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Updated: Mar 19

While not having it's own Disney Princess adaptation the fairy tale of The Twelve Dancing Princesses is still well known in pop culture. But how well do you know the original story?


In this blog post I will be sarcastically summarizing the French version of this fairy tale and sharing into I picked up when researching my own retelling of this story, The Twelve Dancing Princesses.


It’s a bit unusual that I delve into two different versions of the story, but, as you will see by the end of the post, in my retelling I actually stitched these two versions together…and I’m too big of a geek to let that slide without pointing out how I did it. 😉 So here we go!

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In the French version, not only do the princesses have very little to recommend them besides beauty, but the hero–a boy who works under the palace gardener–is an absolute beast. The hero was originally a peasant boy who left his village because he thought the girls there were ugly. I’m not making this up! He decides he wants to marry a princess because they are said to be prettier, and since he’s handsome he has decided he is far above the likes of the girls in his village. (So…I guess he’s Gaston if Belle wasn’t around?)


Our shallow hero dreams of an enchantress who tells him to go to the castle and there he can marry a beautiful princess. So our hero-who-deserves-a-smack-upside-the-head sets out and snags the career of gardener’s boy. (Personally I think pig keeper would suit him better…)

As it just so happens the duke (don’t ask why their father is a duke and they are princesses, there is no explanation given for that gem.) who owns the castle has 12 beautiful daughters who–despite being triple locked in their room–wear out their shoes every night and commonly sleep until the afternoon. The duke offers a reward to anyone who can find out what they are doing–because of course the girls lie and insist they are sleeping. Strangely, whenever someone is locked in the princesses’ chambers to investigate their activities, the following morning when the doors are unlocked they are nowhere to be found. (The duke, apparently, is not as crazy as the king from the German tale as he offers no time limit and, more importantly, no death threat if you can’t uncover the mystery. Not like it matters, though, as in this version no one is seen again after their first try.)


One of our stuck-up gardener’s boy’s tasks is to give the princesses a bouquet every morning–which is how he falls in love with the youngest princess who is naturally also the prettiest. The enchantress returns to our dolt-of-a-hero in his dreams and gives him gardening advice on how to grow two laurels which will then bud flowers that will make him invisible.

The gardener’s boy does this, and when his laurels are fully grown he sneaks into the princesses’ rooms while wearing the flower of invisibility and hides under their beds. The sisters search the rooms, but eventually get dressed in their prettiest gowns and go through a trap door.

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This gorgeous illustration of the princesses coming down their hidden staircase is the work of Henry J Ford, who lived from 1860-1941.


As in the German version, our shallow hero is following so closely behind them he steps on the gown of the youngest princess. Similarly, they walk through the tree groves of the silver, gold, and diamond tress, and come to a lake where the twelve boats and princes are waiting for them.

Just as the soldier did, the gardener’s boy hops on the boat of the youngest princess–who also lectures her prince for rowing so slowly.

At the other side of the lake is a splendid castle that has lots of food, drink, and other luxuries. The princes (who number at least 50 and were actually all the men who tried to uncover the princesses’ secret) dance the night away with the princesses because the girls had previously given them a philtre that froze their hearts and filled them with the desire to dance. (Which I suppose makes these girls slightly better than the princesses in the German version. Now they are only kidnappers instead of murderers.)


As a side note, I couldn’t make heads or tails of the castle. There are servants, and yes they have the princes, but no one explains who owns the castle or why it exists. A couple of variants credit the fairies, but that’s usually as far as it goes. Moving on!


The princesses dance the night away and then hurry home shortly before dawn. On the way back the gardener’s boy snaps off a twig of the silver trees and then puts it in the bouquet meant for the youngest princess later that morning. The events repeat–though this time the shallow hero snags a gold twig and places it in the youngest princesses’ bouquet–and when he follows them a third time he snatches up a diamond twig. The youngest princess by now knows he has been following them, and even though the gardener’s boy promises not to tell anyone–including her father–she  tattles to her older sisters who make fun of her for the gardener boy’s obvious infatuation with her.


The eldest sister states they should throw him in prison and have him killed, which upsets the youngest. (I have no idea what she thought would happen, I mean really, they are already confirmed kidnappers!) Frightened, the youngest princess threatens to tell their father if they harm the gardener’s boy, so they decide to take him with them to the castle instead. Throughout the night the youngest princess insults the gardener’s boy, who responds calmly that she need not fear that she will become a gardener’s wife. After a night of dancing and food, the princesses try to feed him the philtre that will freeze his heart and force him to join the other princes they have captured/kidnapped.


