Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
wrecked in a storm, and she saves the prince's life. To be with the prince,
the mermaid asks a sea witch to give her human legs. In exchange, she
agrees to give up her voice and the chance of ever returning to the sea.
And, the witch tells her, if the prince doesn't marry her, she will immedi-
ately die heartbroken and without an immortal soul. The mermaid agrees,
and her fish tail becomes a pair of beautiful but painful legs. She woos
the prince—who loves her in return—but he eventually marries another.
Heartbroken, the mermaid prepares to die. She's given one last chance to
save herself: She must kill the prince on his wedding night. She sneaks in-
to the bedchamber with a knife...but can't bear to kill the man she loves.
The mermaid throws herself into the sea to die. Suddenly, she's miracu-
lously carried up by the mermaids of the air, who give her an immortal
soul as a reward for her long-suffering love.
The tale of unrequited love mirrors Andersen's own sad love life. He
had two major crushes—one of them for the famous opera singer, Jenny
Lind—but he was turned down both times, and he never married. Scholars
with access to Andersen's diary believe he was bisexual and died a vir-
gin. The great author is said to have feared he'd lose his artistic drive if
he ever actually made love to another person. His dearest male friend, Ed-
vard Collin, inherited Andersen's entire estate (which was not unusual in
the Romantic 19th century, when men tended to have more emotional and
intimate friendships than today).
For the non-Disneyfied
Little Mermaid
story—and insights into Hans
Christian Andersen—see the sidebar.
• Our walking tour is finished. You can get back downtown on foot, by taxi,
or on bus #1A or #15 from Store Kongensgade on the other side of Kastellet
Park, or bus #26 from farther north, along Folke Bernadottes Allé.
