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Best of the Web Hans Christian Andersen
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The annotations for the Thumbelina fairy tale are below. Sources have been cited in parenthetical references, but I have not linked them directly to their full citations which appear on the Thumbelina Bibliography page. I have provided links back to the Annotated Thumbelina to facilitate referencing between the notes and the tale. Special thanks to Kathleen O'Neill for most of the annotations for this tale. She just completed an MPhil in Medieval Studies, focusing on early medieval French and Celtic literature (with a particular emphasis on courtly tales). Prior to that she studied for an MSc in Information and Library Studies. O'Neills' annotations are designated by KO. Heidi Anne Heiner provided additional annotations designated with HAH. Christine Ethier provided additional annotations designated with CE. 1: Thumbelina: First published in 1835. The Franks write: "The figure of a tiny girl also appears in Andersen’s prose fantasy, Journey on Foot to Amager ... (1828). Andersen was familiar with Gulliver’s Travels (1726), with its six-inch Lilliputians, and Voltaire’s short story “Micromégas” (1752), which also plays on the contrast between huge beings and tiny ones" (76). Andersen used a typical fairy tale naming convention since Thumbelina's name reflects her size, one of her physical attributes, just like Hop O' My Thumb and Tom Thumb in similar fairy tales. Other fairy tale heroines have names that reflect their physical attributes, such as Snow White and Beauty. HAH According to Jackie Wullschlager, the tale was inspired by Tom Thumb [and its similar tales] and Meister Flak by E. T. A. Hoffmann (162). It was the first of his tales to "dramatize the sufferings of the outsider who is different and therefore an object of mockery". It was also the first to use an identification or presence of the swallow "the migratory bird whose pattern of life his [Andersen's] own traveling days were coming to resemble". Oscar Wilde would borrow the image (163). CE 2: Wished very much to have a little child: A common plight in folklore and fairy tales, most famously perhaps in Sleeping Beauty. It also hearkens back to many Bible stories, beginning with Sarah and Abraham in the Book of Genesis. HAH It is also worth noting that there is no reference made to either a husband or a potential father, unlike in Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel. This woman seems determined to have a child alone, although this may meet with condemnation according to the rules of normal human societies. Do such rules apply in the fairy tale world? KO 3: At last she went to a fairy: There exist many kinds of fairies. Both good and bad fairies appear in Sleeping Beauty, while Cinderella has a benevolent fairy godmother. In medieval French and Celtic literature, fairy women are tall, more beautiful than any mortal woman, and very richly dressed. They are also immortal and may usually be found in forests or near natural sources of water. In some translations of Thumbelina, the fairy is simply an old woman, or, more explicitly, a witch (as in the Franks' translation). This latter term calls to mind the wicked stepmother in Snow White, who could disguise herself as an old woman, or the witch in Rapunzel. The use of the term 'witch' thus suggests that this story could take a very sinister turn. KO 4: I should so very much like to have a little child; can you tell me where I can find one?: The Franks write: "According to the Andersen biographer Elias Bredsdorff, some nineteenth-century versions bowdlerized this passage — to prevent children from asking where children came from. Bredsdorff quotes Mary Howitt’s version, which began: 'Once upon a time, a beggar woman went to the house of a poor peasant and asked for something to eat'" (76). HAH 5. Here is a barleycorn of a different kind to those which grow in the farmer's fields: Where did the fairy get the barleycorn? It is possible that Thumbelina was taken from her own people before she was even born, if we take into consideration the race of 'flower fairies' at the end of the story. Once again, the fairy may be seen as a malevolent figure, whose potentially sinister act sets the scene for the tale. The story focuses on the heroine's attempts to find a home and to fit into a society, but she never manages to do so until the very end. The fairy could arguably be blamed for this isolation. KO 6. She kissed the red and golden-colored leaves, and while she did so the flower opened, and she could see that it was a real tulip: In Cooper's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols, a