The story of The Twelve Dancing Princes occurs across cultures. The focus here will be of the version recorded in Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's book Household Tales.
The Riddle
The story begins with a riddle. A king, stupefied by the unexplainable occurrences in the lives of his twelve daughters, issues a challenge. All interested suitors are given the opportunity to discover the secret of his daughters, who, locked into their common bedroom every night, always wear out their dancing slippers.
The suitors have three nights in which to solve the mystery. The one who succeeds wins not only the hand of his favorite princess but also becomes the king’s heir. Those who fail are killed. Enter the hero, a wounded, old soldier who is traveling.
The Quest
In The Twelve Dancing Princesses, the hero states his quest clearly when he meets an old woman on the road. “I hardly know where I am going, or what I had better do , but I think I should like very well to find out where it is that the princesses dance, and then in time I might be a king.’
The woman helps him by giving the soldier a warning and a magical device to aid him. She warns him not to drink the wine that the princesses offer him and she gives him an invisibility cloak.
When he arrives at the castle, they dress him in fine clothes and lead him into a chamber outside the princess’s bedroom. As he prepares for bed, the eldest princess offers him a drink of wine. The solider accepts it but rather than drink it he lets it run down his chin and into a sponge tied there. Then the soldier lies down to sleep, pretending to snore loudly.
The princesses, believing the soldier drugged, exit the room, descending a hidden stairway. Hell is often described as an underworld and this is where our hero’s test begins. He puts on his invisibility cloak and descends into the unknown. The soldier follows the princesses into the first of three avenues of trees, which are lined progressively with trees of silver, gold, and diamonds. (See the story of Eurydice for a quest into hell).
Heidi Anne Heiner, SurLaLune Fairy Tales observes that the material of the trees ‘faintly echo the passing seasons, signifying the passage of life into death. The silver is reminiscent of summer sunlight on foliage, the gold of autumn leaves, and diamonds of winter’s ice on trees.
The hero is wise, he knows that is unlikely that his word alone will be adequate testimony for such a remarkable tale and so he snaps off a twig from a tree in each avenue.
The party reaches a river. Waiting for the girls are their princes (it is suggested that the princes were actually demons), each with a boat to ferry his princess across. In Greek mythology, Charon ferries the dead across the river into Hades.
They cross the river and enter a castle full of music. They spend the evening dancing. Like many heros, our soldier is trickster. He dances invisibly with the party and drinks the wine from the princess’s cups. (See Odysseus and the Cyclopes Polyphemus for an example of hero as trickster).
When the princess’s slippers wear out they return home, the soldier following. Once they reach the stairs, he races ahead and slips back into bed.
The hero returns the next two nights to see more of this wondrous place. The last night he steals a golden cup as evidence of the grandness of the ball and the castle.
The Reward
When the soldier presents his story to the king, he shows the four tokens from his adventure. The king calls his daughters, who realize denial is futile and so confess. The soldier chooses the oldest princess for himself because he himself is no longer young. The next day they are married and he becomes the king’s heir. Quest fulfilled.
