Psychology Of The Girl Without Hands

Below are some spontaneous thoughts on the Grimm version of the fairy tale, The Girl Without Hands. I’m finding the tale very therapeutic right now. This is not a definitive analysis. I’m approaching the text like a dream and my reactions are dream-like, alternating between treating this tale as parts of my psyche, or even parts within a part of my psyche. Marie Louise Von Franz suggested we might also read these tales as a description of the collective concerns of a culture. Like dreams, fairy tales can be filled with paradox and contradiction, just like our inner life.

Psychology of The Girl Without Hands – Part 3

Click here to read part one or two.

After a year the king had to go out into the battlefield. He left the young queen in the care of his mother, saying, “If she has a child, support her and take good care of her, and immediately send me the news in a letter.”

The Queen gave birth to a beautiful son. The old mother quickly wrote this in a letter, giving the joyful news to the king.

Now on the way the messenger stopped at a brook to rest. Tired from his long journey, he fell asleep. Then the devil came to him and exchanged letters. The new letter said that the Queen had given birth to a monstrous child, half human and half troll. When the king read this letter he was frightened and saddened, but he wrote back that his mother should take good care of the queen and his son until his return. The messenger returned with this letter, but he rested at the same place, and again fell asleep. The devil came again and placed a different letter in his bag. This letter said that the queen with her child should be killed.

Psychology of The Girl Without Hands - Part 3 — 1517, The Devil Offering Poison to a Knight

The old mother said to the queen, “I cannot have you killed as the king has ordered. Go out into the wide world with your child, and never come back.”

The old mother tied the queen’s child onto her back, and the poor woman went away weeping.

After some time she came to a great, wild forest where she got onto her knees and prayed to God. Soon she saw a small house in the woods. A maiden in a snow-white dress stepped out of the cottage and said, “Welcome, Lady Queen,” and led her indoors.

The queen stayed in that house for seven years and was well cared for, and slowly, in time, her chopped-off hands grew back..

The king finally came back from the wars and the first thing he wanted to see was his wife and child. Then his old mother began to weep, saying, ““I did as you ordered. I killed your Queen.” Then the king began to weep until his mother took pity and told him the truth of how she sent the Queen away. Then the king said, “I will go as far as the sky is blue, and will neither eat nor drink until I have found my dear wife and child.

The king traveled for seven years, searching in all the stone cliffs and caves, but he did not find her, and he thought that she had died. He neither ate nor drank during the entire time, but God kept him alive. Finally he came to a great forest, where he found a little house.

The maiden came out, took him by the hand, and said, “Welcome, King,” She offered him something to eat and drink, but he did not take it, wanting only to rest a little.

The maiden told the Queen her husband had arrived but the King would not believe it when he saw the Queen’s lovely hands.

Then the maiden brought out the silver hands, and showed them to the King. When he saw them he knew he had found his dear wife and child. He kissed them, and rejoiced, and said, “A heavy stone has fallen from my heart.”

Then the king and queen went home and conducted their wedding ceremony once again, and they lived happily until their blessed end.

Thoughts on The Girl Without Hands – Part 3

The inner Masculine and Feminine are separate with little communication. The King has his own priorities and is fighting his own battle. He leaves the Queen in the care of his Mother. In some variations of the story, it is this Mother who becomes a Death Mother who torments the new Queen. In this version, the Devil is back again. The Queen has more inner work to do so she can be fully healed.

The Devil intercepts the letters from the weary messenger. How true it is that fatigue can bring out the worst in me. Both in my thoughts and actions. The young Queen’s inner system is much healthier now and both her inner Masculine part and her inner Mother part seek to protect her. But she still has some negative part, some Devil that seeks to destroy her and her newborn life. The young Queen must again be alone and trust in the goodness of strangers. She must spend a long time in a wild place, away from collective norms and values, in order to find healing.

This healing takes a long time! It cannot be rushed. The young Queen finds a grounded nurturing for herself and her new life. Can I create space in my life for this protracted healing? Can I trust it and be patient with it? Can I trust that inner healers are ready to help me?

Meanwhile the Masculine too is on a journey. The King is humbled. He is no longer the triumphant warrior but the worried lover. This might be my own inner driver who must slow down to allow my healing. This part must stop nourishing itself and search. It must stay open to the unknown territory. The King must stay awake and hungry in his search for the hidden Queen. The King promises not to lose himself in pleasure of any kind. He stays focused on his quest.

Like a doubting Thomas, the King requires proof that the Queen has miraculously healed. This final section reminds me that my own journeys of healing and communication spiral through belief and disbelief. Of being seen and being hidden. Finally, there is a new royal wedding as the inner Masculine and Feminine come together again, taking new vows to represent their redeemed and healed selves.