The Maiden and the Lindwyrm is a 19th century fairy tale from Denmark. The Lindwyrm appears throughout Germanic mythology. Lindwyrm is a primal dragon, or snake with a taste for human prey. This story's also known as King Lindwyrm or Bride and the Lindwyrm.
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A King and Queen rule a beautiful land, but are unhappy as they have no children to inherit the throne. Under cover of darkness the Queen journeys to a crone or wise woman in the forest to ask advice.
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By the light of the moon the crone plucks two roses from her garden, one red and one white. "Eat one or the other," she instructs as she gives them to the Queen, "but not both."
Gratefully the Queen hurries back to the palace. In her excitement she forgets the words of the wise woman, and eats both flowers. She soon becomes pregnant with twins. Because she ate both roses, the firstborn is a Lindwyrm, a primal snake dragon.
The second Prince is handsome, healthy, kind, ambitious and perfect in every way. When he grows up, the Prince sets out on a quest to find a wife, so he can become King and make her his Queen.
Prince Lindwyrm insists because he's first born, as eldest he should marry first. Suitable maidens are scarce. No one wants to marry a Lindwyrm.
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When a maiden comes to meet him and, seeing his sinuous form, refuses him as husband, he eats her. Thus there are few volunteers among the bachelorettes of the kingdom, and the Lindwyrm grows ever larger.
A local shepherd's daughter is clever. She knows the story of Prince Lindwyrm and dons every dress she has, seven in all. Then she bids goodbye to her father, who thinks he's seen the last of her.
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When she's admitted to the chambers of the Lindwyrm, the great snake looks her up and down.
"I cannot see you in that bulky attire. You must take off your dress."
"If I take off my dress," she says, "you must shed a skin."
The Lindwyrm agrees. Although surprised at the many dresses she wears, he sheds a skin for each dress she removes. When he sheds the seventh skin, he appears before her in his true form as a handsome Prince.
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And so the enchantment is broken. Prince Lindwyrm becomes King, with the shepherd's daughter as his Queen. Everyone cheers the event, even the second-born twin, who prefers questing to Kingship anyway. Peace and prosperity follow, and they all live happily ever after.
Notes:
In some versions of the tale, the Queen eats two onions, one peeled and one unpeeled, which can symbolize the layers of skin shed by the snake.
Roses and other flowers such as lotus, peony and lavender represent fertility and pregnancy. Snakes are also fertility symbols.
The number seven is one of the 'magic numbers' of the occult, the other being three.
A Lindwyrm can take its tail in its mouth and roll like a wheel to pursue its human prey. It relates to the ouroboros of alchemy.