The Yellow Dwarf () is a French

literary fairy tale A literary fairy tale is a fairy tale that differs from an oral folktale in that it is written by "a single identifiable author", as defined by Jens Tismar's monograph. They also differ from oral folk tales, which can be characterized as "simple ...

Madame d'Aulnoy Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d'Aulnoy (September 1652 – 14 January 1705), also known as Countess d'Aulnoy, was a French author known for her literary fairy tales. Her 1697 collection ''Les Contes des Fées'' (Fairy Tales) ...

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a folkloristics, collector of folklore, folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectur ...

included it in ''

The Blue Fairy Book ''The Langs' Fairy Books'' are a series of 25 collections of true and fictional stories for children published between 1889 and 1913 by Andrew Lang and Leonora Blanche Alleyne, a married couple. The best known books of the series are the 12 ...

''.

Synopsis

A widowed queen spoiled her only daughter, who was so beautiful that kings vied for the honor of her hand, not believing they could attain it. Uneasy that her daughter would never marry, the queen went to visit the

Fairy A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

of the Desert for advice. She made a cake to protect herself from the lions that guarded the fairy, but she lost it. A yellow

dwarf Dwarf, dwarfs or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a supernatural being from Germanic folklore * Dwarf, a human or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a sh ...

offered to save her in return for her daughter's hand. She accepted, but when the dwarf showed the miserable home in which her daughter would live, she grew quite ill. Her daughter, distressed, went to seek the same fairy. The dwarf told her what her mother had promised, and when she was ready to reject it, the lions arrived. She agreed if he would save her. Back at the castle, she fell quite ill and agreed to marry the King of the Gold Mines. However, at the wedding, the Fairy of the Desert and the Yellow Dwarf interrupted. The dwarf carried off the princess, and the fairy fell in love with the king and carried him off. She chained him in a cave and turned herself into a beautiful woman, but her feet being unchanged, the king was able to tell who she was. He told her that he would hate the fairy as long as she kept him chained up, but would love her if she freed him. The Fairy of the Desert freed him and brought him to her castle, carrying him by the castle where the princess lived; she saw them and became convinced that the king was unfaithful to her. The king was kept more pleasantly, but was unable to escape. He lamented his fate along the sea, and a

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...

left enchanted sea rushes behind to look like his body and freed him. She gave him a sword to fight his way to the princess. The fairy was entirely deceived by the sea rushes and did not pursue him. The king fought his way through

sphinx A sphinx ( ; , ; or sphinges ) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. In Culture of Greece, Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, th ...

es and

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

s to find his path blocked by maidens with garlands of flowers; he still pressed on, tearing apart their garlands, and reached the princess. He persuaded her of his fidelity, but the Yellow Dwarf found them and killed him. The princess died of grief. The mermaid was only able to change their bodies to two palm trees.

Legacy

The tale was one of many from d'Aulnoy's pen to be adapted to the stage by

James Planché James Robinson Planché (27 February 1796 – 30 May 1880) was a British dramatist, antiquary and officer of arms. Over a period of approximately 60 years he wrote, adapted, or collaborated on 176 plays in a wide range of genres including ...

, as part of his ''Fairy Extravaganza''. He used it as a basis for his work ''The Yellow Dwarf, and The King of the Gold Mines''.

Walter Sholto Douglas Walter Sholto Douglas (1790–1830), born under the name Mary Diana Dods, was a Scottish writer of books, stories and other works. Despite being assigned a female identity, Douglas lived as a man in his private, public, and work life. Most of hi ...

wrote a version of the story for his book ''Tales of the Wild and the Wonderful'' (1825).

References

External links

''The Yellow Dwarf''
(archived)

Andrew Lang's version * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yellow Dwarf, The Works by Madame d'Aulnoy Fictional dwarves Fairy tales about dwarves Fairy tales about mermaids Dragons in fairy tales Novels about kidnapping Fiction about regicide