The Rapunzel Story, Origins and Versions

Let Your Hair Down, or Who Invented the Fairy Tale?

Oct 22, 2009
Lito Apostolakou

Story of Rapunzel - L. Apostolakou

The origin of the Brothers Grimm classic fairy tale is traced back to the 15th century and has been altered for the benefit of children audiences.

Who invented the original Rapunzel fairy tale? Maria Tatar's Annotated Brothers Grimm provides a concise account of the origin and versions of the Rapunzel story. As she comments, "the story of Rapunzel seems rooted in a more general cultural tendency to lock daughters up and protect them from roving men like the prince in Rapunzel". Only this fair daughter would at the call of "let your hair down" readily let the eager prince climb up.

Origin of the Rapunzel Story

The Rapunzel story is thought to have been based on the legend of Saint Barbara which is related in Christine de Pizan's The Book of the City of Ladies in the 15th century. Rapunzel's first literary version of "The Maiden in the Tower" appeared in Basile's Pentameron in 1637 and in contrast to the Grimm's version it was a lighthearted, humourous even bawdy story.

Published by the Grimms in their Children's and Household Tales in 1812, the Rapunzel story was predated by a literary version of Friedrich Schulz. The latter was in turn influenced by the 17thC fairy tale of Charlotte-Rose Caumont de La Force, "The Godchild of the Fairy in the Tower". The story of Rapunzel was passed down from generation to generation and "let your hair down" became a well-known quote.

Versions of the Rapunzel Story

The Brothers Grimm are known for altering their fairy tales for the sake of children audiences obliterating any references to pregnancy and premarital sex. The Rapunzel story is no exception. According to Tatar's Annotated Grimms there are different versions to the Grimms' Rapunzel story both in the development of the plot and the characters of the story:

Rapunzel is Persinette in the French version and invites the prince up the tower so she can make love to him. When her pet parrot threatens to tell her secret, she sews up his rear end. Persinette's nose is turned into an ass nose by the evil fairy but eventually restored to its former beauty.
Rapunzel is Petrosinella in the Italian version. She and the prince do not seek each other for years as in the Grimms story. Instead they escape the ogress and use magic acorns to defeat her.
The enchantress who keeps Rapunzel in the tower was initially a fairy in the Grimms original story. In the French and Italian versions, she is a fairy, a witch or an ogress.
In the first version of the Rapunzel story of the Grimms' Children Stories, Rapunzel wonders why her clothes are getting tight alluding that her daily meetings with the prince in the tower have resulted to pregnancy. This was deemed inappropriate for children and was removed from the later version. Similarly, Rapunzel is referred to as the "wife" of the prince to rule out any suspicion that her twins were born out of wedlock.

To the question who invented the fairy tale of Rapunzel the answer would be that the Rapunzel story is, as Tatar notes, "a composite form, drawing elements from different cultures and milieu".