In 2017, I finished writing a retelling of the Nordic folktale “King Lindworm”.

It has been a favourite of mine since the 6th grade, when it was (and still is I believe) a part of the school literature curriculum in Denmark. The reason I loved it so much, is because the roles were reverse compared to so many other fairytale tropes; in this one, the prince was in trouble and needed a village girl to save him and the kingdom. And it was bloody and full of gore, as old fairytales and folktales often were, before they were disney-fied and “bad things” were deamed unsuitable for children.

I have retold the story in “Crippled“, which is far less bloody, but deals with modern themes instead. And so, a young man in a wheelchair, must battle different types of dragons.

This is my abbriviation of the original tale:

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away, a king and his queen were without children.

The queen sought help from a witch, whom gave her a seed to plant in her garden, from which two roses would bloom, one red and one white.

“If you eat the red one, you will have a boy. If you eat the white one, you will have a girl. But do not eat them both, or the consequenses will be dire, not only for you, but for the entire kingdom.”

The queen thanked the witch and planted the seed in her garden, but when the roses were in bloom, her desire for children got the better of her, and she did not heed the witch’s advice. For how could a village witch possible be wiser than a queen? So the queen ate both roses in the hopes of having twins.

The time came, for the queen to give birth and to the horror of all maidens present in her chambers, the first child to be born, was not a child at all, but a hidious lindworm. 

“Kill it!”, the midwife said, as it slithered away from her, and all the maidens set to stomp it with their feet, but it slipped away and disappeared out the window and fell into the forest below. “Just as well”, the midwife said, “it will die in the woods.”

The queen shortly after gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, and the midwife told the maidens never to speak of the lindworm, that had been born first and thus, the boy grew up as the only prince in the kingdom and when he was a young man and time came for him to marry, his mother sent him on a quest to the neighboring kingdom to the East, to search for a princess bride.

But on his way east , he found the road blocked by an enormous lindworm.

“Hello little brother,” the lindworm hissed. “Go back and tell the king and queen, that I, their first born, must have a bride before you.”

And thus, the prince returned to the castle and told his parents of his encounter. The queen fell to the floor, crying in shame and confession, as she had indeed given birth to the monstrous lindworm. The king decreed, that tradition must be upheld and for the first born to be married before his brother and thus sent for a princess from the kingdom in the East to come and marry his “son“.

The princess did not meet her husbond until the wedding night, and the next morning, when the maidens came to see to the newlyweds, they found the chambers covered in blood, the furniture broken and the lindworm fat and alone.

Thinking that they had satisfied the lindworm’s request, the prince sat out again, this time to the neighboring kingdom to the West, in search of a princess bride.

But on his way west , he found the road blocked by the enormous lindworm.

“Hello little brother,” the lindworm hissed. “Go back and tell the king and queen, that I, their first born, must have a bride before you.”

The prince returned to the castle and told his parents of the lindworms demands and the king sent for a princess from the kingdom in the West to come and marry his “son“.

The princess did not meet her husbond until the wedding night, and the next morning, when the maidens came to see to the newly weds, they found the chambers covered in blood, the furniture broken and the lindworm fat and alone.

Thinking that they had satisfied the lindworm’s request, the prince sat out again, this time to the neighboring kingdom to the South, in search of a princess bride.

But on his way west , he found the road blocked by the enormous lindworm.

“Hello little brother,” the lindworm hissed. “Go back and tell the king and queen, that I, their first born, must have a bride before you.”

With the lindworm haven eaten two princesses already, the king refused to send for another, as he was now at war at both Eastern and Western borders and could not afford to be at war with the South and possibly the North as well.

So the queen suggested, that they married village girls to the lindworm instead, since surely there were plenty of those and they would not be missed. And so, the lindworm was kept satisfied by a succession of brides, none of whom, were ever seen alive again.

But one day, a new village girl was chosen, and she went to the forest, crying in despair, for she was to be sacrifised to the lindworm. A witch heard her cries and comforted her, telling her how to survive.

And thus, on her wedding night, as the village girl entered the chambers, she found the lindworm waiting for her.

“Maiden,” he hissed, “take of your skirt.”

“I shall, dear husbond”, she said. “If you shed your skin.”

And so, the lindworm slithered and writhed out of his skin and the village girl removed a skirt. But underneath it, she wore another.

“Maiden,” the lindworm hissed, “take of your skirt.”

“I shall, dear husbond”, she said. “If you shed your skin.”

And so, the lindworm slithered and writhed out of his skin and the village girl removed a skirt. But underneath it, she wore another.

Nine times, the lindworm told her to remove her skirts and nine times, the village girl told him to shed his skin and in the end, when she was finally naked before him, the lindworm was bloody and weak on the floor.

She then took out a small branch of birch tree and whipped him and beat it, until it could no longer move and was lifeless before her. She bathed it in milk and honey and carried it to the bed, where she fell asleep embracing it in her arms.

The next morning the maids, fearing the blood and gore, which was always found after the lindworm’s wedding nights, entered the chambers to find find a new horror before them.

Nine skins were bloody on the floor and nine skirts were among them. But in the bed, under the covers, where a beautiful prince asleep, naked and peaceful in the loving embrace of his bride.