The Water of Life by Wilhelm Grimm
"The Water of Life" is a fairy tale by Wilhelm Grimm that follows the journey of a youngest prince who seeks a mythical water to save his ailing father, the king. The story begins with the king's three sons learning from an old man that the only cure lies in finding this elusive water. The two elder brothers, filled with pride, encounter a dwarf and meet misfortune for their arrogance, while the youngest son demonstrates humility and respect, earning the dwarf’s guidance. He is equipped with magical items to access an enchanted castle, where he faces various trials, ultimately awakening a princess and discovering the water's location.
As the tale unfolds, the younger prince saves three kingdoms from devastation using his newfound magical properties. However, conflict arises when his older brothers betray him while he is asleep, substituting the life-giving water with sea water. Accused of treachery, the youngest prince finds refuge in the forest, and in his absence, the king regrets his harsh judgment upon learning of the prince's true deeds. Ultimately, the story concludes with the prince being reconciled with his father and marrying the princess, showcasing themes of humility, the perils of pride, and the importance of loyalty. The narrative is rich in symbolism, emphasizing the contrasts between life and death, and the virtues that lead to true success.
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The Water of Life by Wilhelm Grimm
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published: “Das Wasser des Lebens,” 1815 (collected in The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, 2002)
Type of work: Folklore
The Work
“The Water of Life” is storytelling pared to the bone. The tale is so lucid and simple that it almost defies analysis. Situation, speech, and action blend in one flowing narrative. A king is dying. His three sons learn from an old man that the only way to save their father is to bring him the water of life. The dying king reluctantly gives one son after the other permission to seek the water.
When the two proud older brothers meet a dwarf who asks where they are going, they answer rudely, so the dwarf sends them up a ravine, where they become trapped. Arrogance itself is a trap, and the ravines are symbolic of the older brothers’ hard pride that keeps them from progressing. When the third prince meets the dwarf, he answers politely and confesses that he does not know where the water of life is. The dwarf then tells him that the water is in an enchanted castle, and he gives the prince the three things that he needs to enter the castle: a wand to open the gate and two small loaves of bread to feed the guardian lions. The dwarf also warns him to leave the castle by midnight. The prince thanks him and leaves. The amount of information conveyed in a few sentences is amazing: The hero is revealed as courteous, humbly honest, and grateful.
Once inside the castle, the prince acts on his own initiative. He finds a hall with spellbound princes and removes their rings. He finds a sword and a loaf of bread that he takes. He finds a lovely princess, who wakes and kisses him. She says that they will be wed in a year and that her kingdom will be his. She also tells him where the water is and warns him that he will be imprisoned in the castle if he stays past midnight. He falls asleep, however, and barely awakens in time to fetch the water and escape, losing part of his heel as the gate slams shut. The events in the enchanted castle are vivid, mysterious, and dreamlike. Yet they work a change in the hero. He becomes both more affectionate and more effective. His one blind spot, however, is that he trusts his brothers.
Again he meets the dwarf, who tells him that the sword (the wand, magically transformed) can defeat many armies and that the supply of bread will never end. The prince asks about his brothers, and the dwarf releases them, warning the prince about their evil hearts. The brothers are joyfully reunited and travel home together, with the youngest telling of all that befell him. On the way, they find three successive kingdoms ravaged by war and famine. The prince saves each with his sword and bread. Before arriving home, the brothers undergo a sea journey in which the older brothers switch the water of life for sea water while the youngest sleeps. Sleep is a real danger in this tale.
The youngest son is accused of attempted poisoning after giving his father the salt water, while his brothers get the credit for rejuvenating the king. The king then orders his huntsman to execute his third son on a hunting trip. Yet the prince is so considerate of the huntsman’s feelings that the huntsman tells him of the king’s orders and, instead of killing him, exchanges clothes with the prince. The prince hides in the forest for a year. Meanwhile, the king repents his hasty act when three wagons of gold and jewels come for his third son from the three kingdoms that he had saved. When the huntsman tells the truth, the king grants his lost son amnesty.
The princess orders a golden road built to her castle and tells her servants to send away all who ride up by the side of the road, but to admit the one who rides down the middle. The older brothers ride to the side when they notice that the road is gold. The prince, however, never notices, his mind being full of the princess; he rides down the center to his bride, her kingdom, and his father’s love. His wicked brothers set forth on the sea and are never heard from again.
The main symbols in the story almost speak for themselves. The wand and two small loaves of bread that admit the prince into the castle become, magically, the sword and loaf by which he saves three kingdoms. The water of life is balanced by the water of death (sea water). The golden road that leads to success must not be approached gingerly; it must be ridden down the center with all of one’s being focused on the goal.
Bibliography
Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976.
Bottigheimer, Ruth B. Grimms’ Bad Girls and Bold Boys: The Moral and Social Vision of the Tales. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1987.
Campbell, Joseph. “Folkloristic Commentary.” In The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales, by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm. New York: Pantheon Books, 1944.
Ellis, John M. One Fairy Story Too Many: The Brothers Grimm and Their Tales. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983.
Kudszus, W. G. Terrors of Childhood in Grimms’ Fairy Tales. New York: P. Lang, 2005.
McGlathery, James M., ed. The Brothers Grimm and Folktale. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988.
Murphy, G. Ronald. The Owl, the Raven, and the Dove: The Religious Meaning of the Grimms’ Magic Fairy Tales. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Sutherland, Zena, and May Hill Arbuthnot. Children and Books. 7th ed. Glenview, Ill.: Scott, Foresman, 1986.
Tatar, Maria. The Hard Facts of the Grimms’ Fairy Tales. 1987. Reprint. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2003.
Zipes, Jack David. The Brothers Grimm: From Enchanted Forests to the Modern World. New York: Routledge, Chapman & Hall, 1988. Reprint. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.