Gerda goes on a quest as epic as that of any Arthurian knight, in order to rescue Kay from the power of the Snow Queen. Surely the masterpiece of girl-rescues-boy stories. Time to move on…įemale Rescues Male The Swan Princes by Anne Anderson Already, things are becoming more complex. But first he is rescued by a girl, the China Rose of the title. The Pink aka China Rose. In this variation, a boy rescues his mother from the machinations of an evil servant.But he also frees her brother, whom the Enchanter has turned into a goat, and they become a Harry Potter-style threesome. In this, one of my favourite Grimm’s tales, the Tailor does indeed free a girl from a glass coffin and from the Enchanter who put her there. The Glass Coffin. This is where it starts to diverge.(So, a bit like Old Norse Total Wipeout…) The archetypal youngest brother bests his brothers (and everyone else) to rescue a Princess who for some reason is doomed to sit on top of a glass hill. From the Nordic collection East of the Sun and West of the Moon. Jorinde rescues his sweetheart Joringel from a Witch, who has transformed her into a bird. Jorinde and Joringel. A tale from the Brothers Grimm’s collection.In fact, you could argue that Snow White is rescued by male figures twice: firstly by the Dwarves and secondly by the Prince who wakes her from the glass coffin. The Prince comes at the right time to find the hidden castle and wake the Princess from her hundred-year sleep. Sleeping Beauty. A classic example of this kind.Let’s take a look at some different examples of “Who Rescues Who?” Male Rescues Female credit: Disney But there are also tales in which females rescue males, males rescue males, females rescue females… It’s pretty diverse is what I’m trying to say. Not that the scenario mentioned in the first sentence never happens. If someone tries to tell you that fairy tales are all about helpless females being rescued by princes with big swords (and/or great kissing lips) then you can tell them to think again.

The wild swans fairy tale