A king loves an apple tree so much that he puts a curse on anyone who eats its fruit. His three daughters, believing that the curse will not affect them, eat the apples and sink underground. This marks a descent into the Underworld. We, too, curse ourselves unknowingly when we make bad choices, such as hide our talents or enter bad relationships. This damages the innocent, joyful aspect of our souls, represented by the three princesses, and we spiral down into the underworld of depression, abuse, inertia and self-hatred.
Soon, we notice that joy is missing from our lives. Thus the King decrees that any man who finds the princesses may marry one of them. Three huntsmen join in the quest. They represent the aggressive, courageous element of our psyche.
Encounter with the Trickster
They find an uninhabited but furnished castle with food laid out on a table. On the first day, the eldest stays back to guard the castle. At mid-day, a gnome enters, begging for bread. When the huntsman obliges, the creature drops the food, asking him to pick it up. When the huntsman does so, the gnome beats him. The next day, the second brother suffers the same fate.
Finally, it is the last brother’s turn. When the gnome drops the bread, he refuses to pick it up. When the gnome insists, the huntsman beats him. Thereupon the gnome, revealing himself as a trickster figure, brings the huntsman to an empty well where the princesses are hidden, warning him not to trust his brothers.
Underworld Quest
All three brothers in turn are lowered into the well, but only the youngest reaches the bottom. He finds each princess delousing a many-headed dragon. The horror of the situation reflects the nature of the Underworld, where all the refuse and filth of the psyche, everything we shy away from in terror or disgust, are present, and where our souls’ lost, childlike part is imprisoned. The huntsman frees the princesses and sending them up into the Land of the Living. This, we believe, is where the tale ends.
But it is not so. When it is the huntsman’s turn to be hauled up, his brothers cut the basket’s rope, leaving him underground, and force the princesses into secrecy. It is a different betrayal from the first one; this is a deliberate, malicious act. The brothers’ heinous act represents our own self-destructive impulses. Even after we take steps to extricate ourselves from bad scenarios, we often betray ourselves, by, for instance, returning to a destructive relationship. Hence we remain trapped in the Underworld.
The huntsman finds a flute hanging on a wall. After some time, he plays it, and soon, the room is filled with elves who help him escape. This indicates that even in the most hopeless situations, when we feel most alone, there is still beauty and strength within to be drawn upon.
Breaking Silence
However, the trials are not yet over. When the huntsman reaches the king’s castle, the princesses faint and the king imprisons him. Seeing his daughters weep at this, he asks them what the matter is. They reply that it is a secret. The king suggests that they tell it to a stove. Eavesdropping on their confession, he learns the truth, sentences the evildoers to death and gives the huntsman his due reward. Only then, the story concludes. In the same way, we find closure only when the true story of betrayal and abuse is told, allowing us to move on to a new chapter in our lives.
Read The Elves by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
