The Story of the Queen of the Flowery Isles is a French

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 ...

from ''Cabinet des Fées''.

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University ...

included it in ''

The Grey Fairy Book ''The Langs' Fairy Books'' are a series of 25 collections of true and fictional stories for children published between 1889 and 1913 by Andrew Lang and his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne. The best known books of the series are the 12 collections ...

''.

Synopsis

A widowed queen of the Flowery Isles had two daughters. The older of them was so beautiful that her mother feared that the Queen of all the Isles would be jealous of her; this queen required all princesses, at the age of fifteen, to appear before her and give homage to her beauty as transcendent. When the older princess arrived, the talk of the court was such that the queen of all the islands feigned illness in order to avoid meeting her and sent her home. The mother obeyed and warned her daughter to stay inside for six months, to avoid the queen's magical powers. The daughter promised to obey, but as the time was drawing near, they prepared a feast to celebrate. The daughter asked permission to go to the nearby meadow, and got it, but as she was going towards the meadow, the earth opened up under her feet and swallowed her. The princess found herself in an unknown land and met a pretty little dog that led her to a lovely garden. It had water and fruit trees that would enable her to live. At nighttime, the dog pulled her to a cave with a bed. She lived there for half a year, until one evening, her dog seemed ill, and in the morning she went to look for him, and saw nothing but an old man hurrying away. Suddenly, a cloud wrapped around and carried her away, and when it cleared, she found herself back in her home kingdom, where she found that her mother had passed away due to depression. Her younger sister tried to insist that she was queen, but she would only consent to share the crown. She made a careful search for the dog throughout the land and offered to marry whoever brought it to her. An old man claimed he knew where the dog was, but the princess said she could not marry without the consent of the land, and the council refused it. The queen obeyed, but declared she would abdicate and travel the land until she found the dog. The next day, a great fleet arrived, and the Prince of the Emerald Isles appeared, telling her that he had been the dog, and then the old man, but now a benevolent

fairy A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...

had freed him. The queen married him.

Authorship

The original tale, titled ''La Reine de l'isle des fleurs'' ("The Queen of the Island of Flowers") was published without attribution of authorship in a volume of ''Le Cabinet des Fées'', a French compilation of literary fairy tales, first published in the

18th century The 18th century lasted from January 1, 1701 ( MDCCI) to December 31, 1800 ( MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions. During the century, slave trad ...

. The tale is often attributed to

Madame d'Aulnoy Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d'Aulnoy (1650/1651 – 14 January 1705), also known as Countess d'Aulnoy, was a French author known for her literary fairy tales. When she termed her works ''contes de fées'' (fairy tales), sh ...

. However, scholarly research points the authorship to Le

Chevalier de Mailly The courtesy title chevalier de Mailly is accorded in France to a younger brother of the marquis or the comte de Mailly in each generation. Though several have carried the designation, the celebrated Louis (or Jean), chevalier de Mailly (-?1724)— ...

, who published anonymously the book ''Les Illustres Fées''.Rodenburg, Carlijn. ''Enchanté. Les contes du chevalier de Mailly''. Master thesis. Leiden University: Faculty of Humanities. 2018. pp. 52-53

/ref>

References

{{Reflist

External links

''The Story of the Queen of the Flowery Isles''
French fairy tales, Queen of the Flowery Isles Flowery Isles Flowery Isles

Fictional Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, ...