Horse-headed Prince of the Crows’ Tower

Overview

A childless queen asks for a son even if he should have a horse’s head, and an old woman predicts precisely that birth. The child grows into a prince; the court becomes accustomed to his appearance, but prospective brides reject his portrait. A poor girl accepts the marriage despite her sisters’ abuse. During the celebrations she recognizes him among the riders as a handsome knight.

When she discloses the rider’s identity, a crow enters the window, strikes her with its wings and rebukes her for breaking his spell. He tells her to reach the Crows’ Tower in iron footwear and seize his wings. Her search leads through three winds’ households; the north-east wind explains that the largest crow is the prince and warns against the flock’s pecking.

She eventually grips the singing bird and refuses to release him. Recognizing her, he becomes a prince; the other crows become noblemen and courtiers, and the tower becomes a royal court. Their marriage concludes the account. The story presents several successive appearances without naming a spell-caster or claiming that horse-headed children are actually born to the couple.

Origins & earliest records

Consiglieri Pedroso, Portuguese Folk-Tales, translated from the original manuscript by Henriqueta Monteiro, London: Elliot Stock for the Folk-Lore Society, 1882; tale XXVI, pp. 105–110. The selected account does not identify an individual narrator or collecting locality.

Records & interpretation

The located 1882 English translation presents this figure within a complete collected narrative. Pedroso’s introductory pp. 1–2 describe the thirty published selections from his larger collection.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Portuguese Folk-Tales XXVI: The Prince who had the Head of a Horse, pp. 105–110

   Collected by Consiglieri Pedroso; translated by Henriqueta Monteiro · 1882

   Located complete narrative in the original London edition; Ralston’s comparative introduction is separate commentary.

Family, evolution & connections

Royal parents of the horse-headed prince - Pedroso XXVI

The opening’s king and queen and their explicitly born son.

One joint-parent branch records stated parentage; the final spouse is labelled beside the son. No parent names or children of the prince’s marriage are supplied. Horse-headed, knight and crow appearances belong to the same prince; no animal ancestor is inferred.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Primary textPortuguese Folk-Tales, original 1882 edition scan and transcriptionResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.