PROVO — Fairy tales are true.
So says Norway's Princess Martha Louise, a real princess and author, this year's guest as Featured Author of the Year at BYU.
Fairy tales are metaphors and excellent, creative ways to teach children about life and who they are, she said.
Recounting her childhood, not in a palace, but on a farm, the princess said that through imagination teachers can reach children creatively.
Recalling her growing up years was also remembering a time of imagination. So in word pictures she described her farm, the neighbor's orchard (which grew tastier fruit than the orchard on her own farm), the entry hall and stairs where stern portraits of her ancestors stared down on her as she entered. (To a child that was scary, she said.)
Her ancestors show up as characters in her children's book, "Why Kings and Queens Don't Wear Crowns."
She also describes the green room at the top of the stairs, the English nanny who was afraid of the princess's green parakeet because of the Hitchcock movie, "The Birds."
With that imaginative backdrop, Princess Martha Louise described how fairy tales were written to tell stories in metaphor that imparted wisdom of the ages. Trolls in ancient lore were really one's fears so killing the evil troll was symbolic for overcoming fear.
"Suddenly you see the world in a whole new way," she said.
Children need to learn how to overcome fear in a place that is safe. Fairy tales offer that chance because they take place in their imagination.
Children get the symbolism of fairy tales but lose it as they mature.
Using the fairy tale of Cinderella as an example, the princess said the critical voices people have in their heads are symbolized by the mean step-mother and the two step-sisters. Overcoming negative self-criticism becomes the real mission of Cinderella.
In the story, Cinderella is locked away in the attic. In reality, Cinderella is the good person deep inside who is hidden away, she said.
"Why do we listen to those voices? If we didn't . . . we would live wonderful lives."
Finally Cinderella gets to meet her Prince Charming. But the gown provided by her good fairy isn't who Cinderella really is. Instead she goes dressed to the ball as someone she thinks the prince wants to meet. When the midnight hour strikes Cinderella flees the ballroom, but leaves her glass slipper behind. The prince retrieves it, a symbol of something about her that is real. He is intrigued and searches the kingdom for her.
Still, when he comes to her home with the slipper, Cinderella is hidden away. When the stepsisters try it on they are symbolic of the masks people continue to wear even though truth is at the door. Finally, Cinderella comes forward and the slipper fits. The prince sees the real person and accepts her.
"You need to know deep down who you really are for the shoe to fit," Princess Martha Louise said. "So here you are, faults, weaknesses (exposed) and he's still there."
Her own fairy tale came from her experiences as a princess without a crown. As she met groups of children they were expecting the jeweled headgear. Without it, their first reaction was that she wasn't a real princess, she said. The children's book tells how her royal Danish great-grandparents became King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway. In the story the royals lose their crowns in a skiing accident. Later, the crowns are found and put on display, which disappoints the prince.
The story concludes with the queen telling her disappointed son, "The crown that matters is the one you wear in your heart."
E-mail: rodger@desnews.com