If Men Could Climb Hair...

(Photo credits: via www.reviewstl.com, Disney's Concept art for Rapunzel.)

Oh, to be named after a food. In the story of Rapunzel, a woman longs for some lettuce, or some type of vegetable, from a garden that came be seen out her window. In the Grimm Brothers’ versions (there are two) of this story, the garden is owned by a witch. The woman’s husband sneaks into the garden and takes some of the vegetable that his wife is craving. In most versions of the story he is successful at first, but in a later attempt he is caught in the act by the witch. In Giambattista Basile’s The Pentamerone (a.k.a. The Story of Stories), Basile includes a story called Petrosinella. In his version the woman goes herself into the garden and the witch is actually an ogress. In “The Fair Angiola,” another Italian fairytale, seven women sneak into the garden, but only one is captured by the witch.

In each version, the owner of the garden demands the thief’s unborn child. The intruder is released, and after the child is born the witch/ogress comes to collect. Some versions say that the baby is traded right away, in other versions as much as seven years pass before the daughter is handed over to the witch. In most cases, the daughter is named for the food from the garden which the mother was craving. (Rapunzel is German for a type of lettuce; Petrosinella is Italian name meaning parsley.) The girl is taken by her capture and placed into a tower without doors or stairs. The only way in is through a window at the top. Each day when the witch comes, so that she can climb up, she calls for Rapunzel to let down her hair.

A prince eventually comes along and discovers the tower containing Rapunzel. In the Grimm’s versions the prince hears Rapunzel singing and is captivated. In other versions the prince sees her in the tower. After troubling over a way into the tower the prince eventually sees the witch come and call for Repunzel to send down her long hair. When the witch leaves the prince mimics the witch’s call and Rapunzel complies. When the prince comes through the window Rapunzel is shocked, but she quickly recovers. In the Grimm Brothers’ first edition of the story, included in their 1812 release, the prince comes back daily. Eventually Rapunzel gets pregnant and the witch discovers what has been going on. In the 1857 release of the story the Grimm Brothers change the story so that rather than getting pregnant, Rapunzel merely slips up and accidently mentions the prince to the witch. The witch cuts off Rapunzel’s hair and sends her away into the wilderness. When the prince returns, the witch lets down Rapunzel’s hair. The prince reaches the top and finds the witch. She tells him that he’ll never see Rapunzel again, and in distress he falls from the tower. He somehow lives, but the fall has made him blind. These versions of the tale are resolved by the prince wandering blindly for years until he comes to the wilderness where Rapunzel has been living. When she sees him she runs to him, hugs him, and cries. Her tears fall on his eyes, and his sight returns.

In other versions, as in the tale of “The Fair Angiola,” the prince proposes marriage when they first meet. Angiola (the Rapunzel character) agrees, and, after stealing three magical balls of yarn from the witch’s things, Angiola and the prince make their escape that very night. In “Petrosinella,” Parsley is trapped in the tower by magic and is unable to run away with the prince. The two lovers continue to meet until Parsley overhears the way to break the enchantment. She takes the three gallnuts that are the key to her freedom and runs away with the prince. The escape is discovered by the witch/ogress in both tales. The captor chases the couple and is about the catch up with them. But Angiola/Parsley uses the witch’s/ogress’ magic against her. In each story the girl throws down the magical balls one by one. In Parsley’s story, the first gallnut produces a bulldog, the second a lion, and the third a wolf. The wolf eats the ogress and the prince and princess are married. When Angiola throws down the balls of yarn, the first one creates a mountain of soap, the second a mountain of various sized nails, and the third a rushing river. Thwarted by the river, the witch curses Angiola with the face of a dog and returns home. The prince, believing that his parents would never let him marry Angiola as long as she was under the curse, hides her away in a cabin (basically he thinks his parent won’t let him marry someone so ugly.) Distraught, Angiola cries to her pet dog that came with her when she left the witch’s tower. The dog then goes to the witch and begs her to remove the curse. She eventually capitulates and Angiola is made even more beautiful than she was before. The prince sees that she is beautiful again and takes her to the king and queen who “were so pleased with her beauty that they welcomed her.”

Check out the stories for yourself:

The Grimm Brothers' "Rapunzel"(1857)

A comparison of the Grimm Brothers' First and Final Editions of Rapunzel

Thomas Frederick Crane's "The Fair Angiola"

Giambattista Basile's "Petrosinella," from The Pentamerone

Citations:

Zipes, J. (2000). The Oxford companion to fairy tales: The western fairy tale tradition from medieval to modern. New York; Oxford University Press.

