Rapunzel
Bartered for rampion greens, Rapunzel is raised in a tower by a sorceress. Her hair becomes a ladder for a prince; betrayal, blinding, and wilderness trials lead to reunion and healing tears.
Story beats
- 1) Parents steal rampion from sorceress’s garden; she demands their unborn child. Rapunzel is locked in a tower—“Rapunzel, let down your hair.”
- 2) A prince learns the call, visits secretly; they plan escape.
- 3) Sorceress discovers, cuts Rapunzel’s hair, casts her into wilderness. She uses hair to lure prince, who falls, blinds himself in thorns.
- 4) Years later, Rapunzel’s tears heal his eyes; they return to a kingdom with their twins.
Context & symbolism
The tale warns about bargains and overprotection, celebrates perseverance and love enduring hardship. Hair as ladder ties to autonomy and vulnerability. Blinding and healing tears underscore suffering and redemption.
Adaptations soften or reshape themes but keep tower, hair, and reunion core.
Motifs
- Tower imprisonment
- Hair ladder
- Blind wanderer healed by tears
- Child-for-greens bargain
Use it in play
- Rescue from a tower using unconventional “ladder.”
- Cut hair/rope trap to deceive intruders.
- Healing tears as rare restorative item.
- Deal with a hag’s bargain over stolen food.
Comparative threads
- Tower maidens: Similar to other seclusion tales (Danae).
- Bargains externalizing children: Rumpelstiltskin echoes trading offspring.
Hooks and campaign seeds
- Retrieve a magical plant without invoking a terrible bargain.
- Blind PC healed by loved one’s tears; quest to reunite.
- Hidden tower holding a “key” NPC with vital knowledge.