tulip is "[t]he Persian symbol of perfect love" (182). The love in this case is a mother's love, and it is a mother's kiss that opens the flower and gives her a child. The idea of a kiss bringing a child into existence also exists in the (medieval) apocryphal tales of the Virgin Mary's conception. Anna, her mother, became pregnant when she and her husband Joachim kissed. The colours of the flower also have symbolic resonance. Cirlot says that red is "the colour of the pulsing blood and of fire, for the surging and tearing emotions" (53). In other words, it is life. He also states that gold "corresponds to the mystic aspect of the sun" (53), and this resonates with Thumbelina's love of sunlight throughout her story. KO 7. Within the flower, upon the green velvet stamens, sat a very delicate and graceful little maiden: The Franks write: "A similar image appears in E.T.A. Hoffmann’s tale 'Prinzessin Brambilla' (1821)" (76). HAH 8. Scarcely half as long as a thumb: The Franks write: "Some Andersen students have suggested that the model for Thumbelisa is Andersen’s close friend Henriette Wulff, who was very small, frail, and slightly hunchbacked. No written evidence supports that theory" (76). HAH 9. A walnut-shell, elegantly polished, served her for a cradle; her bed was formed of blue violet-leaves, with a rose-leaf for a counterpane: A counterpane is a bed covering or an embroidered quilt/blanket. HAH Thumbelina is consistently associated with natural objects, particularly flowers, like the tulip in which she was 'born'. These different objects have symbolic value that may add to our understanding of the tale - if not immediately, then as the story progresses. The walnut "shares with all nuts the symbolism of hidden wisdom, also fertility and longevity; [it] was served at Greek and Roman weddings as such" (Cooper 187), and this symbolic value will have resonance as the story develops. The violet represents "hidden beauty and virtue; modesty" (Cooper 186), while the rose "is perfection; the pleroma; completion; the mystery of life; the heart-centre of life; the unknown; beauty; grace; happiness, but also voluptuousness; the passions and associated with wine, sensuality and seduction" (Cooper 141). At the start of the tale, these concepts may not be particularly relevant, but their value can be seen as it develops. Thumbelina's natural origins are constantly reaffirmed through such imagery, and hint at the tale's conclusion, when she settles down in a predominantly natural world, filled with flowers, with her husband. KO 10. It really was a very pretty sight: Thumbelina's early life with her mother was idyllic. It bears a certain resemblance to the fairy tale Snow White and Rose Red, where the heroines of the title live a sheltered, happy life with their mother. In Individuation in Fairy Tales, Marie Von Franz describes this as follows: "[t]he beginning of the story is characterized by a kind of innocent childhood paradisiacal situation, the mother-daughter paradise. Everything is all right, but a bit too beautiful. It would be marvellous if it were like that! ... But in the beginning the male element is completely lacking. There is no father ... It is the feminine atmosphere which is described as ideal" (60-61). KO 11. Tiny could, also, sing so softly and sweetly that nothing like her singing had ever before been heard: Thumbelina is here compared to a siren (a bird-woman) or a mermaid, both of whom possessed singing voices so sweet that they would enchant men to the point of causing their deaths. The mermaids would sing to sailors aboard ships, causing them to crash upon the rocks and drown. In Andersen's own story, The Little Mermaid, he says that '[t]hrough the halls flowed a broad stream, and in it danced the mermen and the mermaids to the music of their own sweet singing. No one on earth has such a lovely voice as theirs. The little mermaid sang more sweetly than them all. The whole court applauded her with hands and tails; and for a moment her heart felt quite gay, for she knew she had the loveliest voice of any on earth or in the sea.' Thumbelina's voice attracts potential mates - the toad and the mole - albeit against her will. This recalls the age-old idea that women in general are seductive temptresses who can bring about the downfall of men as individuals and as a race. Thumbelina is thus set alongside Eve. In Eve: A Biography, Pamela Norris quotes from Tertullian's sermon given to the women of Carthage: 'Do you not know that you are [each] an Eve? ... You are the devil's gateway' (196). KO Thumbelina's beautiful singing voice reminds Andersen scholars of his crush on Jenny Lind, one of the most popular