The story of the beautiful young woman with long golden hair who finally reunites with her true love after a period of trials and tribulations is a familiar one to children and lovers of fairy tales. The first literary traces of the tale come from Giambattista Basile’s “Petrosinella” in 1634 and later in Charlotte Rose de Caumont de la Force‘s story of “Persinette” in 1697. In the 1800s the German scholars, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, printed several versions known as “Rapunzel.”
However, the origin of the tale appears to go back as far as the early years of Christianity in 3rd Century Asia Minor. It was there that the legend of Saint Barbara was born.
The Legend of Saint Barbara
According to the story, a wealthy pagan merchant named Dioscorus, who lived near Nicomedia, now Izmit in present day Turkey, had an extremely beautiful daughter, Barbara. Fearful that she might marry an unworthy suitor, the man locked her in a tower away from the outside world.
While Dioscorus was away on an extended business trip, Barbara contemplated the teachings of Christ and decided to become a Christian rather than follow her family’s heathen gods. When the father returned and heard of this, he was enraged and took her before the Roman pro-consul Martianus. The judge ordered that the girl be tortured until she denounced her beliefs.
When Barbara refused to recant, Martianus ordered her to be beheaded -- a task that was carried out by Dioscorus himself. After performing the act, he was struck by lightning and consumed by fire. Still revered by the Eastern Orthodox Church, St. Barbara is now the patron saint of firefighters, artillerymen and anyone who is in danger of sudden death.
Giambattista Basile and Petrosinella
In 1634 Italian folklorist Giambattista Basile’s collection of fairy tales was published in Pentamerone. Among these stories was “Petrosinella” (Little Parsley), the tale of a young maiden held captive in a tower by an ogress.
“Petrosinella” contains many of the elements of today’s Rapunzel -- the mother forced to give up her daughter, the maiden with the long hair, and the handsome prince. The main difference is that the maiden and the Prince suffer little after escaping when the ogress is devoured by a wolf.
Charlotte Rose de Caumont de la Force and Persinette
Sixty years after Basile‘s work, Mademoiselle de la Force used the Italian’s story as the basis for “Persinette” (also translated as Little Parsley) in her Les Contes des contes or Tales of Tales, published in 1697. However, in her version the French aristocrat and writer did introduce a few changes.
A fairy, not an ogress, raises the girl after taking her from her mother. In addition the story is given a more adult slant when the fairy punishes Persinette and her Prince after discovering that the young woman is pregnant with twins. The result is that the young couple are tormented more than in Basile's version and it's the guardian-sprite‘s sudden forgiveness, not her death, that finally frees them.
The Brothers Grimm and Rapunzel
In the late1700s “Persinette” was translated into German by Friedrich Schulz and is identical to La Force’s tale except for the fairy being portrayed more as a “disappointed” foster mother than vengeful harridan and changing the heroine’s name to Rapunzel (a type of lettuce).
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm wrongly believed that “Rapunzel” was part of oral tradition, but it is really La Force’s story and the Schulz translation that the brothers popularized. Their first version in 1812 almost completely follows the earlier plots, including the young woman’s pregnancy and children. The only major difference is that the fate of the fairy (in later editions, a sorceress) is left unknown.
The two literary brothers had originally believed that their folk tales would only be of interest to scholars, but realized after only a few years that they had a larger readership among children and parents. Because of this audience, in later versions they made the sexual references in Rapunzel more ambiguous and by the last edition (1857) had eliminated them altogether, creating instead a chaste young woman (although the two children magically appear at the end).
It is this 1857 tale which is best known today. A comparison of it and the original 1812 version can be found here.
The Transition of Rapunzel
The tales of Rapunzel, beginning with Saint Barbara and continuing to the early Grimm Brothers’ version, are actually about a young woman whose life is utterly controlled by selfish adults until she disobeys and chooses her own fate. That is a long way from today’s children version of a passive “princess” waiting for her “prince” to come.
Related Article: Rapunzel Stories in Modern Literature
John K. Davis - John is a retired teacher/librarian and has also been doing freelance writing since the late 1970s. Over this period of time, he has had ...
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