The Lind Wurm or the Snake That Was Thrown Out of the Window Tale
(this Scandinavian story came to me through Robert Bly’s book The Sibling Society)
Long ago, in a land faraway, lived a childless king and queen. They longed for a son to carry on their name and dynasty. They went to priests, shamans, sages and soothsayers to get advice on how to conceive a son. Finally, the queen was pregnant; on the day she was to give birth, the midwives found two children in her uterus. The first to enter the world was a snake, and one of the midwives quickly threw it out of the window, without the king or queen knowing it.
The second baby was a beautiful little boy. Both king and queen were exultant, and went about doing fathering and mothering of their wonderful new addition. The boy grew and before anyone knew it he was an adolescent. At a dance he met a winsome young woman with whom he fell in love. One sunny day, he left his castle to travel to her home. On the way, at a crossroads, he met a huge dragon that stopped him in his tracks. He told the young man that he was his elder brother, and sang this song: “He who is born first, marries first. He who is born first marries first.” Then he breathed out long flames that smelled like horrible burnt rubber. Frightened, he turned around and went home.
When he got home, he went to his father, and asked him, “Do I have an older brother, a fire-breathing dragon?” The father replied, “No son. You have no other siblings. You are our pride and joy. I don’t know what’s gotten into you.”
After some time went by, he attempted to go see the young woman he loved and wanted to marry. On this trip the same thing happened. He met the dragon, and now he looked bigger, meaner and fiercer even then the first time. He sang the same song, too. Even more scared he ran back to his castle. When he arrived he found his mother and asked her, “Mother, do I have an older brother who happens to be a large, ugly dragon?” His mother said to him, “No, my loving son. You are our only son, and I would give my life for you in an heartbeat!”
The mother was now suspicious, and found the old midwife, now living deep in the forest; she was old and shriveled, but still alive. She asked her if something or someone was born before her son. The midwife told her the story of the tiny snake. In disbelief, the mother said, “Why didn’t you tell me?” The midwife said that she was afraid, and didn’t know there was another child in there, until the boy emerged.
The king and queen talked, and they realized that the only way their son would be able to marry was if they could find a way to get the dragon out of the way, by getting him married first. They put out an “all points bulletin” sort of announcement that the king and queen had another, older son who needed a wife. He said that all the legible young women could apply for the position, and would receive a healthy endowment, and high place in the kingdom.
Well, the story goes, that twelve woman applied. Each of them came to the castle, and the dragon took each of them to the bridal chamber to consummate the marriage. He would ask each of the brides to remove their wedding blouse, then he would let loose a huge fire stream, and pounce on the bride in a fatal pounce. In the morning, when the attendants checked the room, all they could find was the dragon sipping tea, but there was no sign of the bride.
The woodcutter’s daughter, a beautiful, aquiline woman wanted to take the challenge and marry the other son. She told her father, who was none too pleased, and then went to meet the old crone who lived in the dark forest. She told the old woman about her desire, and the woman said, “There are a few things you must do and bring with you to prepare for this momentous event. First, make seven wedding blouses, and embellish them artfully. When you go to the wedding put all seven of them on. Make sure you take with you a hard, bristle brush, some lye, and a pale of milk.” The young woman told her she would do exactly what she was told, even though it made no sense to her.
It took ten months to make the wedding blouses; when she was done, she got the other things the crone told her to take and went to the king and queen’s castle to propose marriage to the oldest son. After the wedding, the dragon took her to the bridal chamber. He told her to take off her wedding blouse. “Not so fast,” she told him. “You also have to do something for me. After I take off the wedding blouse you have to remove a layer of skin.” The dragon looked at her quizzically. “No one has asked me to do that before! But since you’re so beautiful, I’ll agree.”
So the process began. With each wedding blouse the young woman removed, the dragon pulled and stretched off a layer of skin. With each layer the pain increased. He howled in pain, and with each layer his fire breath decreased in intensity. Finally, at the end, after he pulled off the last layer, he was totally exhausted and fell into a decomposing heap on the floor. He lay in a pool of bloody mucous of shredded skin. The young woman knew she had to act. She scraped his bare, raw skin with the bristle brush until it shone like a shiny radish. Then she poured lye on his skin, and lastly the pale of milk. Suddenly, the dragon vanished and a beautifully formed young prince stood up. It was love at first sight. They went to the king and queen, and asked to be married right away. And they lived happily ever after. So did the second son who married his first love, the woodcutter’s daughter.
In terms of gender identification, what meanings may be ascribed to this story?
✗ The dragon symbolizes the skewed idea of maleness; or we might say, with the psychiatrist Carl Jung, that the symbol pictures men’s shadow side. Whether individually or collectively, one’s shadow is a disowned and denied part of maleness that we want to hide, rather than keep it right in front of us so we are always aware of it. The shadow comes into existence from poor role models, wrong information from those we love (our own fathers), social conditioning, and our peer group.
✗ When the dragon removed his layers of skin, we might say he was going through death and transformation. It was painful indeed. This is the image of getting rid of the false self of maleness and masculinity. Men have to take off the skin of male superiority (the need to be “one up”), patriarchy, being in control, bias against women, and of perpetuating the WMS (white male system) in order to enter wholeness. The groom who emerged from the milky mess of the dragon’s remains reflects a state of true self or integrated self.
✗ The bride was an empowered woman; she sought advice from the wise crone. She found her voice and other means to confront the dragon, the archetype of male power found in the WMS. She saw the dragon as equal, and met him on his own playing field. When she refused to be “one down” with the dragon, over and over again, he lost his power over her, and eventually disintegrated.
Discussion Questions:
✔ As a male how have you been in collusion with the WMS?
✔ As a male, what stereotypes have you had, or do you now have, of women?
✔ As a male, what are the results of always having to be “one up?” How do you feel about it?
✔ As a female how have you seen the WMS at work in your life? What were its consequences? How did it make you feel?
✔ As a female, have you found “your voice” to speak truth to power? Can you share a little about this process using personal examples?
© Christopher Bear Beam, April, 2009
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