Bearskin (french: Peau d'Ourse, link=no) is a French literary

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

by Marie-Madeleine de Lubert. It was included in her revised edition, published in 1753, of

Henriette-Julie de Murat Henriette-Julie de Murat (1668 in Paris – 9 September 1716 in Château de la Buzardière) was an aristocratic French writer of the late 17th century. Life She most likely spent most of her childhood in Paris. In 1691 she married Nicholas de Mu ...

's last novel, ''Les Lutins du château de Kernosy'' (The Sprites of Kernosy Castle, 1710), which is why it is often attributed to Madame

Synopsis

A king and queen had lost all their children except a daughter, whom they were in no hurry to marry off. The king of the

ogre An ogre ( feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the wor ...

s, Rhinoceros, heard of her and decided to marry her; when he threatened the kingdom with his ogres, the king decided he had no choice. When she was told of the ogre's threat, the princess agreed and set out with a companion, Corianda, with whom she was close. Corianda had tried to get the princess'

fairy godmother In fairy tales, a fairy godmother () is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies. In Perrault's ''Cinderella'', he concludes the tale with ...

to help, but she had refused because the king had not consulted her. Rhinoceros met them in his rhinoceros form. The princess fainted. Rhinoceros carried them both to his castle, and turned to his own form, which was as ugly. The princess' distress annoyed him, and he left to hunt bears. Corianda suggested that the princess hide in a bearskin, and sewed her into one, but that act turned her into a she-bear. They thought her fairy godmother was responsible. In that form, Corianda let her out to run away and told the ogre that he had eaten her in his rage. The ogre set out to search, but her fairy godmother had led her to a boat in which she escaped to another kingdom. The king of that kingdom found her (in her form as a she-bear) while hunting and her gentle behavior persuaded him to take her captive rather than kill her. She fell in love with him, but her ugliness made her despair. Her fairy godmother, in the form of a fish, bade her wait, and at midnight, turned her back into a princess. Then she warned her that she had to put back on the bearskin every morning, though she could take it off at night, which the princess obeyed. The king, meanwhile, had come to the conclusion that he had fallen in love with the bear, which shocked him. One day, he was in her presence when she turned back to a princess. Her fairy godmother told him to go and arrange a wedding. He did so. The bear came, and was turned into a princess before the court. They married and in two years had two young sons. The ogre heard of their wedding and set out with his

seven-league boots Seven-league boots are an element in European folklore. The boots allow the person wearing them to take strides of seven leagues per step, resulting in great speed. The boots are often presented by a magical character to the protagonist to aid i ...

. In the kingdom, he disguised himself and offered to give golden distaffs and silver spindles to the nurses and governesses of the young princes if he could spend a night in the babies' chamber. When they agreed, he cut the babies' throats with the queen's knife and went off to disguise himself as an astrologer. In that form, he assured the king that the murderer lived in the castle. The bloody knife was found and the queen condemned to death. The queen lamented her fate but was glad to die having lost her husband's love. The king was moved by this and could not bring himself to have her die, but was unable to speak loudly enough to stop the servants. Her fairy godmother appeared by the stake with the two princes and Corianda to reveal the ogre as the killer and restore the princes to their parents.

Commentary

According to French researcher Blandine Gonssollin, the tale follows a similar structure of other literary works of the period, like Perrault's ''

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...

'': the marriage of the princess with the king does not end the tale. Instead, it continues with a second part with the villain (the ogre) threatening the happy couple. She also remarked that the title harks back to Perrault's ''Peau d'Âne'' and the monstrous lovers of Madame d'Aulnoy's fairy tales. In the same vein, professor Peter Damian-Grint states that ''Peau d'Ours'' is "a clever variation" by Madame de Lubert of the theme of "

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' ( ...

" (''La Belle et la Bête''). The heroine of this story makes use of a fairy tale motif, the use of

shapeshifting In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, Magic (paranormal), sorcery, Incantation, ...

to escape.Catherine Orenstein, ''Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale'', p 176, This is also found in

Giambattista Basile Giambattista Basile (February 1566 – February 1632) was an Italian poet, courtier, and fairy tale collector. His collections include the oldest recorded forms of many well-known (and more obscure) European fairy tales. He is chiefly remembere ...

's ''

The She-Bear "The She-bear" is an Italian literary fairy tale, written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the ''Pentamerone''. Ruth Manning-Sanders included it in ''A Book of Princes and Princesses''. It is Aarne-Thompson classification system folktal ...

'', a narrative this French fairy tale "plays upon".Do Rozario, Rebecca-Anne C.
Fashion in the Fairy Tale Tradition: What Cinderella Wore
'. Palgrave Macmillan. 2018. p. 109. The heroine's story of being found in the woods by the hero while living like a wild thing is common to many more tales, such as '' The Bear'', ''

Allerleirauh "Allerleirauh" ( en, "All-Kinds-of-Fur", sometimes translated as "Thousandfurs") is a fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm. Since the second edition published in 1819, it has been recorded as Tale no. 65. Andrew Lang included it in ''The Gree ...

'', '' The Princess That Wore A Rabbit-Skin Dress'', and ''

Mary's Child "Mary's Child" (also "Our Lady's Child", "A Child of Saint Mary" or "The Virgin Mary's Child"; German: ''Marienkind'') is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in '' Grimm's Fairy Tales'' in 1812 (KHM 3). It is of Aarne-Thompson type ...

''. The slandered mother also appears in many tales, such as ''

'', ''

The Twelve Wild Ducks "The Twelve Wild Ducks" (Norwegian: ''De tolv villender'') is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in ''Norske Folkeeventyr''. It is Aarne–Thompson type 451, the brothers who were turned into birds. P ...

'', ''

The Lassie and Her Godmother The Lassie and Her Godmother (Norwegian: "Jomfru Maria som gudmor"; Virgin Mary as godmother) is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in ''Norske Folkeeventyr''. The Brothers Grimm noted its similarity to ...

'', and ''

The Six Swans "The Six Swans" (German: ''Die sechs Schwäne'') is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' in 1812 (KHM 49). It is of Aarne–Thompson type 451 ("The Maiden Who Seeks Her Brothers"), commonly found throug ...

''. In ''

The Girl Without Hands "The Girl Without Hands" or "The helpless Maiden" or "The Armless Maiden" (german: Das Mädchen ohne Hände) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. It is tale number 31 and was first published in the 1812 edition of ''Children' ...

'', the slanderer's motive is much as in this one: a (male) villain was angered by losing the heroine.

References

External links

''Peau d'Ours'' (pp. 249-279)
at

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(in French) {{Portal , Children's literature French fairy tales