Warner, M.(1994). From the beast to the blonde: On fairy tales and their tellers. New York; Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Ashliman, D. (2010). Grimm brothers’ home page. Retrieved from http://www.pitt.edu.

Heiner H. (1999). SurLaLune fairy tales. Retrieved from www.surlalunefairytales.com.

A Simple Princess Test...

(Photo credits: via Children's/Fantasy Illustrations, "Princess and the Pea" by Gennady Spirin)

Wanted:
Prince seeks a “real and true Princess” to be his bride.

But how does one prove that she is a “real” princess? Simple: A Princess Test.
The only items needed, according to Hans Christian Anderson, are 20 mattresses, 20 feather beds, and a single pea.

In Andersen’s version of “The Princess on the Pea,” included in Tales told for Children (1835), a prince is looking for a real Princess and having little luck. Then one night, amidst a terrible storm, a Princess comes to the palace and asks for lodging to escape the rain. She says she is a real Princess, but the King and Queen aren’t sure if they believe her. To test and see if she is truly a “real Princess” the Queen places a pea under 20 mattresses and 20 feather beds where the Princess is going to sleep. In the morning the Queen asks the Princess how she slept. The Princess exclaims that her night was horrible because there was something hard in her bed. This proved to the royal family that she was a real princess because only “a true Princess” could “be so tender.” The Prince then proceeded to marry the Princess.

When Charles Boner translated Andersen’s story to English he altered it slightly. Apparently the thought of “a single pea being discerned beneath”(Opie, 1974) all those mattresses and beds was ridiculous to Boner. He therefore changed the story so that the Queen “placed not just one pea but three” (Opie, 1974). Other versions of the story involved multiple nights, usually three, and various objects such as nuts, grain, pinheads, and even straw. In some variations there are a different number of mattresses. In others the princess, who is in fact a real princess, sleeps soundly, but acting on the advice of a cat or dog says that she slept poorly. There is also a similar Italian story titled “The Most Sensitive Woman” by Christian Schneller.

Check out the stories for yourself:

Hans Christian Andersen's "The Princess and the Pea"

Christian Schneller's "The Most Sensitive Woman"

Citations:

Zipes, J. (2000). The Oxford companion to fairy tales: The western fairy tale tradition from medieval to modern. New York; Oxford University Press.

Opie P., Opie I. (1974). The Classic Fairy Tales. New York, Oxford; Oxford University Press.

Owens, L. (1981). The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland; Crown Publishers, Inc., Random House.

Ashliman, D. (2010). Grimm brothers’ home page. Retrieved from http://www.pitt.edu.

Heiner H. (1999). SurLaLune fairy tales. Retrieved from www.surlalunefairytales.com.

The Frog King

(Photo credits: via DutchArtUSA, Greenwich Workshop, "The Frog Prince" by Scott Gustufson)

In Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s first edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen, or Children’s and Household Tales (Berlin, 1812/1815), although separated by volume, the brothers included two tales about a frog that turns into a prince. One is named “The Frog King” and the other is “The Frog Prince.” The two stories are so similar in nature that subsequent versions of Children’s and Household Tales do not house the story of “The Frog Prince.” When the story was translated to English by Edgar Taylor he combined the two versions of the story, keeping the beginning of “The Frog King” and changing the ending to that of “The Frog Prince.” Taylor titled the translation “The Frog Prince.”

In “The Frog King” a princess is playing with a golden ball when it falls into a pond. She cries at the loss because the water is too deep to retrieve it. A frog approaches her and says that he’ll rescue the toy if she’ll agree to let him eat and sleep with her. The princess hastily accepts the offer with no intention of keeping her promise. The frog then finds and returns the golden ball to the princess who then proceeds to run away, ignoring her pledge. In the Grimm’s version of “The Frog Prince” the youngest of three princesses draws water from a well and discovers that it’s murky. A frog offers her clear water if she’ll be his sweetheart. She gives her word, but as soon as she receives the crystal clear water she leaves the frog and returns to her sisters.

