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Twelve Dancing Princesses: Tales from Around the World
The Twelve Dancing Princesses is a fairy tale known under several names such as "The Dancing Shoes," "The Worn-out Shoes," and "The Shoes that Were Danced to Pieces." The best known version of the tale comes from the Brothers Grimm and yet the tale remains relatively obscure in comparison to tales such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel. However, it has been a popular favorite with fairy tale readers for decades, appearing in countless collections of tales, but rarely studied. In recent years, many books and even a toy collection, a movie and a musical have used the story as inspiration. This collection offers over twenty variants of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, some that are new English translations. In addition, several Grateful Dead tales and Greek myths are presented as interesting comparisons to the tale. Sometimes the princesses journey to a version of hell, at other times they visit a version of heaven. Many of the stories are obviously related to each other and at times the relationship is tenuous. Some additional stories with similar motifs or elements are also included, illustrating that the elements of this tale are not as obscure as they first appear. In the over fifty tales collected here, strange journeys are made, secrets are revealed, and curses are broken. Most-but not all-of the heroes and heroines live happily ever after. Either way, the journeys and the mysteries they solve provide fascinating visits to other realms. Whether you are a student of folklore or an armchair enthusiast, this anthology offers a diverse array of tales with a unifying theme that both entertains and educates, all gathered for the first time in one helpful collection.
338 pages, Paperback
First published September 10, 2010
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170 people want to read
About the author
Heidi Anne Heiner
11 books44 followersHeidi Anne Heiner is the creator and keeper of one of the world's top folklore websites, the SurLaLune Fairy Tale Pages at http://www.surlalunefairytales.com. On the internet since 1998, the site shares fairy tale illustrations from the Golden Age of illustration and over a thousand full-text fairy tales from around the world. Forty-nine popular fairy tales are annotated with links to similar tales from numerous cultures as well as information on modern interpretations in books, films, music, and theatre. The site also features a regular blog about fairy tales and folklore. An accredited librarian and researcher, Heidi is also a columnist with Faerie Magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 29, 2019
I read this volume both out of my love of this fairy tale variant, but also for a paper I was writing for my folk and fairy tales class. It's interesting to see how the basic story varies in different cultures and countries. I didn't make it all the way through yet, so I will save my final review for when I finish reading this. I liked most of what I read, although the view of female agency in most of these stories is highly problematic. "Kate Crackernuts" turns that on its head, and I appreciated this Scottish version for that reason.
June 7, 2017
Not entirely accurate a title. Lots of twelve dancing pricnesses, but also quite a number, in other sections, that run on some of the same motifs. From many regions.
First we have the dancing princess(es) tales, proper, where the princess -- or seven, or three, or twelve -- dance their shoes to pieces every night. (Only one flipflopped, with a prince instead.) A bunch of "grateful dead" -- the real, original grateful dead -- stories where the hero is helped by such figure, mostly to deal with princesses under enchantments or with magical secrets. Greek tales about visits to the underworld. And a final collection of various similar motifs.
More for a person interested in comparing the tales than just reading a variety, especially since they are organized by similiarity; might be better a tale or two at a time, if you just want some fairy tales.
A fair number of proud beauty princesses, who think nothing of impossible demands and having their suitors executed. And in several of the tales the hero's reaction to success is to refuse the princess's hand -- especially when she was consorting with demons.
First we have the dancing princess(es) tales, proper, where the princess -- or seven, or three, or twelve -- dance their shoes to pieces every night. (Only one flipflopped, with a prince instead.) A bunch of "grateful dead" -- the real, original grateful dead -- stories where the hero is helped by such figure, mostly to deal with princesses under enchantments or with magical secrets. Greek tales about visits to the underworld. And a final collection of various similar motifs.
More for a person interested in comparing the tales than just reading a variety, especially since they are organized by similiarity; might be better a tale or two at a time, if you just want some fairy tales.
A fair number of proud beauty princesses, who think nothing of impossible demands and having their suitors executed. And in several of the tales the hero's reaction to success is to refuse the princess's hand -- especially when she was consorting with demons.
June 27, 2016
An interesting collection of fairy tales. As with many collections, my ratings for the individual tales range from one to five stars, so the rating lands somewhere in the middle... 3.5 maybe?
There are 57 tales in this collection (or... two of them are missing from the ebook version [that are included in the paperback], due to copyright issues; I wish I'd known that before I bought the ebook--ha!) and most of them aren't actually Twelve Dancing Princesses stories, but mostly tales that share similar themes/motifs.
My reactions to this book are vaguely as follows ("Twelve Dancing Princesses" abbreviated to "12DP" because my typing fingers are lazy this day):
...Yay, a collection of 12DP stories, my favorite fairy tale! And it will be great research for my NaNo this year! I can't wait!
...Whoa. There are 57 stories? I had no idea there were so many versions! o.o This is even awesomer!
...Um. Two are missing. I feel cheated. :(
...Oh well, there are still 55! :)
...So much gorgeous descriptions! So fun getting to see these different versions from different places! Aaahh, I love it!
...Wow. Some of these are super, super dark. o.o This is not for children! I guess a lot of the old fairytales were super creepy/disturbing/inappropriate. :P
...Okay, so most of these after the first several are not actually 12DP tales at all. Color me disappointed.
...But wait, who cares? I'm loving these tales anyway! As long as I don't think they all have to be 12DP stories, I may as well enjoy them as other tales. :)
...So I am enjoying myself!
...Fascinating.
...OH MY GOODNESS. THESE IRISH ONES. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. Irish fairy tales are the best, especially because they have HUMOR. Ah, the incredible wit of my ancestors. <3 I may be biased, of course. ;) But they ring more lovely and at home to my ears! (And some of them had Snow White type references too. So cool.)