singers during his lifetime. While Lind was kind to Andersen and became his friend, she did not return his love. The two had many common qualities, such as their piety, plain physcial appearances, and their individual rise to fame for their talents in the arts. Unlike Thumbelina, Jenny Lind was considered very plain, even rather ugly by some. Most of her audience, Andersen included, forgot her appearance when she sang. Pictures of Lind can be viewed at Wikipedia's "Jenny Lind." Andersen's The Nightingale was inspired by Lind. HAH 12. A large, ugly, wet toad: In fairy tales, the toad is usually a malevolent creature, or a symbol of another character's evil. These ideas exist outside the fairy tale genre as well. In her article 'The Truculent Toad in the Middle Ages', Mary Robbins describes how the creature "usually appears as a symbol of either death or the pain of divine punishment, or both, in the literature and visual art of the Middle Ages" (Robbins 25). KO 13. 'What a pretty little wife this would make for my son,' said the toad: This is the first time that Thumbelina is taken against her will, and it intensifies her association with Persephone, kidnapped by Hades and taken to his Underworld kingdom to be his wife. Both are taken from their idyllic lives on earth and removed to the dark sunless lands underground. Historically, women had little say in deciding whom they would marry until comparatively recently, and Thumbelina's kidnapping puts her in the ranks of these women. In Arthurian legends, many female protagonists are forced into marrying against their will, such as Enide, in the Old French Erec et Enide, when her husband is presumed dead, and even Guinevere, kidnapped by Meleagant and taken to his otherworldly castle Although Andersen makes no further reference to Thumbelina's mother following her abduction, the profound grief of Persephone's mother, Demeter, may give us some insight into her feelings. Demeter, the Greek goddess of the harvest and of fertility (earthly and human), neglected her duties as she searched for her daughter, and the world starved when no food grew during this time. KO 14. In the swampy margin of a broad stream in the garden: The idea of bodies of water as otherworldly gateways is common in medieval French and Celtic literature - the fairy Melusine meets her human husband by a fountain in a forest - a gateway between their two worlds. This description of the toad's home therefore emphasises Thumbelina's separation from the idyllic life into which she was born. Her trials begin here. KO 15. He was uglier even than his mother, and when he saw the pretty little maiden in her elegant bed, he could only cry, "Croak, croak, croak": The toad's son plays the part of the Loathly Bridegroom, although Thumbelina does not succeed in curing him or releasing him from a curse. As with his mother, he is defined primarily by his ugliness, but also by his inability to voice any thoughts and feelings that he may have. He is as unintelligent as he is hideous, and this is another way in which he is not a suitable match for Thumbelina. KO 16. She is as light as swan's down: Swans have a diverse history in various literary traditions. For example, in Greek mythology, Zeus assumes the form of a swan in order to seduce Leda. The bird is also an erotic symbol due to its association with Aphrodite and Venus, the Greek and Roman goddesses of love, respectively. Swan maiden tales are found around the world, including Swan Lake, the famous ballet, and the Old Irish story Aislinge Oenguso (The Dream of Oengus). "Since the swan moves in the three elements earth, water, and air, it has traditionally been associated with shape-shifting, especially with the form of a beautiful young woman. Like storks, swans were sometimes thought to assume human form when they migrated to other lands" (Jones 408). KO 17. One of the water-lily leaves out in the stream: This particular water lily functions as an island on which Thumbelina is marooned. An island functions as an otherworldly or marginal setting, as in the medieval Irish pilgrimage tales, such as the Navigatio Sancti Brendani [The Voyage of St Brendan the Abbot], where various islands were home to white birds speaking with the tongues of men, unusually large sheep, demons, and a variety of other beings. KO 18. The state-room under the marsh: Thumbelina will be taken from her life in the sun and forced to live underground. This is the first time that she faces this unpleasant possibility. Her happiness depends, at least in part, on being able to live in the light of the sun. KO According to Jackie Wullschlager, " . . . for Andersen too the underlaying theme is nature and the emotions