In both versions the frog finds its way to the princess’s home and calls on her to keep her promise. Either by parental reprimand or her own volition, the princess lets the frog in and takes him to her room. In “The Frog King” when the frog asks the princess to let him sleep on her bed. Grossed out, the princess picks up the frog and then throws him against the wall. As the frog falls he is transformed into a handsome prince. The two of them are then taken in a “splendid carriage,” driven by the “faithful Heinrich,” to the prince’s kingdom where they are married. (In my opinion the princess in this version got off way to easy.) In the Grimm Brothers' “The Frog Prince” when the frog asks to sleep on the bed the princess lets him. In the morning he leaves and then returns at night and shares her bed again. He sleeps with her three nights in a row, and in the morning after the third night the princess wakes up to see a handsome prince with her. He explains that he “had been enchanted by a malicious fairy” and the princess had rescued him. The prince asks her to marry him. She agrees. They are then driven, this time by “faithful Henry,” to his kingdom where they are wed.

“The Enchanted Frog,” by German authors Carl and Theodor Colshorn, is a mix of both the story “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Frog Prince.” The youngest of three daughters asks her father for a “three colored” rose. After searching for this type of rose for a lengthy amount of time the father finds one next to a pond. Like the Beast, a frog appears and demands either the man’s life or his daughter’s hand in marriage. After putting up a bit of a fight, the girl eventually lets the frog sleep in her bed and in the morning he is a prince.

A similar tale to that of “The Frog King” was told in The Complaynt of Scotland (1549). The story is often referred to as “The Well of the World’s End” and some in Britain new the tale as the legend of a “Prince Paddock”. In this version the princess hacks of the head of the frog, by his request, and a prince appears. Other stories that tell of a frog that turns into a handsome prince can be found from Hungary, China, Korea, and Sri Lanka.

Check out the stories for yourself:

D.L. Ashliman's " Folktales About Slimy Suitors"
(This source contains all versions of the story mentioned in this post.)

Citations:

Zipes, J. (2000). The Oxford companion to fairy tales: The western fairy tale tradition from medieval to modern. New York; Oxford University Press.

Opie P., Opie I. (1974). The Classic Fairy Tales. New York, Oxford; Oxford University Press.

Warner, M.(1994). From the beast to the blonde: On fairy tales and their tellers. New York; Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Owens, L. (1981). The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland; Crown Publishers, Inc., Random House.

Ashliman, D. (2010). Grimm brothers’ home page. Retrieved from http://www.pitt.edu.

Heiner H. (1999). SurLaLune fairy tales. Retrieved from www.surlalunefairytales.com.

"Tell me, glass, tell me true..."

(Photo Credit: "Snow White" by Josephine Wall, Celestial Journey - Fantasy World of Josephine Wall (Vol.01) #19)

Among the many folk and fairy tales of women held captive by a magically induced sleep is the story of Snow White. The more recent versions of this narrative used in adaptations for stage and film relate more closely to Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s German version of the tale included in their collection Children’s and Household Tales (1812-1815). Iona and Peter Opie mention in their collection, The Classic Fairy Tales, that the story of Snow White was retrieved from two sisters, Jeannette and Amalie Hassenpflug, by the Grimm Brothers in Cassel. Themes from Snow White, including jealousy, poisoning, and a glass coffin, can be found in Giambattista Basile’s Pentamerone(1634-6), day 2 tale 8, “The Young Slave.” With slight variations, similar stories to Snow White have been found in many locations including Africa, Asia Minor, Scandinavia, Ireland, Russia, Greece, Serbo-Croatia, the Caribbean, and North, South, and Central America.

Despite the changes in the different relations of the story, the basic frame remains the same. Snow White’s origin is a magical affair in most every version. In some accounts, such as the Grimm version, the mother pricks her finger and three drops of blood fall on the white snow. This leads Snow White’s mother to wish for a daughter as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as ebony. This wish is granted, although the “granter” of the wish is, in most cases, unknown. In some versions of the tale the mother eats something, a pomegranate seed or a tangerine, after which she finds herself with child. In Basile’s Pentamerone, the mother eats a rose leaf. After Snow White’s birth, or appearance, her mother dies.

In a majority of the accounts, Snow White’s father remarries, and her beautiful, proud stepmother enters the plot. In the Grimm Brothers’ version the stepmother has a magic mirror. The stepmother often asks the always truthful mirror who in the land is most beautiful. At the beginning of the tale the answer is always the stepmother, but her beauty is surpassed by the Snow White when she reaches seven years of age. In other editions the stepmother overhears some of the palace guests and/or passers-by declare that the Snow White is more beautiful that the stepmother. Others say the stepmother consults an omniscient trout. Out of jealousy the stepmother gets rid of Snow White either by banishment or death. In most renditions the stepmother instructs a servant, sometimes noted as a hunter, to take Snow White into the woods and kill her. The stepmother requests that the hunter bring back a piece of the child to prove her death. In some instances the stepmother asks for the child’s lungs, or liver, or intestines, her hands, her eyes, her tongue, her hair, or bottle of her blood. In the Disney adaptation the Queen asks for the little girl’s heart. The hunter character takes Snow White out into the woods, but, after the child pleads for her life, he lets her go and kills a boar (or a dog, or a stag) in her place. In some relations, when the hunter returns, the stepmother goes as far as to eat the piece that he brings to her.