...KING ARTHUR HAD KIDS IN THIS STORY?? I LOVE THIS. I WANT MORE STORIES ABOUT KING ARTHUR'S CHILDREN PLEASE AND THANK YOU. WHY HAVE I NEVER HEARD OF THIS IDEA??? IT IS AWESOME.
...Okay. Greek. These are interesting... some of them... but mostly I don't think I like Greek/Roman myths. Meh. -_- They art verily unpleasant to mine ears.
...Scottish tales! Yum! --Also creepy, but, well, most of these are. :P
...Okay, why is The Red Shoes in here. I had fortunately forgotten all about it and now I've remembered it. WHY. I have officially decided lately that I strongly dislike most Hans Christian Anderson stories. JUST NO. They are depressing and ew and I just do not like them. -_- I don't know why this collection had to end like this because now I am grumpy.
But 'twas an interesting collection! I now feel wonderfully immersed in cultural folklore world-wide, and it was fascinating to read all these tales the world over! (The Russian ones were cool too! Also India. And several of the others that I don't recall just now.)
If you're looking entirely for 12DP stories, don't get your hopes up, but these do all have some repeated threads, which is interesting to trace through different stories; and if you're NOT expecting dark tales... then don't read it. :P
Overall, some disappointments as in all collections, and as can be the case with the very old tales, but I greatly enjoyed reading this collection.
There are 57 tales in this collection (or... two of them are missing from the ebook version [that are included in the paperback], due to copyright issues; I wish I'd known that before I bought the ebook--ha!) and most of them aren't actually Twelve Dancing Princesses stories, but mostly tales that share similar themes/motifs.
My reactions to this book are vaguely as follows ("Twelve Dancing Princesses" abbreviated to "12DP" because my typing fingers are lazy this day):
...Yay, a collection of 12DP stories, my favorite fairy tale! And it will be great research for my NaNo this year! I can't wait!
...Whoa. There are 57 stories? I had no idea there were so many versions! o.o This is even awesomer!
...Um. Two are missing. I feel cheated. :(
...Oh well, there are still 55! :)
...So much gorgeous descriptions! So fun getting to see these different versions from different places! Aaahh, I love it!
...Wow. Some of these are super, super dark. o.o This is not for children! I guess a lot of the old fairytales were super creepy/disturbing/inappropriate. :P
...Okay, so most of these after the first several are not actually 12DP tales at all. Color me disappointed.
...But wait, who cares? I'm loving these tales anyway! As long as I don't think they all have to be 12DP stories, I may as well enjoy them as other tales. :)
...So I am enjoying myself!
...Fascinating.
...OH MY GOODNESS. THESE IRISH ONES. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. Irish fairy tales are the best, especially because they have HUMOR. Ah, the incredible wit of my ancestors. <3 I may be biased, of course. ;) But they ring more lovely and at home to my ears! (And some of them had Snow White type references too. So cool.)
...KING ARTHUR HAD KIDS IN THIS STORY?? I LOVE THIS. I WANT MORE STORIES ABOUT KING ARTHUR'S CHILDREN PLEASE AND THANK YOU. WHY HAVE I NEVER HEARD OF THIS IDEA??? IT IS AWESOME.
...Okay. Greek. These are interesting... some of them... but mostly I don't think I like Greek/Roman myths. Meh. -_- They art verily unpleasant to mine ears.
...Scottish tales! Yum! --Also creepy, but, well, most of these are. :P
...Okay, why is The Red Shoes in here. I had fortunately forgotten all about it and now I've remembered it. WHY. I have officially decided lately that I strongly dislike most Hans Christian Anderson stories. JUST NO. They are depressing and ew and I just do not like them. -_- I don't know why this collection had to end like this because now I am grumpy.
But 'twas an interesting collection! I now feel wonderfully immersed in cultural folklore world-wide, and it was fascinating to read all these tales the world over! (The Russian ones were cool too! Also India. And several of the others that I don't recall just now.)
If you're looking entirely for 12DP stories, don't get your hopes up, but these do all have some repeated threads, which is interesting to trace through different stories; and if you're NOT expecting dark tales... then don't read it. :P
Overall, some disappointments as in all collections, and as can be the case with the very old tales, but I greatly enjoyed reading this collection.
June 3, 2017
I love the concept for this volume (and the whole series). As a storyteller, reading several versions of the same tale types is not only intriguing, but also helpful - I get to see what elements and structures are constant, and which ones change by culture or storyteller. This book also contains, next to the dancing princess stories, tales of related types, such as the Grateful Dead, Greek mythology, and various fairy tales.
The one problem I have with this collection is that it could have been even better. The author focused on texts which are in the public domain, which means that the book is missing stories and cultures published in later collections (after the 1930s). It was also limited to texts available in English (which is a pity, because as a Hungarian storyteller I know this tale type has dozens of interesting variations in our tradition). With some copyright costs and translation work, the book would have been more complete. Still, it is an immensely valuable resource, and a very enjoyable read.
The one problem I have with this collection is that it could have been even better. The author focused on texts which are in the public domain, which means that the book is missing stories and cultures published in later collections (after the 1930s). It was also limited to texts available in English (which is a pity, because as a Hungarian storyteller I know this tale type has dozens of interesting variations in our tradition). With some copyright costs and translation work, the book would have been more complete. Still, it is an immensely valuable resource, and a very enjoyable read.
February 8, 2023
A neat collection! Some of the stories didn't seem to be related to the 12 Dancing Princesses tale, but they were still interesting to read!
September 23, 2013
Fascinating to see how many variations there are to one of my favorite fairy tales.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews