When I was researching my first fairytale novel, Kingdom Come, I wanted a mix of traditional and untraditional princesses. I chose five: two traditional (Cinderella, Snow White), one known but not known as a fairytale princess (The Little Match Girl), and two untraditional. The untraditional choices were Penta, the Handless Princess; and Helga, The Marsh King’s Daughter.
Penta is an Italian fairytale. The tale starts with an incestuous desire, self-injury, and a treacherous fisherwoman. Penta doesn’t sound like someone to build a novel on. Not only that, Penta is the oldest and wisest of queens in Kingdom Come. Why did I choose her?
Let me say up front I’m not fond of the incestuous undertone (and struck it from my novel) and self-maiming aspect. I based my Penta on Grimm’s The Maiden Without Hands more than the traditional tale. In it, the Devil tricks a miller for his daughter, and she keeps her virtue by chopping off her hands. Again, not thrilled with the self-injury aspects, but I kept it.
Why Penta? She makes the decision to have her father remove her hands. She chooses to leave him to find another home. From the fairytale Penta, I had my Penta “travel” to a foreign land (you’ll have to read the book to find out where she went). And yet, she overcomes this trial and returns, stronger than ever. This was not only a princess I wanted to write about, but I could see the leadership in her humble demeanor. Penta remains one of my favorite characters to write about, and she’s been prominent in all the books of Kingdom Come series.
How about Helga?
Helga is based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Marsh King’s Daughter. Helga is cruel but beautiful during the day, and virtuous but a frog during the night. I liked the role reversal of the princess being the frog instead of a prince. She’s also a wild one, raised by Vikings, and skilled with a knife. She’s the darling adopted daughter of her Viking Chief father. It’s not hard to see her as a warrior princess. I knew putting together the story that I had to have one of the princesses have some battle skills. This role was suited to Helga.
A Christian theme dominates the end of the tale. Instead of having Helga be a kick-ass princess (done so many times before), I wanted to distinguish her somehow. Her belief system, then, is one where she would rather not fight. She’s not the barbarian, fight-first character so often portrayed, but the skilled general who knows the best battle is the one no one engages in. She’s more Aragorn than Red Sonja.
Read more about Helga and Penta in Kingdom Come: .