Grimms' Fairy Tales LILY AND THE LION Summary

Summary

A merchant with three daughters sets out and asks what each wants; the youngest, Lily, asks only for a rose. In winter he finds a magical garden split between summer and winter, takes a rose, and is confronted by a fierce lion who demands whatever meets him first on the merchant’s return. The merchant reluctantly agrees; the thing that meets him is Lily. She goes to the lion willingly, calms him, and discovers he is an enchanted prince who is a lion by day and human by night. They marry and live together; he appears as a man only in the evenings and wanders away each morning.

When Lily attends her sisters’ weddings, the prince first allows her to go led by his court of lions. At the second wedding he warns that torchlight must not fall on him or his enchantment will worsen; despite precautions a stray ray strikes him and he becomes a white dove who must fly the earth for seven years, promising to drop a white feather now and then to mark his path. Lily follows the feathers without rest. When a feather is lost she seeks help from the sun, moon, and night-wind, who give her a casket, an egg, and counsel. The south wind reveals the prince fights a dragon at the Red Sea; the night-wind provides a plan (break the eleventh rod, use a griffin and a nut-tree) and a nut to help the griffin rest. Lily frees the prince from the dragon but the freed enchanted princess seizes him and flees to her own castle. Lily perseveres, uses the sun-gifted golden dress and the moon-given golden brood to gain access to the prince’s chamber, and finally wakes the prince from a spell. They escape on the griffin, use the nut to create a resting-tree, cross the sea, recover their child, and live happily ever after.

Key events

1. Merchant steals a rose from a castle garden and promises the lion whatever meets him first.
2. Lily greets her father and goes to the lion, who is an enchanted prince by night; they marry.
3. At a wedding a torch's ray turns the prince into a dove; he must fly seven years and drops feathers.
4. Lily follows feathers, loses one, asks sun, moon, and winds for help and receives gifts and counsel.
5. She frees the prince from a dragon at the Red Sea but loses him to an enchanted princess.
6. Using the sun's dress and moon's golden brood she wins private audience and awakens the prince.
7. They escape on the griffin, use the nut to form a resting tree, and return home to their child.

Analysis

This tale combines motifs of promise, loyalty, quest, and transformation to explore constancy and the trials of true love. Structurally it moves from a compact opening bargain to a long episodic quest, shifting settings from home to enchanted castle to world-wide travel and a final rescue at the Red Sea. Lily’s character is defined by dutiful obedience (keeping her father’s bargain) and relentless fidelity: she willingly faces the lion and later undertakes a seven-year search without respite. The prince’s dual nature (lion by day, man by night; later dove) stages enchantment as both physical transformation and imposed absence, creating the narrative engine for Lily’s pursuit.

Symbolically the rose initiates the binding promise; the white feather functions as a breadcrumb that both guides and accentuates fragility of hope. Gifts from the sun, moon, and winds (a casket, an egg, counsel and a nut) are classical folktale helpers — tests of resourcefulness and patience — and the golden brood and dress operate as ransom-tokens that invert transactional economies: Lily must trade wondrous gifts for access to truth. The narrative uses repetition (weddings, failed retrievals, nightly transformations) to build tension and to foreground the heroine's perseverance. The tale’s moral universe privileges steadfastness and cleverness over brute force; Lily’s emotional constancy and her willingness to use the magical aids she receives ultimately restore order and reunite family, fulfilling a folkloric promise of restitution after trial.

Important quotes

“Whoever has stolen my roses shall be eaten up alive!”

A fierce lionThe lion confronts the merchant after a rose is taken and forces the merchant to promise whatever meets him first.

“Seven years must I fly up and down over the face of the earth, but every now and then I will let fall a white feather, that will show you the way I am going; follow it, and at last you may overtake and set me free.”

The enchanted prince (as a white dove)The dove explains the terms of his sentence and gives Lily the means (fleeting feathers) to pursue him.

“I have followed thee seven years. I have been to the sun, the moon, and the night-wind, to seek thee, and at last I have helped thee to overcome the dragon. Wilt thou then forget me quite?”

LilyLily pleads with the prince in his chamber to remind him of her fidelity and the sacrifices she has made.

Characters in LILY AND THE LION

• Lily
• A merchant
• The eldest daughter
• The second daughter
• The servant
• A fierce lion
• The enchanted prince
• The dragon
• The enchanted princess
• The sun
• The moon
• The night-wind
• The east wind
• The west wind
• The south wind
• A griffin
• The chamberlain
• The child