A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
The princess’s name refers to the glass enclosure around her bed, which the narrator understands as large upright sheets; it does not describe a glass body. She can take any disguise she chooses and travel through the air. A cobra guardian identifies her as the only person who can heal its forehead ulcer by applying the appropriate medicine with her own hand.
A prince aided by rescued rats enters her protected room. She gives him a jewelled ring that makes boiling bathwater feel cold and a lock of hair that saws through an iron tree, enabling him to meet her father’s marriage tests. After their wedding she heals the cobra, which rewards them with treasure.
When the prince’s brothers plot to seize her, she warns him and leaves with him and his first wife. Captured by a forest king, she becomes a mare and flies away carrying the prince on her back and the other princess hanging by her tail. The group eventually reaches a city where he becomes king. She retains an active role in recognizing danger and engineering escape; no divine parentage or permanent horse identity is supplied.
Origins & earliest records
Sri Lankan narratives collected and translated by H. Parker
Records & interpretation
Complete tale and all its printed variants/comparative notes read; relevant introduction passages on collection and translation directly read.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume I
No. 4, The Glass Princess, pp. 57–65; comparative notes pp. 65–67
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Primary records and illustrations
Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume I
Volume I. No. 4, The Glass Princess, pp. 57–65; comparative notes pp. 65–67
Whole No.4 and all printed comparisons/footnote read. Glass enclosure distinguished from bodily material, cobra healing from separate slain serpent, and rescued rats from other tales’ similar helpers. No individual narrator supplied; North-central Province attribution retained.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical collected oral narrative translationParker, Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon I — No. 4, The Glass Princess, pp. 57–65; comparative notes pp. 65–67Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.