The Twelve Wild Ducks

Looking at the old folktales with a modern gaze, there are most likely many aspects of the stories that certainly are problematic - especially the ones coming from a woman's point of view. I have read - and translated - quite a few fairytales throughout the years, and  in many of these stories the female characters often emerge as beautiful "giveaway goodies." In this respect, the fairytale The Aslad and the Good Helpers might serve as a case in point; in short, a megalomaniac king hears news of a ship that travels just as fast on land as it does on water; he craves to have a ship like that, and to the one who succeeds in building this ship, "he promises to give away his daughter, and half the kingdom as well." The princess is ultimately deprived of having a say, and is consequently married off to someone she hasn't even spoken to.

There are reasons for such a course of action obviously; the folk tradition does not make room for inner monologs or character development. All of the characters are fixed, based on a certain formula, each with its own function. The obnoxious king, the condescending father, the dangerous troll - they are all obstacles in which the hero in question must surpass in order to prove himself and succeed. The prize is economical stability in form of riches, safety in form of a home - and love in form of a princess. The stories must therefor be interpreted with these formulas in mind.

Nevertheless, there are exceptions, in which the woman herself takes center stage. From now on, I wish to share a few of these stories, emphasizing the strength and determination that these women posess. One of them is Snow White and Rose Red.

In short, The Twelve Wild Ducks tells the story of a queen who has twelve sons, but no daughter. A witch promises that she will have a daughter - if the witch is given power over the twelve sons. The queen gives birth to a baby girl, whom she names Snow White and Rose Red, and the twelve sons are transformed into twelve wild ducks. When years have passed and the young princess learns this, she is overcome by an enormous guilt and the need for reconciliation. She leaves her mother, her home and all that is known and safe, and sets off to to redeem her brothers from the sorcery which confines them. Also in the Brothers Grimm's notions we find variants of this fairy tale; The Seven Ravens, The Six Swans, and The Twelve Brothers. A variant of the same fairy tale can further be found in H.C. Andersen's The Wild Swans.

In contrast to the male hero, such as Askeladden (Eng. "Ashlad"), Snow White and Rose Red have a strong bond with those who need redemption. The motivation is not to save an unknown princess unfortunate enough to have been snatched away by a troll. In this tale, it is the love between siblings which nurture the story. Nevertheless, it is an assignment that demands a lot of her; while Askeladden is faced with challenges that require quick decisions and actions, Snow White and Rose Red takes on tasks that require long-term and self-sacrificing efforts. She must manifest an endurance that is never demanded of the male hero. Snow White and Rose Red is consumed with this mission for years, looking for her brothers before eventually finding them. The strength she holds – and the trials she endures - is simply not to be found among male heroes; she is even willing to sacrifice her own life - and is close to being burned alive. One of Snow White and Rose Reds equivalent, the heroine in the Grimm fairy tale "The Seven Swans" goes so far as to sacrifice a part of her own body, she cuts off her little finger to get to her brothers. Much more clearly one cannot give a symbolic expression of the highest degree of willingness to sacrifice.

Now, admittedly, Snow White and Rose Red does not go so far as to really sacrifices her life. Such an outcome would have been contrary to the internal logic of the fairytale ending of a happily ever after. But she is so close to death that the threat of death by fire and rescue at the last moment almost becomes a symbolic death and resurrection.

Ultimately, this fairytale says something about how life should be like and how it should unfold. In the battle between good and evil, honesty, kindness and virtue will win at long last, and hope, strength and courage prevail.

Once upon a time there was a queen who was out sledding; it was winter, and the ground was covered by fresh snow. When she had travelled some distance, the queen got a nose bleed and had to get out of the sleigh.

As she stood up by the fence and looked down at the red blood and the white snow, she came to think that she had twelve sons and no daughter, and then she said to herself:

- If I had a daughter as white as snow and as red as blood, I would easily give up my sons.

No sooner had she said it, she was approached by a witch.

"A daughter you shall have," she said, "and she will be as white as snow and as red as blood, and then your sons will be mine; but you can have them with you until the child is baptized.”

When the time came, the queen gave birth to a daughter, and she was as white as snow and as red as blood, as the witch had promised, and therefore they called her Snow White and Rose Red.

There was great joy in the royal court, and the queen was immensely happy; but when she remembered what she had promised the witch, she had a silversmith make twelve silver spoons, one for each prince, and then she had him make another, and she gave it Snow White and Rose Red.

Once as the princess was baptized, the princes were transformed into twelve wild ducks and flew away, and they saw no more of them; they were gone and gone the remained.

