Edgar Taylor, the translator, not only changed the title, but altered the ending in a substantial and interesting manner.

The first English translation of the above tale. Other folktales similar to the Frog Prince are: The Wedding Procession by Walter Crane, 1874, Aberdeen Art Gallery When the frog prince reverts to his human form, Henry's overwhelming happiness causes all three bands to break, freeing his heart from its bonds. The frog prince also has a loyal servant named Henry (or Harry) who had three iron bands affixed around his heart to prevent it from breaking in his sadness when his master got under a spell. In other early versions, it was sufficient for the frog to spend the night on the princess' pillow. In the original Grimm version of the story, the frog's spell was broken when the princess threw the frog against the wall, at which he transformed back into a prince, while in modern versions the transformation is triggered by the princess kissing the frog. The Frog Prince, who is under a wicked fairy's spell, magically transforms back into a handsome prince. In the tale, a spoiled princess reluctantly befriends the Frog Prince, whom she met after dropping a golden ball into a pond under a linden tree, and he retrieves it for her in exchange for her friendship.

įolkorist Stith Thompson suggested that the story of the Frog King in the German tradition began with a 13th-century literary tale written in Latin. Other scholars, however, argue that this may actually be a jab at the emperor Nero, who was often mockingly compared to a frog. It has been postulated by some scholars that parts of the tale may extend back until at least Roman times an aspect of the story is referred to in Petronius' Satyricon, in which the character Trimalchio remarks, 'qui fuit rana nunc est rex' ('The man who was once a frog is now a king'). As this version was not included in later editions, it has since remained relatively unknown. The volume 2 of the first edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen, published in 1815, included a variation of this story entitled Der Froschprinz (The Frog Prince), published as tale no. The Grimms' source is unclear, but it apparently comes from an oral tradition of Dortchen Wild's family in Kassel.

Jack Zipes noted in 2016 that the Grimms greatly treasured this tale, considering it to be one of the 'oldest and most beautiful in German-speaking regions.' Sources An older, moralistic version was included in the Grimms' handwritten Ölenberg Manuscript from 1810. The story is best known through the rendition of the Brothers Grimms, who published it in their 1812 edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen ( Grimm's Fairy Tales), as tale no.

Froggy castle 1