versus the dark burrows of academic and social constraint" (163). Hence Thumbelina fleeing the mole is equal to Andersen and his thoughts about school. CE 19. She wanted to fetch the pretty bed, that she might put it in the bridal chamber to be ready for her: The idea of the walnut as a fertility symbol now has greater resonance, as it is here selected to be used as a marital bed. KO 20. The little fishes: In fairy tales, fish are one of the many kinds of creatures that usually admire and/or help the hero or heroine in some way; here, the fish rescue the heroine from a disastrous, unwanted marriage. In her article 'Helpers and Adversaries in Fairy Tales', H.E. Davidson says that "helpers in animal form include birds, fishes, and insects," and by the end of the story, Andersen will have introduced helpers from each of these categories (99). KO 21. They saw she was very pretty, and it made them very sorry to think that she must go and live with the ugly toads: In the fairy tale world, the concepts of beauty and ugliness generally reflect the good or evil natures of people. Thumbelina is beautiful, kind, and good, while the ugly toad has no qualms about kidnapping her. KO 22. The little birds in the bushes saw her, and sang: This is the first time that Andersen explicitly establishes a connection between Thumbelina and the birds. There have been many subtle expressions of this connection before this point. The birds, and other winged creatures, will be a recurring, important feature of the story, and she will in fact have wings herself by the end. The various elements that will contribute to Thumbelina's happiness are gradually appearing. KO 23. A graceful little white butterfly: Like the fish, the butterfly usually plays the part of the hero/heroine's helper. The butterfly's white colour suggests that it may be a magical, otherworldly creature. In medieval Arthurian and courtly tales, such as the lais of Marie de France, the main protagonist frequently encounters or is accompanied by white animals that have supernatural powers in one way or another. Symbolically, the butterfly is an ancient emblem of the soul, an unconscious attraction towards the light. In psychoanalytic terms, it is a symbol of rebirth, which is apt, as the butterfly gives Thumbelina a second chance at life as it pulls her away from the toads. Cooper also says that "[a]s changing from the mundane caterpillar, through the state of dissolution, to the celestial winged creature, it is rebirth, resurrection" (27-28). If we consider the end of the tale, Thumbelina herself becomes a "celestial winged creature", and is the symbol of her own rebirth, foretold in this encounter with the butterfly. KO 24. Tiny pleased him: The idea of Thumbelina as a siren and enchantress of males is here reinforced - she attracts the butterfly and then ensnares him for her own purposes, to facilitate her escape. The butterfly is drawn to her by her beauty, and in the end, as she realises, he may well die as a result of his attraction. Thumbelina then is the femme fatale, the figure of Eve, of Lilith, of Kore (the destructive face of Persephone, in her incarnation as the Queen of the Underworld), which means 'Maiden', and was used because people feared to speak her name. KO 25. She took off her girdle and tied one end of it round the butterfly: The butterfly is drawn to Thumbelina, and the girdle is a physical manifestation of her power over the butterfly. According to Cooper, it is an ambivalent image, "either binding to fate or death; or it can depict the circle of life, or sovereignty, wisdom, and strength" (73). KO 26. Presently a large cockchafer flew by: According to Wikipedia, "the Cockchafer (or "May bug" , as it is colloquially called) is a European beetle of the genus Melolontha, in the dung beetle family, the Scarabaeidae." HAH The cockchafer is the second creature that abducts Thumbelina from a happy place and time in her life. Like the toad, it is ugly, but it is able to talk to her. This cockchafer also seems to be an outsider and individual himself, for he is the only one of his kind who finds Thumbelina attractive. KO 27. But especially was she sorry for the beautiful white butterfly which she had fastened to the leaf, for if he could not free himself he would die of hunger: Thumbelina cares more about the fate of the butterfly than about what will happen to her. A selfless attitude is another key characteristic of the fairytale hero and heroine. KO 28. She wept at the thought that she was so ugly that even the cockchafers would have nothing to say to her: Thumbelina is alone for the second time, but she is not relieved to have escaped the cockchafers, being more upset about the