The Frog Prince (Re)Discovered
Daniela Wedel of Nomad’s View ponders the evolution of fairytales and performs her own version of “The Frog Prince” by the German fairytale authors, the Brothers Grimm.
“If they all become a prince then I’m in a pickle… I’d better not kiss them, nor throw them against a wall.”
Image | Daniela Wedel
Fairytales, stories, legends, good guys, mean guys, princesses, kings, beasts and magical creatures, fairies and monsters - we all grow up with them; we’ve all met some of that family along the way. And they stay with us. Maybe way back in the far away, once upon a time souvenir box in our mind, but they stay.
When driving with my groups through the Black Forest in Germany we talk about fairytales. Of the many people with whom I’ve discussed these tales, only a very few couldn’t vividly remember the plot around gnomes, princesses, witches, wolves and other creatures. They all come alive again and we remember exactly how the story went. We recall the version we were told and we feel that this version is “the right” one—the logical and the accurate one. Our version is the “true” story. This is very interesting when we look at the fact that a fair tale is a total invention and that there isn’t actually a real “true version”. But it has become our inner “fairytale truth”.
The fairytale of the Frog Prince is one of the best known and oldest fairy tales. The Disney movie of 2009 brought it to our attention again, but this version was created almost 200 years after the original—published in the first edition of 1812 Grimm's Household Tales . Some elements of the plot, and of course the language and dialogues, have changed over time, which isn’t unusual for a fairytale.
It’s fascinating to look at the changes that fairytales go through and to compare the versions over different years and areas of publishing. In most cases we just have to look around us to find out why fairytales were changed—to accommodate the designated consumer. Most of the time, they get adapted to the cultural environment and updated to the moral standards of that particular environment and times. Tales can also be changed to underline certain messages they are written to convey.
I would like to invite you to dedicate 5 minutes of your time to a video performance called “Mein Maerchenprinz”—a performance of frog “transforming” into a prince. (My Fairytale Prince, Moses Publishing house, Germany). During the performance, I will read to you the 1812 Brothers Grimm version of The Frog Prince, based on a text provided by the University of Pittsburgh.
Maybe this version will surprise you and might raise questions. One of my own personal surprises is the non-appearance of the kiss—a substantial part of the version that I was told in my childhood. It was the moment of wonder and magic. But let’s just watch and listen - and enjoy the “living happily ever after” part.
To find out more about the background of the fairy tale and the changes the story went through you might want to listen to my commentary:
