The Twelve Dancing Princesses

This story was from the Brothers' Grimm, and it tells the story of a frustrated king and his young, rebellious daughters.

Every night, the twelve princesses were locked into their rooms, with their brand new dance slippers, but by the morning, the slippers were completely worn through.  This frustrated the king, and he decided to make a competition of it.  He made a competition that said if anyone could figure out where his daughters were going in three days and three nights he would let the man marry the daughter of his choosing.  However, if the man failed, he would be put to death.

Princes from around the land come to the castle and try to determine where the girls are.  They failed every time, and each prince was put to death.

Eventually, an ex soldier comes to try his hand at the mystery.  An old woman warned him before he came not to accept any wine given to him by the princesses, and she also gave him an invisibility cloak so he could follow the ladies in secret.  That night, when the princesses bring him wine, he does not drink it.  He instead fakes sleep, and the girls put on their finery, safe in the knowledge that he is asleep.  They traveled down a secret passageway to an underworld.  The soldier followed the girls while wearing his invisibility cloak.

In this underworld, there is a beautiful forest of silver.  The soldier follows the girls through the forest, and wanting to be able to prove that the land exists, snaps a silver twig from the tree.  One of the younger princesses is confused by the sound she hears, but they continue without too much interruption.

They then arrive at a beautiful lake and waiting there are twelve princes and twelve boats.  The soldier hops into one of the boats, and is taken to a beautiful party.  The girls dance the night away with their 12 princes.  The soldier danced as well (presumably by himself) and drank the wine that was placed for the princesses.

When the girls shoes were worn through, the princesses went back to their rooms.  The soldier went as well and faked sleep, so the girls would think nothing was amiss with their plans.

He let this continue for his remaining two nights before the soldier would be put to death, but on the third night, he took a goblet with him as further proof of the land. He then told the king all that he knew, producing the twig and the goblet as proof.

Overjoyed that he finally knew the cause of his daughters' worn out slippers, he told the soldier to pick whichever princess he fancied.  The soldier chose the oldest one because she was the closest to his age, and everyone lived happily ever after.


This story is full of really odd moments, like the fact that the girls are so willing to allow their suitors to die night after night. And to examine adaptations of it, we will have to look at both book and movie adaptations next week.