Evading death, Snow White finds a cottage, or dwelling, in the woods. Upon entering she sees a table set for seven with bread and wine. She proceeds to eat a small bit of bread from each place, and drink a sip of wine from each cup. Then she finds seven beds, and tries all of them until she finally falls asleep in the last one. And that is where the owners of the home, seven dwarfs, find her when they return. Different variations on the owners of the house include: thieves, woodsmen, ogres, Jinns, bears, bandits, giants, monkeys, cannibals, brothers, wild men, old women. After seeing her, the dwarfs decided to let her sleep. When she wakes up, Snow White shares her story and the dwarfs agree that she can stay if she’ll tidy up the place, wash the dishes, and cook.

In the mean time, the child’s stepmother has discovered that Snow White is alive, and is filled with rage and jealously. In the Grimm version of the tale, the stepmother disguises herself and goes to the house of the dwarfs. In some instances the stepmother sends others to deal with Snow White. Despite the warning of the caretakers, Snow White lets her stepmother, dressed as a peddler, into the house. The first time the stepmother comes she sells Snow White a ribbon for her stays, and then laces Snow White up so tight that she stops breathing. But the dwarfs find Snow White when they return and cut her free from the trap, restoring her to life. After discovering that Snow White is still alive the stepmother returns. The second time she offers Snow White a comb, the same element is used in “The Young Slave.” The third time the stepmother gives Snow White a poisoned apple, and that seems to do the trick. In other version Snow White is poisoned with flowers, corsets, shoes, raisins, grapes, needles, rings, belts, neckbands, shirts, wine, gold coins, headbands, hats, cakes, white bread, and brooches. In J.K. Musäus’s Jolksmärchen der Deutschen (1782), the stepmother, the Countess of Brabant, has Snow White poisoned by a physician using pomegranate soap, and then a poisoned letter. In the Disney adaptation, the writers cut to the chase and go straight to the poisoned apple. In any event, Snow White’s guardians return to find her dead, and this time they aren’t able to revive her.

Because she doesn’t seem to be decaying, and because she is so beautiful, the dwarfs place her in a glass coffin. In the Pentamerone the girl, Lisa, is placed in seven nested crystal cases. As time passes Lisa continues to age and the cases grow with her. This is something that is not explained in other versions of the tale. However, Lisa is only in the coffin a year or so. After some time a prince, or a hunter, or a nobleman, discovers Snow White in the coffin. He asks the caretakers if he can have the girl and coffin, and, after some debate, they agree. When the coffin is moved the apple is dislodge from Snow White’s mouth and she wakes up. The prince is elated and asks Snow White to marry him. In the Disney version she is awakened by a kiss from the Prince she saw at the beginning of the story. In “The Young Slave” Lisa is awakened when her jealous aunt opens the coffin and removes the comb from her hair. Lisa is forced to work as a slave until her uncle discovers that she is, in fact, the daughter of his sister. The uncle then forces his wife to return to the house of her parents, and when Lisa is of age he gives her in marriage to a “handsome and worthy husband whom she loved.” In the main story of Snow White it’s curious that the girl is old enough to marry by the time she is discovered by the prince. Although it is not addressed, at some point in the story lengthy amounts of time in which Snow White is growing, must occur. It is left up to the reader to determine when this growth occurs.

Snow White’s recovery is discovered by the stepmother she is “choked with passion,” and dies. In some cases she attends Snow Whites wedding, where she discovers that the girl is alive. Then the stepmother is forced to put on red-hot shoes and dance until she dies.

The story of Snow White is used to convey the harms of jealousy, and to warn its listeners and readers against pride and envy. Basile’s Pentamerone describes jealousy, in prelude to the tale of “The Young Slave.”

"Jealousy is a fearful malady, and (sooth to say) 'tis a vertigo which turneth the brain, a fever burning in the veins, an accident, a sudden blow which paralyseth the limbs, a dysentery which loos eneth the body, a sickness which robbeth ye of sleep, embittereth all food, cloudeth all peace, shorteneth our days: 'tis a viper which biteth, a moth which gnaweth, gall which embittereth, snow which freezeth, a nail which boreth you, a separator of all love's enjoyments, a divider of matrimony, a dog causing disunion to all love's felicity: 'tis a continual torpedo in the sea of Venus' pleasures, which never doeth a right or good deed: as ye will all confess with your own tongues on hearing the story which follows."

Check out the stories for yourself:

The Grimm Brothers' "Little Snow-White"

Giambattista Basile's "The Young Slave" from The Pentamerone

Citations:

Zipes, J. (2000). The Oxford companion to fairy tales: The western fairy tale tradition from medieval to modern. New York; Oxford University Press.

Opie P., Opie I. (1974). The Classic Fairy Tales. New York, Oxford; Oxford University Press.

Warner, M.(1994). From the beast to the blonde: On fairy tales and their tellers. New York; Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Owens, L. (1981). The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland; Crown Publishers, Inc., Random House.

Ashliman, D. (2010). Grimm brothers’ home page. Retrieved from http://www.pitt.edu.

Heiner H. (1999). SurLaLune fairy tales. Retrieved from www.surlalunefairytales.com.

Sleeping Beauty

(Photo Credit: "Sleeping Beauty" by Josephine Wall, Celestial Journey - Fantasy World of Josephine Wall (Vol.01) #29)

The basic theme of a beautiful women, placed under an enchanted sleep, and awaiting her true love, can be traced back to the story of Brynhild in the Volsunga Saga . In this tale, Brynhild is banished to Earth and is required to marry. To prevent Brynhild ending up with a cowardly man, Odin housed her in a deserted castle encircled with unquenchable flames. He touched her with “the thorn of sleep” to preserve her youth. When a hero came who was brave enough to overcome the flames and find her, she would awaken. In this case the hero was Sigurd, and, because of an enchantment, when they first laid eyes on one another, they fell in love.

A similar story is that of Troylus and Zellandine. This account can be found in the Perceforest, a 14th century, French prose romance published in the 1500s. In this story, several deities were invited to a banquet in honor of the King’s newborn daughter, Zellandine. One of the visiting goddesses, Themis, feels that she has been treated unfairly. In retaliation, she places a curse on the baby. The unknown curse comes to fruition when the princess is overcome with sleep after picking up a “distaff full of flax”. The princess, kept in a tower, is discovered by Prince Troylus. When he is unable to wake the beautiful princess, he takes advantage of her. When Zellandine finally wakes she finds herself with child.
The Pentamerone, an Italian collection of stories, was put together by Giambattista Basile in the 17th century. Included amid the stories is the account of “Sole, Luna e Talia,” or “Sun, Moon and Talia.” The sleeping beauty of this story, Talia, finds herself in much the same predicament as Zellandine. A great king commands the wise men of the land to assemble at tell him the future of his daughter Talia. They all agree that “peril will come to her from a splinter in some flax.” The king takes every precaution and banishes flax and similar materials from the land. However, after Talia is grown up, she manages to get a splinter from a distaff under her fingernail. She falls dead, and her father places her body on a bed in a tower. Sometime later a king happens across her body and assumes she’s asleep. He treats her the same way Troylus did Zellandine, and then leaves. Nine months later the sleeping Talia gives birth to a boy and girl, Sun and Moon. The king knows nothing of the children, and Talia is still asleep; so the children are cared for by fairies. Not long after their birth, one of the children sucks on his or her mother’s finger and removes the splinter. Talia awakens and discovers her children. After Talia has awakened the king remembers her and returns. It turns out this king is already married, and his wife can tell that he has been unfaithful. Through some detective work she discovers his other family and orders the children to be brought to her. The queen tells her cook to kill and prepare the children as a dinner dish for the king. But the cook hides the children with his wife, and serves the king goats instead. The queen then orders that Talia be brought to her. Right before the queen throws Talia into a fire the king shows up and saves her, and it is revealed that the children are safe and alive.

