Thumbelina (Andersen)

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Little Tiny or Thumbelina
Tommelise · 1835
Summary of the Fairy Tale
Microsummary: A tiny maiden born from a magical seed escaped marriage to an amphibian's son and an insect's advances. After helping an injured bird, she fled a wealthy burrower to find love with a fairy prince.

Short Summary

A childless woman sought help from a fairy, who gave her a magical barleycorn. From it grew a tiny girl no bigger than a thumb.

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Thumbelina (Tiny, Maia) — tiny girl the size of a thumb, delicate and graceful, with a beautiful singing voice, kind-hearted and brave.

One night, a toad stole Thumbelina to marry her to her son. The girl escaped with help from fish and a butterfly, only to be captured by a cockchafer. Rejected by other insects for looking too human, she lived alone in the forest until winter came. Seeking shelter, she found a field mouse's home, who later introduced her to a wealthy but blind mole who wished to marry her.

During this time, Thumbelina discovered and nursed back to health a swallow that the mole had thought dead. When spring came, the swallow offered to fly her away from the dreaded marriage, but she initially declined out of loyalty to the field mouse. However, on her wedding day, she accepted the swallow's second offer and flew with him to warm southern lands.

He was the angel of the flower; for a tiny man and a tiny woman dwell in every flower; and this was the king of them all... when he saw Tiny, he was delighted, and thought her the prettiest little maiden

The swallow placed her on a flower where she met and married the king of the flower-angels. She received wings of her own and a new name - Maia.

Detailed Summary

Division of the summary into chapters is conditional.

The Magical Birth of Thumbelina

A woman who longed for a child visited a fairy, who gave her a magical barleycorn for twelve shillings. When planted, it grew into a beautiful tulip, and inside sat a tiny maiden no longer than a thumb. The woman named her Thumbelina.

A walnut-shell, elegantly polished, served her for a cradle; her bed was formed of blue violet-leaves, with a rose-leaf for a counterpane. Here she slept at night, but during the day she amused herself on a table

Adventures with the Toad and Cockchafer

One night, an ugly toad took Thumbelina while she slept and brought her to her son as a potential bride. The toad placed her on a water-lily leaf while preparing the wedding chamber.

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The Toad — ugly female toad who wants Thumbelina as a wife for her son, lives in a swampy stream.

Little fish who witnessed this helped Thumbelina escape by gnawing through the lily stem. As she floated downstream, a cockchafer caught her and took her to his tree. However, other cockchafers found her ugly, so he abandoned her.

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The Cockchafer — male beetle who kidnaps Thumbelina but later abandons her when other cockchafers call her ugly.

And all the while she was really the loveliest creature that one could imagine, and as tender and delicate as a beautiful rose-leaf... but she was only an inch high

Life with the Field Mouse and Meeting the Mole

After surviving alone through summer and autumn, Thumbelina sought shelter at a field-mouse's door during winter. The field-mouse took her in, demanding stories and housekeeping in return.

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The Field Mouse — elderly female mouse who takes in Thumbelina for the winter, kind but practical-minded.

The field-mouse introduced Thumbelina to her neighbor, a wealthy but blind mole. In his tunnel, they discovered a frozen swallow. While the mole criticized birds, Thumbelina secretly cared for the swallow, which eventually recovered and flew away, promising to return.

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The Mole — wealthy blind male mole who wants to marry Thumbelina, wears black velvet, dislikes sun and flowers.
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The Swallow — male swallow saved by Thumbelina, becomes her friend and helps her escape, kind and grateful.

Then she laid her head on the bird's breast, but she was alarmed immediately, for it seemed as if something inside the bird went 'thump, thump.' It was the bird's heart; he was not really dead

Escape to Warm Lands and Finding Love

The field-mouse arranged Thumbelina's marriage to the mole. Unhappy with this prospect, Thumbelina bid farewell to the sun one last time before the wedding. The swallow, who had returned, offered to carry her to warmer lands.

Cold winter is coming... Will you go with me? You can sit on my back, and fasten yourself on with your sash. Then we can fly away from the ugly mole and his gloomy rooms, far away, over the mountains

Thumbelina accepted, and they flew over mountains and seas to a warm country where flowers bloomed year-round. The swallow brought her to a beautiful white marble palace, where she met a tiny flower angel prince her own size.

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The Flower Angel Prince — tiny male fairy who lives in flowers, transparent and crystal-like, wears a gold crown, becomes Thumbelina's husband.

The prince immediately fell in love with Thumbelina and proposed marriage. She accepted, and all the flowers brought her gifts, including a pair of wings. The spirit of the flowers renamed her Maia, as Tiny was too ugly a name for such a beautiful creature.

You must not be called Tiny any more... It is an ugly name, and you are so very pretty. We will call you Maia... Each of them brought Tiny a present; but the best gift was a pair of beautiful wings

The swallow, who had grown very fond of Thumbelina, sang the wedding song with a heavy heart before returning to Denmark. There, he built a nest above the window of a man who wrote fairy tales, and from his song came this story.