The gardener’s boy knows what the drink is, but is willing to drink it because he loves the youngest daughter even though she’s been nothing but an absolute jerk to him. Surprisingly, the youngest princess tells him not to drink it and that she would rather be a gardener’s wife after all. The gardener’s boy flings the philtre aside, which breaks the curse over the princes. (Because reasons??) The remaining eleven princesses each choose a prince to marry, then flee back home in the boats just before the castle crumbles. (Because nothing makes for good romance like marrying your captor and fleeing your crumbling prison together!)


The gardener’s boy and the youngest princess explain to the duke everything that happened, then they are married and the gardener’s boy is made a prince. (But not before the princess burns down his magical laurels. Because it wasn’t enough she nearly got him cursed for all eternity, nooooo!)


If you've already read my version of this fairy tale you probably see exactly how I combined the stories! The heroine Quinn is the wiser/less shallow soldier from the German version, and Roy–her Band Gallant companion–is the gardener’s boy who is a bit obsessed with princesses. You can read this follow up blog post where I go into more detail, and discuss why I did what I did and how it fits into my book series: The Timeless Fairy Tales.


And if you're now interested in reading my adaptation of this fairy tale with a soldier heroine and not a normal hero for this tale (hint: he's not one of the soldiers!) her are the links:

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Updated: Mar 17

I love writing sarcastic summaries of popular fairy tales and this time it's the Frog Prince's turn!


This summary (and the factoids I share in it) is based on the research I compiled as part of writing my own retelling of this fairy tale, The Frog Prince. Before we get started I would like to note that I really gutted this fairy tale when I created my own version. It still has most of the important parts, but I broke them up and made some pretty drastic changes because:

  1. Both of the main characters in the original story are pretty detestable

  2. My prince (Prince Lucien who appears as a side character in my version of Beauty and the Beast) arrogant(?) personality and my world itself wouldn’t have allowed for me to neatly adapt the original story.


Okay, are you ready? Let’s dive in!

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The “original” Frog Prince story was recorded by the Brothers Grimm, but it was known as “the Frog Prince or Iron Henry,” and it actually has two different endings running around. I wasn’t able to track down the year the original story was released, but the modified version (the alternate ending that is now considered the “true” ending) was released in 1823 by Edgar Taylor.


All versions of Frog Prince begin with a young princess who ventures outside and sits next to a well (Grimm version) or a spring (Taylor version). She has a golden ball that she throws up in the air and then catches, but while playing she fails to catch her ball and the thing drops into the deep well/pond.


The princess concludes she won’t be able to retrieve it, and declares she would give up her clothes, pearls, anything to have this ball back. (It seems to me someone needs to learn the evils of materialism. And impulsive decisions. I mean, really?!)


A frog hears the princess and asks her what is wrong. The princess nastily calls him ugly and explains what happened. The frog offers to retrieve the ball if she lets him eat from her plate and sleep in her bed, and treats him like a companion.


This should have been the princess’s first warning, because any living creature that demands a payment like that obvious has some wacko motives, but the princess rather craftily realizes the frog has no way to make her carry out this payment as he is stuck in his well/spring, so she agrees. (She’s actually quite verbally abusive to the frog, and insults him a lot.)


The frog retrieves the ball, and as soon as the princess recovers it she runs off before he has a chance to stop her or remind her of her promise.

The princess is pretty happy because she thinks she’s home free, but unfortunately for her the following day when she is at dinner with her father the King, there’s a knock on the castle door. The princess answers the door (You’ve got some lax security there, oh King) and sees frog sitting outside waiting for her. Frightened, she slams the door shut and returns to dinner. Her father asks her why she looks so frightened, and she explains the promise she made to the frog.


Next the frog shouts this weird poem-ditty through the door like a total creeper-stalker, and the King tells the princess she better open up the door and keep her promise. So the princess goes and gets the frog, who gets super pushy and demands that he sit on the table and she move her plate so he could also eat from it.

old illustration featuring The Frog Prince

I understand this is just an artist’s mental image of what happened…but that spring/fountain/well does not look THAT deep.


When dinner is over the frog demands that she take him to her bedroom to sleep in her bed with her. (This would be a great time to step in, Dad!) The princess doesn’t want to, but the king tells her she must keep her promise. (Okay, that’s not what I meant when I said step in!)


So the princess carries the frog with two fingers because she doesn’t want to touch him, and when they get to her room instead of putting the frog on her bed, she throws him against the wall. Surprisingly, this makes the frog transform into his true form: a prince!


