8. The Turnip Princess
a fairy tale, a book, and a podcast
Hi All,
I am happy to share that I was recently a guest on a Podcast where we discussed the titular fairy tale from the above book. The book is a collection of tales gathered by Franz Xavier Von Schonwerth in 1850’s Bavaria.
Von Schonwerth was a contemporary and peer to the well-known Brothers Grimm, but unlike the Brothers, he seems to have left his tales “as is” (no happy embellishments here). As such, their raw symbolism shines through clearly, providing a very dream-like quality that (as with all dreams) may baffle at first, but, with the right perspective, can shine a bright light on the inner psychic processes. It is no surprise to me that psychologists would later turn to such tales for clues and hints in their explorations.
And let me just say briefly that I also think it is no coincidence that the discipline of psychology itself sprang up among the central European descendants of these same tale tellers. There is an ancestral wisdom at work, a recurrence of things once understood in-the-bones but now lost, that our society, in its post-Enlightenment blindness, may have failed to notice.
Nevertheless, it is there to teach us, if we have ears to listen.
Or at least, I find it to be so.
This particular tale, “The Turnip Princess,” says a lot to me about the nature of a fractured psyche and and its repair through the reclamation of trauma. But I won’t explain anything beyond that here; for that you’ll have to go to the full podcast.
First though, I want to present the story to you “as is.” After that, there are videos and links to various Podcast platforms. The first episode is a review of the story and our initial unpacking of it, while the second is a deeper dive into aspects of the tale that revealed themselves to me after the first recording.
I hope that in my offering of the tale, and in our examination of it, at least a little bit of breath can be given back to the original spirit of the story.
May we all listen to the bear and “just pull on the nail.”
The Turnip Princess
One day a prince lost his way in the woods.
He found shelter in a cave and slept there for the night. When he woke up, an old woman was hovering over him. She had a bear by her side and treated it like a pet dog. The old woman was very kind to the prince. She wanted him to live with her and become her husband. The prince did not like her at all, but he was unable to leave.
One day the prince and the bear were alone together in the cave, and the bear said to him: "If you pull that rusty old nail out of the wall, I will be set free. Then take the nail and put it under a turnip out in the meadow. Your reward will be a beautiful wife." The prince yanked the nail so hard that the entire cave began to tremble. There was a sudden clap of thunder, and the nail popped out of the wall. The bear rose up on its hind legs and turned into a man. He had a long beard and on his head there was a crown.
"And now I am going to find the beautiful maiden," the prince shouted after him, and he ran out the door. Nearby he discovered a field of turnips and was just about to put the nail under one of the vegetables when, out of nowhere, a monster appeared. The nail flew out of the prince's hand, and he braced himself on a hedge. Thorns pierced his hands, and his fingers were bleeding so badly that he fainted.
When the prince came to, he found himself in an entirely different new place. Touching his chin, he discovered that he had grown a blond beard. That's how he knew that he must have slept for quite a while. He stood up, crossed the meadow, and passed through the woods, all the while searching for a place where turnips might be growing. But he searched in vain and found nothing.
Some time passed, and one evening he decided to lie down on a grassy knoll near a shrub. The shrub was a blackthorn bush in full bloom, and one branch of it had a red blossom on it. The prince snapped off the branch. He found a big white turnip growing in the fields right next to him, and he stuck the branch with the red flower into the turnip and fell fast asleep.
When the prince awoke the next morning, the turnip had turned into a gigantic bowl, and the nail was lying right in the center of it. The interior walls of the turnip bowl looked just like a nutshell, with the imprint of the nut still on it. He looked carefully at the imprint and saw little feet, tiny hands, fine hair, and then the entire body of a wondrously beautiful maiden.
The prince left to search for the cave in the woods, and he had no trouble finding it. It had been abandoned. The rusty nail was lying on the ground. He picked it up and hammered it back into the wall. Suddenly the old woman and the bear reappeared. "Tell me now, and don't try to deny that you have the answer!" the prince shouted at the old woman. "What did you do with the beautiful maiden?"
The old woman just giggled: "I'm here right now. Why do you keep rejecting me?"
The bear nodded in agreement and looked at the nail in the wall. The prince said to him: "At least you are honest. But I won't be fooled by the old woman a second time."
"Just pull on the nail," the bear growled.
The prince tugged at the nail and managed to get it halfway out. He turned around and saw that the bear was partly human and the disgusting old woman was half-ugly and half-beautiful. He pulled the nail all the way out. Lo and behold, man and maiden stood there, completely unharmed. He flew into the arms of the beautiful woman, for the spell had been lifted. The two of them took the rusty old nail and destroyed it.
The prince and his bride had no trouble finding their way back to the castle. The king was elated to see his son again and to meet his beautiful bride. The jubilant wedding guests held a feast for the couple, and the two lived a long, happy life.
Fun story, eh?
Below are the two podcast episodes where I unpack the tale’s underlying dream-logic. If you prefer talking heads, I’ve got links to YouTube, or, if you prefer a podcast app for listening (while driving, cleaning, exercising, or anything else), links for each on Spotify and Apple podcasts are included as well.
First though, I have a request. I would love to hear from you what you think of the tale, both what you thought upon first reading it, and then what your take on it is after hearing our take on it. I’ve been hoping to get some discussions going here, and I would love to dive deeper into this one with you all.
Episode 1:
Episode 1: Apple Podcasts
Episode 1: Spotify
Episode 2:
Episode 2: Apple Podcasts
Episode 2: Spotify
As always, your presence here and your engagement with my work is much appreciated. Should you feel inclined to offer financial support, that is also be much appreciated, and you can do so here (with my thanks to those who already have):
Wishing you all the best with your own nails and turnips.
Until next time,
Ian Reclusado