Theodor Kittelsen, 1897. The twelve Wild Ducks.
Oil on canvas. Nasjonalmuseet.

The princess grew up becoming a radiant beauty, but she was often so timid and sad, and no one could understand what was wrong with her.

But then one evening the queen was also so sad, for she must have had many oppressive thoughts, when her sons came to mind, and she said to Snow White and Rose Red:

- Why are you so sad, my child? If something is wrong with you, say so! If there's something you want, you shall have it.

- Oh, it is so desolate, said Snøhvit and Rosenrød, - everyone else has siblings, but I am so alone, I have none; that is why I mourn.

"You have also had siblings, my daughter," said the queen, "I had twelve sons, who were your brothers, but I gave them all up to have you," she said, and then she told everything that had happened.

When the princess heard that, she had no rest. No matter how much the queen cried and beseeched, it did not help; she wanted to leave, for she thought she was to blame for everything. And finally, the princess left the palace.

She walked and she walked, far out into the wide world; you would not think that such a beautiful, timid maiden had the strength to go so far.

Soon, she found herself walking in a large forest, after hiking for days and nights. Then suddenly she got tired and sat down on a mound, and there she fell asleep. Then she dreamed that she went further into the woods to a small wooden hut, and there she found her brothers.

Immediately she woke up, and right in front of her she saw an ascending path in the green moss, and that path went deeper into the forest. She followed it, and at long last she came to such a small wooden hut as she had dreamed of.

When she came into the living room, there was no one inside, but there were twelve beds and twelve chairs and twelve spoons, and twelve things of every single item. When she saw it, she was as happy as she had not been for years, for she immediately understood that her brothers lived there, and that it was they who owned the beds and the chairs and the spoons.

She added more wood in the fireplace, swept the floor and made the beds, cooked supper and cleaned and decorated as well as she could; and when she had cooked and prepared food for them all, she ate herself, but she forgot her spoon on the table, and then she crawled up into the youngest brother's bed and made herself comfortable.

Not before had she gone to bed, then she heard a rustling and whistling in the air, and then all twelve wild ducks came rushing in; but the moment they crossed the threshold, they were the princes.

-Oh, how nice and warm it is! They said, - God bless the one who has added wood to the fire and cooked us such a delicious meal!

And then they each took a silver spoon, looking forward to eat. But when each had taken their spoon, there was still one left, and it was so similar to the others that they could not distinguish it from their own.

They looked at each other, pondering.

- This is our sister’s spoon, they said, - and if there’s a spoon here, she cannot be that far away.

"If this is our sister’s spoon, and she is here, she will be killed, for she is to blame for all the pain we suffer," said the eldest of the princes, as she lay listening under the bed.

- No, said the youngest, - it would be wrong to kill her for that, our suffering is not her doing, if anyone is to blame, it is our mother.

They then began to look for her high and low, and at last they searched under all the beds as well, and when they came to the youngest prince's bed, they found her and dragged her out.

The eldest prince again wanted her killed, but she cried and begged for her life:

- Oh, dear, do not kill me, she said, - For so many years I have searched for you, if I could save you, I would gladly offer my own life.

- If you wish to save, they said, - then you will be allowed to live, because if anyone can do so, you must be the one.

- Yes, just tell me how it can happen, then I will do what it takes, said the princess.

- You shall gather thistledown, said the princes, - and you shall card and spin and weave the wool, and when you have done so, you shall cut out and sew twelve caps, twelve shirts and twelve cloths of it, one for each of us, of us, and while you do, do not speak or laugh or cry. If you can manage to do so, we are saved.

- But where shall I find thistledown for all of these cloths and hats and shirts ? said Snow White and Rose Red.

- We will show you, said the princes, and then they took her to a large marsh, so full of thistledown, dancing in the wind and glittering in the sun, that from afar that it must have looked like glistening snow.

Never before had the princess seen so much thistledown, and she immediately began to pick and gather the fastest she could, and when she came home in the evening, she sat down to card and spin it to yarn.

Theodor Kittelsen, 1913. Never before had the princess seen so much thistledown.
Privat collection.

And so it was for a long time. She gathered thistledown, carded and spun the wool into yarn, and in between she cared for the princes. She cooked and she made the beds for them, in the evening they came flying back home like wild ducks, at night they were princes, but then in the morning they flew away again and were wild ducks all day.

But then one day, as she was out in the marches gathering thistledown – and if I'm not mistaken, the last time she had to go out there - the young king, who ruled the kingdom, was out hunting. As he was riding passed the marches, he saw her. He stopped and wondered who the lovely maiden could be who went into the march, gathering thistledown. When he asked her about it, he got no answer, which made him ponder even more, and he decided he liked this girl so much that he wanted to take her home to the castle and marry her. So he told his servants to go fetch her and put her on his horse.

