(This post is cross-posted to
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capri0mni)
Preface:
This is in response to the Grimm Brothers tale
The Frog King, or Iron Heinrich, specifically, which is
not any more "authentic" than any
other version you may have learned (regardless of the reputation that the Grimm fellows crafted for themselves, for political and commercial reason). Stories of royal men enchanted into the shape of frogs, who make some sort of deal with young women (or girls), abound all over Europe. But this is the version that bothered me the most. So this is the version I sat down to write an answer to.
Here's the translation that I used as my source material The biggest thing that bothered me about this version is that the princess is child-coded (the
youngest daughter, who weeps uncontrollably over the loss of a plaything), and yet, is objectified for her beauty -- the opening sentence (as translated by D. L. Ashliman) includes this line:
"the sun itself, who, indeed, has seen so much, marveled every time it shone upon her face."
And then, there's the fact that, instead of a
kiss that turns the frog-shaped king back into a man-shaped king, it's this (again, the D.L. Ashliman translation):
With that she became bitterly angry and threw him against the wall with all her might. "Now you will have your peace, you disgusting frog!"
And once he's beautiful, like her, she's happy to go
to bed with him, and marry him, at her father's command (still child-coded, remember).
(Aside: it's actually one of the folk motifs that pops up now and then, that, in order to free an enchanted someone from an animal shape, the animal body must be killed. But it's often
after the talking animal companion/guide and the human protagonist have become close friends: "Please chop off my head, now" "Are you insane? I can't do that!" etc.)
Naturally, as someone who is demi-/asexual, aromantic, and
desire repulsed reading this version with the critical eye of an adult turned this fairy tale into something that was not just unbelievable, but a horror story.
So I gave myself this challenge:
Without changing the components of the magical spell, or the span of time the Grimm version covers: rewrite it, and shuffle bits around, so the happy ending actually makes sense, even if the viewpoint character is aro-ace, like me.
Anyway, I thought it would end up being ~5,000 words. It ended up being ~7,500, which is straining against the bounds of "Short Story," and brushing up against "Novella." So I've broken it into chapters.
( Under the Linden Tree (part 1/5; 1,615 words) )(Chapter two tomorrow!)
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