In Perrault’s version the wise men are replaced by seven fairies. An old fairy, whom everyone believed dead, shows up to the party and, go figure, curses the new born princess. One of the fairies changes the curse so that when the princess touches a spindle, rather than die, she will simply fall asleep. After the princess meets her fate, the good fairy enchants the rest of the kingdom to sleep with her. For one hundred years the palace is hidden behind a vast thick forest. At the end of this time, a prince who has heard tales of the “sleeping beauty” searches for, and finds, the castle. He enters her chamber just as she wakes up. They fall in love and get married and soon have two children, Le Jour and L’Aurore. In translations the son is named Day, and the daughter is named Morning. The prince’s mother is descended from ogres who are known to eat children. He therefore keeps his wife and children away from her for their protection. However, after the king dies, the prince becomes the king and his family moves in with him. The rest of the story is similar to that of Talia’s; with the prince’s mother taking the place of the disgruntled wife.

The fourteenth century tale of “Briar Rose”, present in the CatalanFrayre de Joy e Sor de Placer, is a predecessor to the German story told by the Brothers Grimm, “Little Briar-Rose”. The Grimm Brothers have several stories involving princesses under enchanted sleep, including “Snow White” and “The Glass Coffin”. However, the tale of Briar Rose ties in more closely to the known editions of “Sleeping Beauty.” Their story, published in the early 1800s, involves 13 fairies, and leaves off any mention of a jealous wife, an ogre queen, or children belonging to the sleeping princess. In this version the princess sleeps for a hundred years along with her kingdom; all of whom are hidden behind thick layers of forests and briars. The prince hears stories of a princess, hidden behind a wall of briars, waiting for her true love to awaken her. Captivated by the story, he resolves to seek her out. He then forward refers to her as his Briar Rose. When he finally finds her, he kisses her and she is awakened.

Check out the stories for yourself:

The Grimm Brothers' "Little Briar-Rose"

Charles Perrault's "The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood"

Giambattista Basile's "Sun, Moon and Talia" from The Pentamerone

Citations:
Zipes, J. (2000). The Oxford companion to fairy tales: The western fairy tale tradition from medieval to modern. New York; Oxford University Press.
Warner, M.(1994). From the beast to the blonde: On fairy tales and their tellers. New York; Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Opie P., Opie I. (1974). The Classic Fairy Tales. New York, Oxford; Oxford University Press.
Ashliman, D. (2010). Grimm brothers’ home page. Retrieved from http://www.pitt.edu.
Heiner H. (1999). SurLaLune fairy tales. Retrieved from www.surlalunefairytales.com.

"What would I give to live where you are..."

(Title Credit: Lyrics from “Part of Your World” written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashmanv, featured in the Disney film “The Little Mermaid.”)

(Photo Credit: "Dreams of Atlantis" by Josephine Wall, Celestial Journey - Fantasy World of Josephine Wall (Vol.01) #6)

Tales of mermaids, water spirits, and sirens have permeated folklore throughout the world for centuries; from Homer’s Odyssey, to Rowling’s Harry Potter. However the fairy tale of “Den lille Havfrue”, or “The Little Mermaid”, is unique in that it tells the story of a mermaid as a heroine, rather than a demonic or seductive side character. The Danish writer, Hans Christian Andersen, considered the “father of modern fairy tales”, penned this original work in the 1830s. Drawing on themes from older, oral folk culture Andersen’s piece removed the traditional conflict of the Christian versus the pagan to produce a “tragic story of impossible love.”

The original version of “The Little Mermaid” begins by describing the realm of the Sea King and his subjects. The Sea King, a widower, his mother, and his six daughters make up the mentioned Royal family in the tale. The youngest of the daughters in noted as “the prettiest of them all”, and, although all mermen and mermaids can sing, she has the most beautiful voice. This daughter is referred to throughout the story as “the little mermaid”; neither she nor any of the other characters have names. They are, instead, recognized through a generic title such as “the Prince” or “the Sea Witch.” Most retellings give the little mermaid a name, such as “Sirenetta”, “Marina”, or “Ariel.” Andersen describes the little mermaid as “a strange child, quiet and thoughtful”, but in the Disney version of the story Ariel is portrayed as spirited, rebellious. Another inconsistency between the original version of the story and it’s more recent counter parts is the little mermaid’s fascination with human objects. Although the little mermaid is captivated by the idea of being human, “her sisters would be delighted with the wonderful things which they obtained from the wrecks of vessels” while “she cared for nothing but her pretty red flowers.” The one object that the little mermaid obtained from a ship wreck that she cherished was a white marble statue of a boy, and this is true of the most well known version of this story.

