Rapunzel (German fairy tale)

"Rapunzel" is a popular German fairy tale first published in 1812 by the Brothers Grimm. Rapunzel is a young girl with unusually long hair. Locked in a tower by a witch, Rapunzel falls in love with a young prince and must let down her hair to act as a ladder so that he can climb it. The story incorporates elements from Persian and early Christian legends, and is directly descended from a seventeenth-century Italian folktale. Since its publication, "Rapunzel" has gone on to become one of the best-known fairy tales and has been adapted numerous times in film, television, and other literature.

Background

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were German authors and scholars who collected and published collections of folklore in the early nineteenth century. They first published "Rapunzel" in their 1812 collection, Children's and Household Tales; however, the tale bears echoes from other sources that date back centuries.

The idea of a maiden trapped in a tower is similar to the legend of Saint Barbara, a young woman thought to have lived in the third century. To protect his beautiful daughter from the evils of the outside world, Barbara's father, a devout pagan, was said to have locked her in a tall tower. While in captivity, Barbara converted to Christianity and defied her father's insistence that she marry. When her conversion was discovered, Barbara was tried in a local court and sentenced to death. The legend states that her own father beheaded her.

The idea of Rapunzel's long hair may have come from the Shahnameh, or Epic of the Persian Kings, a sixty thousand–verse work written around 1000 CE. In one section of the tale, the white-haired warrior Zal falls in love with princess Rudabeh, a descendant of an evil demon king. Rudabeh lives in a tall tower and lets her long hair down for Zal to climb. In some versions of the story, he declines, preferring instead to use a rope as not to damage her beautiful hair.

The direct ancestor of the Grimms' "Rapunzel" can be found in Italian poet Giambattista Basile's Pentamerone, written in 1637. Basile's heroine, Petrosinella, whose name was derived from the word for "parsley," is locked in a tower by an ogress. When Petrosinella falls in love with a prince, she pulls him up into her tower with her long, golden hair. The fairy tale was adapted by a French author in 1697 and later translated into German. In one translation by German author Johann Christoph Friedrich Schulz, the main character's name is changed to Rapunzel. While it seems likely the Brothers Grimm were aware of Basile's folktale, they may not have known of the later editions. In compiling their first version of "Rapunzel" in 1812, they may have used the recollections of a source who had read Schulz's translation.

Overview

The story of Rapunzel begins with a husband and wife who were unhappy because they did not have children. They lived in a house overlooking a high wall surrounding a beautiful garden that belonged to a powerful witch. The witch was referred to in some versions of the tale as Mother Gothel, a generic German term meaning "godmother." As the woman looked into the garden, she saw a bed of rampion, a leafy vegetable resembling lettuce or spinach. She became obsessed with trying the vegetable and asked her husband to get her some.

The husband scaled the wall and entered the garden, but the witch caught him. When he explained his task, the witch said he could have all the rampion he wanted in exchange for the couple's firstborn child. The terrified man agreed. His wife became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter. When the baby was born, the witch appeared to claim the girl. She took her away and named her Rapunzel, the German word for "rampion."

Rapunzel grew to be a beautiful young woman. When she was twelve, the witch sealed her away in a high tower that could only be entered by a small window near the top. When the witch sought to enter, she would call out, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your golden hair." Rapunzel would loosen her long hair, and the witch would climb up into the tower.

One day, a prince heard Rapunzel singing and observed how the witch entered the tower. After the witch had left, he called out to Rapunzel to let down her hair. When he climbed up and met Rapunzel, they fell in love with each other. The prince asked her to marry him and she agreed, but because her hair was the only way down, she had to find another way to escape. She asked the prince to bring her a strand of silk each day he visited. Over time, she would construct a ladder and eventually climb down to run off with him.

The prince did this until Rapunzel accidentally let slip to the witch that she was being visited by a young man. The angry witch chopped off her hair and sent her away to live in a lonely desert. When the prince came for his daily visit, he called out as usual and climbed into the tower. This time, it was the witch who confronted him, mocking him that Rapunzel was gone forever. In despair, the prince jumped from the tower, falling upon thorns that broke his fall but blinded him.

The prince wandered the land grieving for his lost love, until one day he came to the desert where Rapunzel was living. He heard her singing and followed her voice until they were reunited. As Rapunzel cried in happiness, her tears fell upon the prince's eyes and his sight was restored. Together, they returned to his kingdom and were married.

In the centuries since the Brothers Grimm first published the story, "Rapunzel" has gone on to become one of the most well-known fairy tales. Some of its darker elements have been altered in later retellings. For example, in early versions of the story, Rapunzel is pregnant when she is banished. In some versions, the prince is not blinded but is instead transformed into a bird. In 2010, the Walt Disney Company loosely adapted the story of Rapunzel into an animated feature film called Tangled.

Bibliography

Carruthers, Amelia. Rapunzel—And Other Fair Maidens in Very Tall Towers. Pook Press, 2015.

Greenspan, Jesse. "The Dark Side of the Grimm Fairy Tales." History.com, 17 Sept. 2013, www.history.com/news/the-dark-side-of-the-grimm-fairy-tales. Accessed 21 Oct. 2017.

Heiner, Heidi Anne. "Annotations for Rapunzel." SurLaLune Fairy Tales, 28 Jan. 2014, www.surlalunefairytales.com/rapunzel/notes.html. Accessed 21 Oct. 2017.

Heiner, Heidi Anne. "History of Rapunzel." SurLaLune Fairy Tales, 2 July 2007, www.surlalunefairytales.com/rapunzel/history.html. Accessed 21 Oct. 2017.

Iba, E. Michael, and Thomas L. Johnson. "Introduction." The German Fairy Tale Landscape. Niemeyer C.W. Buchverlage, 2015, pp. 11–16.

Seal, Graham. "Rapunzel." Folklore: An Encyclopedia of Beliefs, Customs, Tales, Music, and Art, edited by Charlie T. McCormick and Kim Kennedy White, vol. 1, 2nd ed., ABC-CLIO, 2011, pp. 1057–59.

Windling, Terri. "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let Down Your Hair." Journal of Mythic Arts, www.endicott-studio.com/articleslist/rapunzel-rapunzel-let-down-your-hair-by-terri-windling.html. Accessed 21 Oct. 2017.

Zelinsky, Paul O. Rapunzel. 1997. Puffin Books, 2002.