Special Sub-Topic: The Little Mermaid Click Here To Play: The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid married the prince.

False. Believe it or not, the little mermaid never did marry the prince. That seems like the exact opposite of a fairy tale doesn't it?

In Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" how many children did the Sea King have?

6. The Sea King had six daughters, but the youngest was by far the most beautiful.

How old did the young mermaids have to be to receive permission to take a visit to the surface?

15. The grandmother gave the young mermaids consent to visit the surface when they reached their fifteenth year. Because each sister was a year apart they would tell the others what they thought was the most beautiful thing they saw on their trip.

Each of the mermaid princesses had a garden, what kind of flowers were in the Little Mermaid's garden?

Red flowers shaped like the sun. The little mermaid's sisters would shape their flowers to look like the creatures that live in the see. Perhaps to show her longing for the world above the sea, the youngest mermaid shaped hers as the sun.

How many oysters did the grandmother mermaid wear on her tail?

12. Mermaids of noble birth wore oysters on their tails. The ones of the highest rank wore 12 oysters. Any other merperson for high rank was only permitted to wear six.

In Andersen's version, merpeople do not have eternal souls. What happens to them when they die?

They turn into the foam of the sea. The grandmother mermaid explained that although mermaids live for hundreds of years they must die. Because they have no soul, they must become the foam of the sea, bobbing from wave to wave.

How does the Sea Witch take voice from the little mermaid?

Cuts off her tongue. The Sea Witch agreed to turn the little mermaid human, but she wanted to be paid, so she cut off her tongue. The little mermaid had to use her other qualities to win the prince's love.

For the little mermaid to remain human, she had to get the prince to love her more dearly than his own parents. True or false?

True. If the little mermaid failed to make the prince love her above all else, she would die the morning after he married another.

What did the little mermaid's sisters tell her to do in order to save her life?

Kill the prince. The little mermaids sisters were saddened when the prince married another woman, because that meant their youngest sister would die. To prevent this they brought the little mermaid a knife and begged her to kill the prince to save her life. Because she loved the prince she did not kill him, and welcomed death.

How would the little mermaid be able to win an eternal soul?

300 years of good deeds with the Daughters of the Air.. Because the little mermaid did not kill the prince she was visited by the Daughters of the Air. If she did 300 years of good deeds she would be able to win an eternal soul. For every good child a year is taken off their 300-year sentence, but for every bad child, a day is added.