On a warm evening by the shore, a grandmother’s voice might weave the tale of a girl from the sea. In Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 fairy tale, a young mermaid princess feels the pull of the sunlit world above. She watches birthday candles and golden sunsets, dreaming of human life.
Andersen wrote this, The Train to Pakistan book story long ago in Denmark, but it has drifted into our cultural memory like a familiar folktale. In fact, a bronze mermaid statue now sits in Copenhagen harbor, as if listening forever. In these little mermaid fairy tales, the ocean is at once a beautiful home and a place of longing.
Andersen even describes the Sea King’s undersea palace – “walls … built of coral, long Gothic windows of the clearest amber…each [shell] with a glittering pearl” – painting an enchanted underwater world. Under that coral castle, the mermaid’s voice begins to sing a tune of hope and heartbreak.
The Mermaid’s Secret Yearning
From her earliest years, the little mermaid is not like her sisters. Andersen shows her arranging coral blossoms into the shape of the sun, marking the sky she cannot yet reach. She listens to her grandmother’s stories about people and light, and peeks through a ship’s cabin window to catch a glimpse of the world above.
Maria Tatar notes that this illustrates the mermaid’s brave curiosity: she is a rare fairy-tale heroine who truly longs to explore beyond the waves.
Here, Andersen tells the little mermaid folktale of appetite and adventure, not just of love. The sea weaves lullabies around her, but her heart sings of faraway lands.
In the glow of Andersen’s prose, we feel her ache – like a child clinging to a flicker of lantern light in the night, wishing to step into the dawn.
The Price of Magic
To live on land, the little mermaid must pay a terrible price. She trades her beautiful singing voice to the sea witch. Andersen’s own words capture the cruelty of this bargain: the potion makes her feel “as if a sword is being passed through her body,” leaving her legs that “dance on sharp knives” with every step.
This vivid image shows the cost of her dream. Through the little mermaid story, children sense that magic can hurt as well as heal. Her voice – once sweet enough to calm the waves – is gone in silence, and she walks bleeding just to follow love.
Andersen’s tale teaches that even a wish can be painful when you pay too dear. The sea grandmother warns her gently: humans have eternal souls, but mermaids do not – without a human’s love, she will turn to sea foam and disappear.
This folktale layer of Andersen’s ending is harsh: if the prince marries another, the little mermaid’s heart will break and she will melt into the waves. It’s a sobering lesson in the mermaid’s own words – love sometimes asks for sacrifice.
A Daughter of the Air
As dawn nears on the prince’s wedding day, the little mermaid faces death without regret. But Andersen does not leave her soul to vanish. Instead, a wondrous transformation occurs. As she falls into the sea, her body truly dissolves into foam… but then becomes something new and luminous.
She turns into an ethereal, earthbound spirit – a “daughter of the air” – because she strove with all her heart to gain an immortal soul. This unexpected twist changes despair into gentle hope. The story explains that though mermaids had no souls of their own, selfless love grants the mermaid a chance for eternity.
She joins other benevolent spirits who devote centuries to good deeds, all so that one day she too will rise into heaven. In this final act, Andersen blends sorrow with a warm promise: even in loss, kindness lives on.
The little mermaid never again feels pain in her legs; instead, she glides free as a guardian in the air, a quiet reminder that love and sacrifice still matter.
Tales of Water and Wonder
The sea’s mysteries do not belong to one culture alone. In folk stories around the world, water carries its own wisdom. For example, in an Andaman and Nicobar folktale a young boy named Shan is swept away by waves and finds himself riding a whale.
The whale gently carries him to a crystal palace undersea – a scene as magical as the mermaid’s ocean. In BooksAmeya’s own stories, this [Shan and his Whale-Wife] tale shows a sea creature who, like Andersen’s mermaid, tests a human’s courage and love.
Here, the watercolor sky meets the deep blue, echoing the bond between humans and marine spirits. Just as the little mermaid’s voice once saved a prince from drowning, Shan’s encounter with the gentle whale shows compassion crossing boundaries.
These folktales of water remind us that love and duty can flow like the tides. Each ripple in these stories – whether a pearl tossed from a necklace or a child released into the surf – carries meaning.
Under the Silver Moon
After all the waves have settled and the stars have climbed, we are left with a quiet feeling. The little mermaid’s song lingers, soft and warm. In the hush of the night, even her foam-spun spirit still guides lost sailors, just as Andersen hoped good deeds would guide her soul. This beloved story has grown in our hearts like a lullaby: comforting, gentle, and a little bittersweet.
We remember a girl who taught us about longing and giving, whose bravery still lights a moonlit path. The little mermaid story ends not with a bang, but with the soft hum of remembrance, a promise carried on the sea breeze. In the end, one feels a peaceful trust – that kindness endures beyond endings, and that, always, love leaves a light for us to find.
Read Also: The Art of Spending Money | Morgan Housel
FAQs
- Who wrote The Little Mermaid Fairy Tales?
Ans. Hans Christian Andersen wrote The Little Mermaid in 1837. It remains one of his most beloved and emotional fairy tales.
- What is the moral of The Little Mermaid story?
Ans. The story teaches courage, selflessness, and the beauty of unconditional love — even when it comes with sacrifice.
- Is The Little Mermaid a folktale or a fairy tale?
Ans. It’s both. It’s a fairy tale with magical elements, but it also carries the moral depth and cultural themes typical of traditional folktales.
- How is the original Little Mermaid story different from the movie?
Ans. The original story by Andersen has a bittersweet ending, while most film adaptations give it a happier resolution.
- Why is The Little Mermaid still popular among children?
Ans. Its magical underwater world, strong emotions, and relatable lessons about dreams and love make it timeless for children and adults alike.