fact that they have found her ugly. This emphasises the themes of rejection and fitting in that can also be found in The Ugly Duckling. Such concerns also plagued Andersen, who came to Copenhagen knowing nobody, and who then tried to make his way and find friends. Thumbelina questions her own beauty. Given that a fairy tale woman is represented primarily or uniquely through her beauty, she is in effect questioning her very existence. She needs others to accept her beauty and so to be part of a society - otherwise she is desolate. Although she feared the cockchafers, she seems to feel at least equally distraught by their rejection of her. Thumbelina's quest is ultimately to find a family, a society, and she is willing, at least initially, to consider all beings that she encounters. KO 29. The whole summer: The summer represents a brief respite in Thumbelina's trials, although she is alone throughout this time. She proves that she can take care of herself, living in an entirely natural world. Her associations with flowers are once again brought to the fore, as she eats their nectar, and drinks water from their leaves. All that she lacks to be truly happy is the right kind of companionship. This part of the story hints at the way in which her story will end, living among flowers with companions of her own size and appearance. KO 30. Tiny lived quite alone in the wide forest: She is therefore comparable to Hansel and Gretel, abandoned in the woods to die, and Snow White, left in the woods to find her own way. There are also certain similarities to the motif of the Celtic wildman and wildwoman - one major example is Merlin. In their stories, a life in the forest represents a break from society, and likewise from society's rules. This frequently includes a period of madness, intense grief, loss and indecision. KO 31. The long, cold winter: In this story, winter is a malevolent force, but it remains in the abstract, like all the seasons. In The Snow Queen, winter is equally malevolent, but it is given life in the figure of the Snow Queen herself. In Greek myth, it is also the absence of Demeter, goddess of plenty and fertility, as she seeks out her daughter Persephone. Thumbelina's desolation in winter therefore reinforces her links with Persephone, taken from her idyllic life into a cold and dark world. Cirlot describes how, "[i]n Bachelard's opinion ... cold corresponds symbolically to being in the situation of, or longing for, solitude or exaltation" (52). In Thumbelina's case, she is living alone, and this is represented by the cold of winter, which in itself intensifies her misery. KO 32. Near the wood in which she had been living lay a corn-field, but the corn had been cut a long time; nothing remained but the bare dry stubble standing up out of the frozen ground:
Andersen specifies that Thumbelina was born from a barleycorn seed, and so the bare cornfield could be significant. There are no more of her kind to be found, at least not here, and she will remain alone. Fairies could be found in cornfields: Katherine Briggs makes reference to Ralph of Coggeshall's thirteenth century story about a fairy named Malekin, who claimed to be a child stolen by fairies from the cornfield where her mother went to work. (A Dictionary of Fairies 280). KO 33. She came at last to the door of a field-mouse, who had a little den under the corn-stubble: The characterization of the field mouse is ambiguous. At first, she is kind and good, taking Thumbelina in to live with her. They form a bargain, whereby Thumbelina may earn her keep by cleaning the house; the mouse thus functions (initially) as a benevolent version of Cinderella's stepmother. There is a second problem for Thumbelina in this new relationship. The mouse, like the toads, lives underground, and Thumbelina will once again be deprived of her beloved sunshine and warmth by joining her. KO 34. Just like a little beggar-girl: Here, Thumbelina bears a certain resemblance to one of Andersen's most tragic heroines, the Little Match-Girl, who is cold and starving, and may not return home until she has earned some money. KO 35. If you could only have him for a husband: The mouse plays the part of the mother figure in Thumbelina's new life with her, and so she takes it upon herself to find Thumbelina a husband. Historically, it was not up to a woman to choose her own husband - her parents did this for her. Thumbelina risks losing her new family (the mouse) if she refuses to marry the mole - consider what happens to Shakespeare's Juliet when she refuses to marry Paris. Her father tells her that she may die if she does not do what he tells her. Thumbelina likewise could very well risk a return to her cold and