Let’s talk enchanted castles this week. In our read-through of Grimm’s Fairy tales, we’ve come across several enchanted castles already. Previously, I’d only thought about Sleeping Beauty (suspended animation) and Beauty and the Beast (animated furniture in the Disney version, and things just happen in the original.)
But in the first half of Grimms’ tales, we also come across lesser known enchanted castles like the castles in The Queen Bee, The Water of Life, or this week’s story, The Poor Miller’s Boy and the Cat.
In The Poor Miller’s Boy and the Cat, a miller with no sons, offers to give his mill to the apprentice who can bring back the best horse. Three set off, but the sharper two leave the simpleton Hans behind one night. Soon, he comes across a tabby cat who speaks to him:
“I well know your desire,” said the cat. “You wish to have a beautiful horse. Come with me, and be my faithful servant for seven years long, and then I will give you one more beautiful than any you have ever seen in your whole life.”
Hans is curious, so he follows the cat to her enchanted castle, where all the other servants are…cats. They take care of running the castle and even have a little band (bassoon, fiddle and trumpet) to provide dancing music.
Hans declines to dance with the tabby cat, but stays on for the seven years while he completes each task the cat has for him, and he is treated very well.
At the end of the seven years, Hans returns to the mill where the cat says she will deliver his fine horse. She arrives in grand style, revealing herself to be a princess, not a cat, and they marry.
So, what do we know about enchanted castles from reading the first half of Grimms’ fairy tales?
- KNOWN: By the time our heroes get to the castles, the castles are already enchanted, and it’s most often their job to do something to break the curse and free the inhabitants.
- KNOWN: When it comes to enchanted castles, so far in our reading, the princess has always been stuck inside. (Beauty and the Beast is not in the Grimms’ collection.) [Aside: I wonder if this is where the stereotype emerged that the princess is always rescued by the prince? Because so many of the “rescuers” in other tales in this first half of Grimms’ fairy tales have been sisters going out to save their brothers, or women going out to save their fiances. The Grimms’ tales have a lot of girl power woven throughout. Even in this story, the princess, trapped in her cat form, goes out and finds someone to break the curse. So, does she rescue herself or is she a helpless female as some would say?]
- KNOWN: Either the enchanted inhabitants, or someone (often a dwarf) just outside knows how to break the curse.
- KNOWN: Sometimes there are consequences to someone who tries to break the curse and fails.
- The Queen Bee: little gray-haired man gives directions to anyone interested; if they fail they are turned to stone
- The Water of Life: dwarf gives directions to the worthy; those who try and fail are trapped inside in some kind of passive state where their rings can be taken off their fingers
- The Miller’s Boy and the Cat: the enchanted princess gives directions on how to break the curse (only she doesn’t tell him it’s a curse) and we don’t know if there are consequences for failure.
- UNKNOWN: Who enchants the castles and why? Is it a test? A punishment? Once the enchantment is broken, are there other consequences or has the person who did the enchanting moved on to other pursuits? Is time suspended in these enchanted castles or do the people inside age? Once the princess is rescued, is everyone else inside also released?
I’m looking forward to reading more stories about enchanted castles to see if more patterns emerge.