The little mermaid in the original tale must wait until her 15th birthday before she can rise above the surface of the sea, however in the newer versions it’s portrayed as dangerous, and Ariel is even forbidden to go. Andersen’s character patiently obeys the rules of her culture and waits until she is allowed to go to the surface, but in the Japanese cartoon and the Disney version the little mermaid rebels against her father’s wishes and goes early. The little mermaid’s first visit to the surface occurs in much the same fashion in all version. She comes across a ship carrying none other than the prince celebrating his birthday with fireworks and dancing. And, in every version, a storm comes and destroys the ship leaving the Prince to sink to his death. The little mermaid saves him and takes him to a beach. In Andersen’s plot the prince never sees the little mermaid. He is awakened on the beach by a girl being raised in a convent. The little mermaid witnesses this meeting and becomes said because “he knew not that she had saved him.”

This is where the major differences in the stories occur. The little mermaid begins to watch the prince in his castle and falls in love with him, though he has never seen her. She goes and tells her grandmother about him and asks if humans live forever. Her grandmother tells her that humans do die, however they have a soul which is immortal. Mermaids live about 300 years and when they die they become sea foam. But in exchange for this longer life on earth they have no immortal soul. This is a common theme found in fairy tales, where supernatural beings do not have souls. However, the grandmother tells the little mermaid that if she can get a human to fall in love with her she will receive a piece of his soul which will ensure both of them life after death. This news motivates the little mermaid to visit the Sea Witch.

Common in all version of the plot is the Sea Witch with the power to change the little mermaid’s tail into human legs…for a price. Each version has the little mermaid exchange her voice for the ability to look human, however in the original tale the transaction involves the Sea Witch cutting out her tongue. This detail is replaced with a less gruesome sequence in the modern versions. This transaction gets the little mermaid a potion that will change her fish tail to legs, but she will only remain human if the prince marries her. Another side effect of becoming human is that whenever the little mermaid walks it will feel as if she’s walking on knives or needles, and it will be painful to the point of bleeding; a plot point which is left out of more modern adaptations. In the Disney version a time limit of 3 days is placed on the transformation, after which, if she is unable to get the prince to kiss her, she becomes a captive of the witch. In the original telling, there is no time limit on wooing the heart of the prince, but, if the prince should marry another, on the morning after his wedding the little mermaid would die.

The Disney version ends happily with Ariel being transformed into a human by her father and marrying Prince Eric. This is not the case in the original story. After the prince finds the little mermaid they become close friends, but he is in love with the girl who saved him. Since the prince believes that she is unable to marry, being part of a convent, he mentions that, if he must marry, he’ll marry the little mermaid who bears a resemblance to the girl form the convent. This gives the little mermaid hope, but, it turns out that the girl from the convent is actually the princess of a neighboring kingdom. They prince marries the princess in a wedding on the sea, and the next morning as the sun is about to rise the little mermaid looks out over the ocean. There she sees her sisters come up out of the water sans their hair. They tell her that they went to the Sea Witch and traded their hair for a knife, and if the little mermaid kills the prince and lets the blood flow over her legs they will turn back into a fin. The little mermaid tries but cannot do it, and as a result she is turned into sea foam. Andersen’s version, by some opinions, does end happily, for when the little mermaid dies she is admitted into the “daughters of the air” who are spirits working to earn a soul. So, although she didn’t win the prince, she can still get a soul. Many people think that this ending involving the “daughters of the air” doesn’t fit with the rest of the story and that Andersen added it at the last minute to give the story a moral. So, rather than trade everything for love and end up with nothing the little mermaid is rewarded for her quest.

Check out the story for yourself:

Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid"

Citations:
Zipes, J. (2000). The Oxford companion to fairy tales: The western fairy tale tradition from medieval to modern. New York; Oxford University Press.

Mortensen F.(2008). The Little Mermaid: Scandinavian Studies. Retrieved from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA.

Warner, M.(1994). From the beast to the blonde: On fairy tales and their tellers. New York; Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Trites R. (1991) Disney's sub/version of Andersen's The Little Mermaid. Journal of Popular Film & Television. Retrived from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA.