hungry days, when Andersen called her a "little beggar-girl". KO 36. But he is blind, so you must tell him some of your prettiest stories: A fairytale heroine normally attracts her suitors with her beauty, but Thumbelina does not have that option here. She must use her voice, and so Andersen reinforces the idea of Thumbelina as a siren, using her voice to enchant males and to bind them to her. KO 37. He was a mole: The Franks write: "It is not hard to think of Simon Meisling, Ander sen’s headmaster at the school in Slagelse, who was a classical scholar and a minor poet. In a portrait from the time, he does look like a mole, and the description of Meisling by the Andersen biographer Cai M. Woel only reinforces the impression: 'below average height with a very round head.. . his mouth thin, his nose bulbous His body was plump with a protruding stomach, big flat feet and short arms... Something about the man’s appearance made you think about the underworld. His hands hardly ever touched water; they were so black that a quick glance would make you think he was wearing gloves. Only his finger tips were white; he licked them after every meal; or maybe it was because he pressed lemon into his punch every evening.' Meisling made life miserable for Andersen in many ways — above all, perhaps, because he was blind to Andersen’s talent. 'You’re a stupid boy who’ll never make it,' he told him" (76-7). HAH Cooper says "[a]s an underground dweller [the mole] is chthonic and represents the powers of darkness; it is also the misanthrope" (106). Of Thumbelina's three prospective husbands, this is potentially the most monstrous. KO 38. He always spoke slightingly of the sun and the pretty flowers: This makes it absolutely clear that Thumbelina cannot love him - the life that she is looking for needs the sun and the flowers. KO 39. The mole fell in love with her because she had such a sweet voice: Thumbelina is once again portrayed as a siren, a female figure whose voice attracts men to their deaths. If the mole has succumbed, this makes him her victim, which presents an interesting twist in the tale. Also see Note 11. KO 40. A long passage under the earth: The tunnel may be compared to the mythical underworld, and the story of Persephone is therefore invoked once again. We may also think of Eurydice, trapped away from all that she loved in life, but trying to return to it. It is representative of the living death awaiting Thumbelina if she marries the mole. She will not have even the chance to return that was offered to both Persephone and Eurydice. KO 41. A dead bird: Thumbelina again encounters a being that has the ability to fly, like the butterfly and the cockchafer. Like her, it has fallen into the darkness. She will die there too unless she can escape. KO 42. Phosphorescent wood:Armillaria niellea (Honey Fungus) is a common fungus that causes wood to become phosphorescent. Luminous bacteria also sometimes cause wood to glow. HAH 43. A dead swallow: The swallow represents hope, the coming of spring, and good fortune (Cooper 164). It is ironic that the bird is perceived as dead on its first appearance in the story, in light of its symbolic value (as above), and also because it becomes such a vital character in the story. Thumbelina would not have escaped, and thus would have not survived without it. As will be seen later, it also functions as a peculiar lifeline for Andersen as he portrays himself in the story, as it provides him with his stories. KO 44. I am thankful that none of my children will ever be birds: Given that Thumbelina has constantly been associated with birds, the mole's statement is also a repudiation of her being and her potential. KO 45. Still birds are very high bred: The mouse is very clearly a snob. She looks up to the mole because he is wealthy, and she recognises the bird's breeding. KO 46. The mole now stopped up the hole through which the daylight shone: Thumbelina loses all the ties to the life that she loves so much. With the bird's death, she loses the songs that she heard throughout the summer, and with the sealing of the hole, she loses the light that she relies upon. KO 47. He was not really dead, only benumbed with the cold, and the warmth had restored him to life: The Franks write: "Andersen himself had a real fear of being assumed dead and buried alive. Next to his bed he had a sign: 'I only appear to be dead.'" (77). HAH Is the warmth Thumbelina's kindness, or the heat of the blanket? I think that it is a combination of both. The bird here functions as a symbol of Thumbelina's fate if she remains below ground. Her heart will become benumbed with the cold, as she needs the light and warmth of the sun in order to