Collected Item: “"The Seven-Headed Serpent.” The Yellow Fairy Book, new impression, edited by Andrew Lang, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906, pp. 60-63.”
Full bibliographic citation (MLA)
The Seven-Headed Serpent.” The Yellow Fairy Book, new impression, edited by Andrew Lang, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906, pp. 60-63. (common Minos variant)
Title of the complete book/anthology (not a single chapter/fairy tale)
The Fairy Book Series, London: Longmans, Green, And Co.
The name of the author or editor of the complete book/anthology (leave blank if none are listed)
Andrew Lang:
Illustrator(s) of the book/anthology (leave blank if none are listed)
Andrew Lang:
City where the book/anthology was published
London
The country where the book/anthology was published (use United States for US publications)
England
The publisher of the book/anthology (as written on the title page)
Longmans, Green, And Co.
Date of publication (or date range from the library catalog, if no dates are listed in the book)
1906
The decade the book was published (use the drop down menu)
1900-1909
The fairy tale type (use the drop down menu)
Dragon Slayers
The author of the fairy tale/chapter (leave blank if none is listed). If there is only an author for the whole book/anthology listed, use that author again for this entry
Andrew Lang
What is special about this version of the tale?
It is a new version created by Andrew Lang in 1906 based on the old Greek version. Conforming more towards English culture.
A brief summary of the plot that highlights any unique variations
In this story, a king and his men set sail and discovered a bountiful island. In this island laid a large population of lions who attacked the king’s men. The men were able to defeat the lion but at a great cost of the majority of them. They set about exploring the island, stumbling upon three rivers flowing with silver, gold and pearls. After filling their nap sacks full of the precious commodities a nearby lake told them of the king serpent who ruled the land and how they must please him in order to be spared. The men placed their clothes down, so the serpent had a soft ground to move on. Upon seeing them he orders that every year they must bring 12 maidens and 12 young men as a sacrifice. The king obliged and so did his people. The queen in the meantime, childless, eats an apple that gives her a son and throws the pit out the window where a horse eats it and also gains a son. These two grew up together and decided to fight the serpent. They went to a nun who explained to them they have to sneak into the serpent’s room. Clog the bells with cotton and only use the sword that hangs above the bed to slay the beast. He then slayed the beast and freed his country.
The original source of the fairy tale, if easily identifiable (Straparola, Basile, de Beaumont, Perrault, Grimm, etc.)
Originally for a Greek fairy tale “Die Siebenkopfige Schlange”
A link to a digital copy of the book
https://archive.org/details/yellowfairybook00lang02/page/n9/mode/2up
Your full name (this entry will not appear on the public site)
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