“A rose by any other name…”

(Photo Credit: via photobuckect, photo by kdking25)

The story of "Beauty and the Beast" is a widely known fairytale involving the marriage of a beautiful young girl to a beast who turns out to be a handsome prince under a spell. The most common retelling of the tale, an abridged version of Madame Gabrielle Susanne Barot de Gallon de Villeneuve's long narrative, was written down in France by Madame Jeanne-Made Le Prince de Beaumont in 1756. There are several other tales that contain similarities to the account of "Beauty and the Beast" including a grouping found in W.R.S. Ralston’s "The Nineteenth Century". These stories involve girls wedded to various creatures, a goat, a monkey, a wolf, and a bear. A resemblance to the story of "Beauty and the Beast" can also be found in the Brothers’ Grimm rendition of "The Singing, Springing Lark". In addition, the parallels between this fairytale and the story of Cupid and Psyche recorded by Apuleius in the 2nd century cannot be denied.

In the account of Cupid and Psyche, most likely a Latin relation of an older Greek myth, a young woman, whose beauty rivals that of Venus, has two sisters who are envious of her loveliness. This theme of Beauty being one of three sisters, common in several versions of the story, including de Beaumont’s and the Grimm Brothers’, is left out of many 20th century adaptations, such as that of the Disney animated film . The myth of Cupid and Psyche also contains a castle where Psyche is entertained by disembodied voices that welcome her, sing and play instruments, and prepare her table with food. This element can also be found in "The Singing, Springing Lark", and in most variations of "Beauty and the Beast"; a part of the story explained by talking house hold items in the more recent editions. There are a few other commonalities between Cupid and Psyche and "Beauty and the Beast", the last of which being that in the end the two lovers do end up together. However the Grimm and Beaumont versions contain more similarities than this.

While in the myth Psyche is merely isolated as a result of Venus’ jealousy, in the fairy tale Beauty is given to the Beast as payment for a wrong done to him by her father. Some reports of the tale involve Beauty’s father getting lost in the woods while on a journey and stumbling across a castle where he takes shelter and is cared for by unseen hands. When the father leaves the castle, he takes a rose from the garden outside, in some version it’s because Beauty asked for him to bring her back a rose from his journey, in others he just decides to take one back for her. In any case, this act brings on the wrath of the master of the house, a beast that cherishes his roses and demands the father’s life for his show of ungratefulness. The father tries to explain himself, and upon hearing that the man has daughter the beast offers an ultimatum. Beauty’s father can leave and see his family again, if he promises to return for his punishment or to send his daughter in his stead. This how Beauty ends up a prisoner at the castle. In "The Singing, Springing Lark", rather than ask for a rose, Beauty asks for her father to bring her back a “singing, springing lark’. Instead of coming across a castle while Returning from his journey, Beauty’s father finds the lark in a tree, but when he takes the lark a lion jumps out and attacks him. The rest of the situation is fairly similar to that of the other versions in that the lion is a prince, and Beauty returns instead of her father. But in the Grimm Brothers’ rendition the prince and all of his subjects who have also been transformed into lions, return to their normal forms at night. In regards to Beasts form, a common theme between the stories is that the Beast is kind hearted, despite his physical appearance. In fact, in Beaumont’s retelling, while talking with Beast, Beauty says, “Among mankind there are many that deserve that name more than you, and I prefer you, just as you are, to those, who, under a human form, hide a treacherous, corrupt, and ungrateful heart.” In the end of every story Beast is transformed to be as beautiful physically as he is in character.

In each version Beauty requests to see her family and as a result some consequence befalls her; most commonly the possibility of being separated from Beast in one manor or another. In the Grimm version the lion is turned into a dove for seven years, and when he turns back into a human he almost marries another princess. In Cupid and Psyche, Cupid leaves because Psyche breaks the rules and looks at him despite his wishes; in this version the beauty’s husband is only assumed to be hideous. As he departs Cupid says, “Love cannot dwell with suspicion.” In the Beaumont version Beast is dying of self induced starvation because of her defection, and in the Disney version Beast is dying of a wound inflicted by another of Beauty’s suitors. In each instance the lovers are restored to one another by the end of the account.

Check out the stories for yourself:

Le Prince de Beaumont’s "Beauty and the Beast"

The Grimm Brothers’ "The Singing, Springing Lark"

The Story of Cupid and Psyche

Recommendations:
If you’re looking for a book to read and you enjoy the tale of "Beauty and the Beast" check out Beastly by Alex Flinn.

Citations:

Opie P., Opie I. (1974). The Classic Fairy Tales: Cinderella, 117-127. New York, Oxford; Oxford University Press.

Brooke P. (January 2004). Lyons and Tigers and Wolves - Oh My! Revisionary Fairy Tales in the Work of Angela Carter. Critical Survey. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA.

Ashliman, D. (2010). Grimm brothers’ home page. Retrieved from http://www.pitt.edu.