survive. She will surely die if she remains with the mole. KO 48. Every evening the mole visited her, and was continually speaking of the time when the summer would be over. Then he would keep his wedding-day with Tiny: Summer is the time where Thumbelina is most alive, while winter means pain and suffering for her. It is no accident that her marriage, which will only exacerbate her distress, will take place at this time. KO 49. "Nonsense," replied the field-mouse. "Now don't be obstinate, or I shall bite you with my white teeth": Thumbelina is one of many women throughout history and in literature who are being forced into an arranged marriage with a wealthy suitor. KO 50. Deep under the earth, and never again to see the warm sun, because he did not like it: Thumbelina may now be seen as a version of the Proserpina figure from classical myth. She was taken from her mother by the King of the Underworld, and kept in Hades as his Queen. He did not allow her to return to the light and the warmth above ground that she craved. KO 51. 'Yes, I will go with you,' said Tiny; and she seated herself on the bird's back: Thumbelina is rescued from her marriage at the last minute by the swallow whom she earlier restored to full health. By rescuing him, it can be said that she ultimately rescues herself. The role of the swallow as rescuer strengthens the similarity between the tales of Thumbelina and Proserpina. The messenger god Hermes/Mercury comes for the latter, and he has wings on his heels to speed him on his way, and so he bears a certain resemblance to the swallow.KO 52. At last they came to a blue lake, and by the side of it, shaded by trees of the deepest green, stood a palace of dazzling white marble, built in the olden times: This is a very classical locus amoenus. It is paradise to Thumbelina. KO From Wikipedia: "Latin for 'pleasant place', locus amoenus is a literary term which generally refers to an idealized place of safety or comfort. A locus amoenus frequently is a pastoral place, with connotations of Eden. The term originates from Aristotle's discussion of the pastoral in "Poetics" (384 B.C.), but the concept is far older and is already found in Homer's works." HAH 53. "This is my house," said the swallow; "but it would not do for you to live there-you would not be comfortable": 54. Between these pieces grew the most beautiful large white flowers; so the swallow flew down with Tiny, and placed her on one of the broad leaves: This moment brings the story full circle. She was born in a flower, and now she returns to her native environment. KO 55. A tiny little man, as white and transparent as if he had been made of crystal!: Thumbelina finally meets someone very like herself. Step by step, she is finally coming home. KO 56. He had a gold crown on his head, and delicate wings at his shoulders, and was not much larger than Tiny herself: 57. The angel of the flower: Another winged creature enters Thumbelina's life, and, like the swallow, and to a lesser extent the butterfly, saves her. The use of the term 'angel' imputes to him divine origins and possibilities. Angels are "[m]essengers of God; intermediaries between God and man, heaven and this world; powers of the invisible world; enlightenment" (Cooper 12). The mention of angels makes it clearer still that Thumbelina is no longer in the ordinary world. KO 58. Oh, how beautiful he is!: Beauty and ugliness in fairy tales are often synonymous with the ideas of good and evil. Good characters, in particular the heroines and heroes, are beautiful. Beauty may also signify innate nobility, deserving of an elevated social position in the fairytale world. Thus unparalleled beauty sets the hero and heroine apart from the common man and woman. If a central character is ugly, it is usually either a temporary state of affairs, or a symbol of their evil nature. The prince is clearly Thumbelina's match because she finds him beautiful. The two mirror one another, in height and beauty, and are so destined to be together. As she looks into him, she looks into a mirror (arguably literally, for he is after all "transparent as if he had been made of crystal") and sees a reflection of her own beauty. It is a very different moment from that in which she expresses despair at her own ugliness, having been rejected by the cockchafer. Her other potential husbands have been ugly in her eyes, and she could never have loved them. 59. He took the gold crown from his head, and placed it on hers, and asked her name, and if she would be his wife, and queen over all the flowers: Thumbelina finds both love and an affirmed social position in one moment. Again, this is a common resolution to stories in the fairy tale genre. Women