The Lassie and Her Godmother
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The Lassie and Her Godmother is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in Norske Folkeeventyr.[1]
The Brothers Grimm noted its similarity to their Mary's Child, and also to the Italian The Goat-faced Girl.[2]
[edit] Synopsis
A poor couple had a daughter. The father was unable to find godparents, because the godparents would have to pay the fees, except for one fine lady who said she would if she could raise the girl. He tried three days, but finally they agreed that the fine lady should have her way. The fine lady was her godmother and brought two men to be her godfathers, and then she took the girl home.
When the girl was old enough to know right from wrong, the lady left, forbidding her to go into certain rooms. The girl looked into one, and a star sprang out. Her foster mother was angry with her, but at her pleading, let her stay. The next time the foster mother went away, she opened the second door, and the moon sprang out. Again, the angry foster mother was appeased by the girl, but the third time, when she let out the sun, the foster mother insisted that the girl had to leave. Furthermore, she could speak and be ugly or be beautiful and mute. She chose to be beautiful.
She wandered in the woods until nightfall, when she climbed a tree over water and slept there. Every woman sent from the castle to fetch water saw her reflection, thought it was her own, and decided she was too beautiful to fetch water. Finally, the prince went himself, realized she was there, and coaxed her down to be his queen. His mother objected, arguing the girl could not speak and might be a witch. Nevertheless, he married her.
When she was to have her first child, the prince set a watch about her, but they all fell asleep, and the foster mother came, took the baby, and smeared the queen's mouth with blood, saying she would as sorry as her foster mother had been when she let out the star. Everyone thought she had killed and eaten the child, and the prince's mother would have had her burned if the prince had not, with difficulty, argued her free. The same thing happened the second time, though the watch was twice as strong; the foster mother decreed she would as sorry as when she had let out the moon. The third time, the watch was three times as strong, the foster mother decreed that she would be as sorry as when she let out the sun, and the prince was unable to save her. But when they were leading her to the fire, the godmother reappeared with the children, restoring them to their parents, told that the girl was innocent, revealed that she was the Virgin Mary, and restored her speech. Thereafter they lived happily.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ George Webbe Dasent, Popular Tales from the Norse, "The Lassie and Her Godmother" Edinburgh: David Douglass, 1888.
- ^ Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Household Tales "Our Lady's Child" Notes
