in the landscape, remaining beside the waters they sought to possess. Their story serves as a warning that a life devoid of compassion leads to destruction and isolation.

The King of the Golden River is a magical being who serves as the story’s supernatural guide and moral judge. Initially trapped under an enchantment in the form of a face on Gluck’s golden mug, he’s freed when the Black Brothers melt the object down. His release is a direct result of their greed, yet it’s Gluck’s virtue that he chooses to reward. The King has a stern and unpredictable quality; his dwarf form has coarse, coppery features and an expression indicating a “pertinacious and intractable disposition” (34). He represents a force of natural justice that is both powerful and discerning, capable of bestowing great rewards and delivering harsh punishments. He establishes the central quest of the narrative, explaining that casting three drops of holy water into his river will turn it into gold, while warning that failure will result in being turned into a black stone.

His most significant role is to define holiness through mercy. After Gluck gives away the priest’s holy water, the King appears and provides the story’s central moral lesson. He explains that sacredness is derived from compassionate action, not merely from religious ceremony or blessed objects. In a key passage, he states that “the water which has been refused to the cry of the weary and dying is unholy, though it had been blessed by every saint in heaven; and the water which is found in the vessel of mercy is holy” (55). This redefines holy water as a symbol of charity itself. By punishing Hans and Schwartz for using what he deems “unholy water” and rewarding Gluck with dew from a lily, the King connects holiness with compassion and moral conduct. He functions as the story’s clearest voice of moral judgment, showing that kindness is sacred and that selfishness is profane.