are married and raised to a superior position in society through their marriage. This is a particularly noticeable trend in the fairy tales whose heroine has a lowly social status, either from birth or as a result of having been stripped of her position and wealth at some point in her life. KO 60. A pair of beautiful wings, which had belonged to a large white fly: It is tempting to speculate that these wings came from the poor white butterfly that Thumbelina tied to her lily pad boat earlier in the tale. In receiving her wings, she becomes one of the angels herself. She was never really human, that was clear, and now she becomes divine. KO 61. Sing a wedding song: This is a singular occasion upon which Thumbelina does not sing, and, more importantly, is not coerced into singing. This time, the music is in celebration of her. The change of singer is representative of the change in Thumbelina's circumstances. She can sing, and will surely continue to do so, but on her own terms. The fact that the bird sings in celebration of the wedding also makes very clear the difference between this bridegroom, Thumbelina's perfect match, and the mole, who dismissed so brutally the very same bird who is here invited to sing. KO 62. We will call you Maia: What's in a name? Thumbelina's transformation into Maia signifies in the strongest possible terms that she is now truly herself. Her previous incarnation, as Thumbelina and/or Tiny, emphasised her difference in the human/animal worlds, in the mortal world, and she leaves all that behind. The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable states that Maia is, "in Greek mythology, the daughter of Atlas and mother of Hermes". Zeus, the ruler of Olympus and of all the gods, was father of Hermes. He saw Maia and immediately fell in love with her - this encounter is a parallel to that of Thumbelina and her King, who immediately falls in love with her. The month of May is named after her as well - it is no wonder that Thumbelina loved the spring and summer best. Her character is more easily understood if she is called Maia. In A.S. Byatt's Possession, the child of Christabel de la Motte and Randolph Henry Ash is christened Maia, a goddess described by the little girl's father as "a thief, an artist, and a psychopomp". The chance meeting between father and daughter takes place in the month of May, in a meadow, and he calls her a May Queen, and offers to make her a crown, "on a base of pliant twigs from the coppiced hedge, and wove in it green fronds and trails of all colours, ivy and ferns, silvery grasses and the starry leaves of bryony, the wild clematis. And he studded it with roses and honeysuckle and fringed it with belladonna" (510). Like Andersen's heroine, she is associated with flowers and plants. These Then he calls her a fairy's child, and Proserpina, as Thumbelina has been called in these annotations, and so she is very like to Thumbelina, who now shares her name. KO 63. "Farewell, farewell," said the swallow, with a heavy heart as he left the warm countries to fly back into Denmark. There he had a nest over the window of a house in which dwelt the writer of fairy tales. The swallow sang, "Tweet, tweet," and from his song came the whole story: The Franks write: "During his first trip to Italy, Andersen felt that he had come to life; he called the date of his arrival in Rome, October 18, 1833, his Roman birthday. His first novel, The Improvisatore, is set in Italy" (77). HAH According to Jackie Wullschlager, the north to south journey is "Andersen's own interpretation of his Italian journey" (163). CE In Signs and Symbols in Christian Art, the swallow was a Renaissance symbol of Christ's incarnation (Ferguson 25-6.) Because in Thumbelina, he acts as the link between the story and the storyteller, it could be said that he has adopted Christ's role as the intermediary between Man and God. Andersen, then, is the God of Thumbelina's fictional world. He is the creative force that brings that world into being. KO Special thanks to Kathleen O'Neill for most of the annotations for this tale. She just completed an MPhil in Medieval Studies, focusing on early medieval French and Celtic literature (with a particular emphasis on courtly tales). Prior to that she studied for an MSc in Information and Library Studies. O'Neills' annotations are designated by KO. Heidi Anne Heiner provided additional annotations designated with HAH. Christine Ethier provided additional annotations designated with CE. |
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Anne Heiner, SurLaLune Fairy Tales E-mail: heidi@surlalunefairytales.com Page created 1/2005; Last updated 8/2/2013 www.surlalunefairytales.com |
