The Little Mermaid Original Ending: What Hans Christian Andersen Wrote
In Andersen's original Little Mermaid, she does not marry the prince. Discover the true ending, the knife, the "daughters of the air" and what it means.
In this article
In Hans Christian Andersen's original The Little Mermaid (1837), the mermaid does not marry the prince. He marries a princess he believes rescued him. The mermaid's sisters give her a knife and tell her to kill the prince to regain her tail; she refuses, throws herself into the sea and dissolves into foam. Instead of disappearing forever, she rises as one of the "daughters of the air," spirits who can earn an immortal soul through 300 years of good deeds.
So the original ending is both a tragedy and a hope. Here is the complete story.
The Little Mermaid: Full Original Plot
The world beneath the sea
The youngest of six mermaid princesses lives with her widowed father, the sea king, and her grandmother. Each sister is allowed to rise to the surface when she turns fifteen. The youngest is the most curious about the human world and keeps a garden around a marble statue of a handsome boy.
The rescue
On her fifteenth birthday she rises to the surface and sees a ship celebrating a young prince's birthday. A storm wrecks the ship. She carries the unconscious prince to shore near a temple, where a young woman finds him. He never learns who really saved him.
Souls and immortality
This is the heart of Andersen's story and the part films usually remove. The mermaid's grandmother explains that merfolk live 300 years but have no immortal soul; when they die they become foam on the sea. Humans live short lives but have souls that live forever. A mermaid can gain a soul only if a human loves her more than anything and marries her.
The sea witch's bargain
The mermaid visits the sea witch, who agrees to give her legs, but at a terrible price:
- Every step will feel like walking on sharp knives.
- She must give up her voice: the witch cuts out her tongue.
- If the prince marries someone else, her heart will break and she will become sea foam the next morning.
Life at the palace
The prince adores her as a sweet, silent companion and lets her sleep on a velvet cushion outside his door. But he loves her like a foundling child, not a bride. He still dreams of the girl from the temple.
The wedding
The prince is sent to meet a neighboring princess and discovers she is the girl from the temple. Believing she saved him, he marries her joyfully. The little mermaid holds the bride's train at the wedding, knowing she will die at dawn.
The knife
That night her sisters rise from the sea with short hair. They traded their long hair to the sea witch for a knife. If the little mermaid stabs the prince and lets his blood fall on her feet, she will become a mermaid again and live her 300 years. She looks at the sleeping couple, throws the knife into the waves, and leaps into the sea.
Daughters of the air
Instead of dissolving into nothing, she rises among the daughters of the air. They tell her that by doing good deeds, bringing cool breezes and comfort to people for 300 years, they can earn an immortal soul. Andersen then adds a closing note aimed at children: each time a good child makes its parents happy, a day is taken off the spirits' trial; each time a child is naughty, the spirits weep and a day is added.
Andersen vs Disney
| Andersen (1837) | Disney (1989) | |
|---|---|---|
| Mermaid's name | None | Ariel |
| Motivation | An immortal soul as well as love | Love and the human world |
| Price of legs | Tongue cut out; every step like knives | Voice stored in a shell |
| Prince marries | The temple princess | The mermaid |
| Ending | Refuses to kill him, becomes a spirit of the air | Happy wedding |
Why Did Andersen Write It This Way?
Many biographers connect the story to Andersen's own life. He fell deeply in love several times without success, and he wrote often about outsiders who never quite belong. A widely discussed theory links the tale to his feelings for his friend Edvard Collin, who married in 1836, the year before the story was published. Andersen's letters to Collin are passionate, though scholars debate how to interpret them.
The religious ending also reflects Andersen's Christian worldview. The mermaid's real quest is for a soul, and her refusal to kill shows the self-sacrificing love that, in Andersen's view, earns it.
The Little Mermaid Statue
Since 1913, a bronze statue of the mermaid by sculptor Edvard Eriksen has sat on a rock at the Langelinie promenade in Copenhagen. It was commissioned by brewer Carl Jacobsen after he saw a ballet based on the tale. The statue is small, about 1.25 meters tall, and has been vandalized and even beheaded several times, always restored.
What Is the Moral of The Little Mermaid?
The original tale is less about getting the guy and more about love without reward. The mermaid gives up her voice, her home, and finally her life rather than hurt the person she loves. Andersen suggests that this kind of selfless love has value even when it is not returned.
Readers who enjoyed this might like our profile of Hans Christian Andersen's life and best fairy tales, or another of his heartbreakers, The Little Match Girl.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Little Mermaid die in the original story?
Her mortal body dissolves into sea foam, but she does not simply vanish. She becomes one of the "daughters of the air" with a chance to earn an immortal soul.
Why does the prince marry someone else?
He believes the princess from the temple saved him from drowning. He never learns the mermaid rescued him, and she cannot tell him because she has no voice.
Did the sea witch cut out her tongue?
Yes. In Andersen's tale, the sea witch cuts out the mermaid's tongue as payment for the potion.
What does the knife represent?
It is the mermaid's last temptation. Killing the prince would save her life, but she chooses to die rather than harm him.
When was The Little Mermaid written?
Hans Christian Andersen published it in 1837 in Copenhagen.