In the modified version, which is now usually considered the true ending, she lets him sleep in her bed with her and goes through this torture for THREE DAYS before the frog transforms into the prince he really is. Also, the modified version says the prince was turned into a frog by a vindictive fairy whereas the original gives no reason for the transformation.


The following day the Prince and Princess come down to the castle entrance where Henry–the prince’s faithful servant–is waiting with a carriage. Henry had been so sad when the prince was turned into a frog he had to have three iron bands placed around his heart so it wouldn’t break. When he sees his master fully restored, he is so happy that the iron bands break. Henry then drives the prince and princess back to the prince’s lands.


So that’s the original fairy tale! Did you notice that despite the popular "you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your handsome prince" type sayings there was NO kissing at all involved in the original story?


Though I do have to say this is a very rare case in which I think the two main characters actually deserve each other. The prince is waaayy beyond pushy, but the princess is little more than a harpy as she constantly insulted the prince when he was a frog. They're a perfect match!


Anyway! I hope you all found that amusing! If you're interested in the ways I adapted the story for my retelling you can check out this blog post.


Or if you'd like to read my retelling, which is a fantasy + a sweet romance story, you can read it in Kindle Unlimited or in ebook and paperback.


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Updated: Mar 25

Today we’re going to dig into the morals and themes presented in Sleeping Beauty.


Sleeping Beauty was one of the few fairy tales that made me pause and actually wonder what on earth anyone could find instructive/helpful about it. (I say that with all my love, because really, have you entertained any fairies recently?)


Thankfully Perrault–who as you might remember the Brothers Grimm’s story was an orally shared version of his tale–spells out the moral at the end of the book.

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Perrault says the moral is–I kid you not–be patient in waiting for love. I was actually surprised at the sound logic behind that, and the way he phrases it is actually quite humorous. See for yourself!

Many a girl has waited long For a husband brave or strong; But I’m sure I never met Any sort of woman yet Who could wait a hundred years, Free from fretting, free from fears.

Now, our story seems to show That a century or so, Late or early, matters not; True love comes by fairy-lot. Some old folk will even say It grows better by delay.

Yet this good advice, I fear, Helps us neither there nor here. Though philosophers may prate How much wiser ’tis to wait, Maids will be a sighing still — Young blood must when young blood will!


For those who are curious, yes, Perrault wrote this in his French retelling. The website I found it at said the translation of the moral (because it was omitted by earlier translations) comes from Perrault’s Fairy Tales, translated by S. R. Littlewood (London: Herbert and Daniel, 1912).


Though it might seem odd, this is really a moral I could get behind, and that’s partially why I made Briar and Isaia childhood friends and their relationship so long in developing. But while patience in love is the moral, there are still other bits of symbolism and themes in the story that deserve a closer look.


I briefly mentioned it previously, but when the king proclaimed that all spinning wheels should be destroyed and anyone caught owning/using one would be put to death, it was an insipidly-stupid idea. This fairy tale takes place in a time where the only way for the general populace to produce thread/fabrics, was to spin it. By destroying all the spinning wheels in the kingdom, he was robbing his people of a way to clothe themselves–not to mention I imagine he put a ton of people out of business. (Think about it–not just spinners and weavers, but farmers who owned sheep would now have to take the wool to a neighboring kingdom so it could be put to use! The same goes for flax farmers.)


Furthermore, it would greatly impact the kingdom’s economy. Prices on fabrics would hike up drastically because everything would have to be imported, and while other countries would profit the people would suffer.

But that’s only if people actually obeyed the king. We know they didn’t because the princess pricks her finger on a spindle, so there’s still some machines around.


The King’s order is clearly too bull-headed and impossible that the people cannot follow it. It’s very similar to the “turning-straw-to-gold” bit of Rumpelstiltskin. (Which, as you might recall, is extra impossible because straw can’t be used in spinning or for anything, so the king was telling the girl to make something from nothing.)


I feel like the King’s stubborn actions are a second moral. It shows that you can make unreasonable demands based off fear and terror, and what you fear may still come to pass.


In fact, reading about the king’s proclamation is what inspired me to have Briar set off the curse on her own free will. Briar’s family–like the king from the original–are filled with fear, and they make poor decisions as a result.


Briar, however, acknowledges her fear and steps forward to face her curse anyway. If Isaia hadn’t been so stubborn, her idea to set off the curse would have been smashing, and in the end she’s the hero–not because she fought but because she stirred the Magic Knights and was determined to face Carabosso if no one else would.


And if you're interested in reading my sweet fantasy romance retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale you can get my standalone story in Kindle Unlimited, or ebook / paperback!

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