Snow White and Rose Red, she twisted her hands and pointed to the sacks she had all her work in, and when the king realized she wanted to take them with her, he told his servants that they should bring the sacks as well. When they had done so, the princess eventually came with, for the king was both a kind man and a handsome man, and he was as gentle and kind to her as a lark.

But when they came home to the royal court, the old queen - who was his stepmother – saw Snow White and Rose Red, and she became so angry and jealous of the princess' beauty, that she said to the king: - Can you not see it? The girl you have taken with you and whom you want to marry is a witch, she neither speaks nor laughs or cries. The king however, chose not to listen. Instead he threw a great wedding and married Snow White and Rose Red, and they lived in great joy and glory. By the end of the year, Snow White and Rose Red had given birth to a little prince, and the old queen became even more envious and vicious. And when it was late at night, she snuck in to Snow White and Rose Red’s chamber while she slept, took the child and threw it in the snake-pit. Then she cut the young queen in the finger and smeared the blood around her mouth, and then went to the king.

"Come now and see," she said, "what kind of person have you taken to be your queen? Now she has eaten her own child!”

The king was so terrified that he was nearly weeping, and said:

- Yes, it must be true, since I see it before my eyes; but she will not do it again. This time I will spare her.

Before the year was over, the young queen had given birth to yet another son, and with the new child, the story repeated itself. The king's stepmother became even more jealous and vicious; she snuck in to the queen at night while she slept, took the child and threw it in the snake-pit, cut the queen in the finger and smeared the blood around her mouth, and then she told the king that she had eaten up this child as well.

The king, grieving his son, said,

- Yes, it must be true, since I see it before my eyes; but she certainly will not do it again, so I will spare her life again.

Before the year was over, Snow White and Rose Red had given birth to a daughter, and as with the two boys, the old queen threw the baby girl into the snake-pit. While the young queen was asleep, she cut her finger, smeared the blood on her mouth, and then went to the king and said:

- Now you can come and see for yourself and listen to what I am saying; she is a witch, and now she has one up her third child as well. The king was now so mournful that there was no consolation to give, for he knew that he could no longer spare her, but had to command that she should be burned alive on the fire.

When the fire was burning, and she was to be bound to the stake, she made signs for the servants to take twelve boards and place them around the fire, and on them she lay the cloths and hats and shirts of her brothers, but the shirt of the youngest brother lacked the left sleeve, she had not been able to finish it. As soon as they had done this, they heard a flapping and whirring in the air, and then twelve flying wild ducks came in flying over the forest, and each of them took his garment in his beak and flew away.

"Now do you see," said the wicked queen to the king, "that she is a witch, hurry now and burn her before the firewood burns up."

- Oh, said the king, - we have plenty of firewood; there’s a whole forest at hand. I want to wait a little longer, to see what will be the end of this.

At that moment the twelve princes appeared, riding on their horses as beautiful and full-grown young men, but the youngest prince had a duck-wing instead of his left arm.

“What's going on?” asked the princes.

"My queen will be burned, for she is a witch and has eaten her own children," replied the king.

"She has not eaten them," said the princes. “Speak now, sister, for you have saved us, now save yourself!”

So Snow White and Rose Red finally spoke and told about everything that had happened, that every time she had fallen asleep, the wicked queen, stepmother to the king, crept into her at night, had taken her and cut her finger and smeared the blood around her mouth.

And the princes took the king, and brought him to the snake-pit; there lay the three children playing with worms and toads, and more beautiful children have you never seen before!

The king took them with him and carried them to his stepmother and asked her what punishment she thought one should receive who could have the heart to betray an innocent queen and three such blessed children.

- They should be strapped between twelve untamed horses, so that each horse got his share, said the old queen.

“You have announced your own verdict, and you yourself will get suffer it,” the King said.

And then the old, wicked queen was tied up between twelve untamed horses, each of whom taking his share, ripping her to pieces.

But Snow White and Rose Red brought the king and their children and her twelve brothers, back home to their parents and told them all that had happened. And there was great joy and delight throughout all the kingdom, for the princess was saved and had saved her twelve brothers as well.

Sources:

• Danielsen, Ruth (1994) | Så levde de lykkelig -: barn, eventyr og verdier. Cappelen forlag: Oslo.
• Norsk Folkeminnesamling. AT451: De tolv villendene. Sted: Gjerdrum, Akershus. Samler: P. Chr. Asbjørnsen