A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
A princess guarding her brother’s garden sleeps beneath a large rose tree and unexpectedly bears a daughter with a rose on her forehead. The narrative does not identify a father or explain a botanical conception. The mother forbids the child to disclose her identity. When a cherry caught in the girl’s hair is mistaken for evidence of disobedience, the princess kills her with a comb and locks her body and jewels in an iron chest. The mother later dies of grief.
When the chest is opened years later, the girl is alive and embroidering. At this point the text calls her forehead mark a star rather than a rose; it gives no intervening revival scene. Her uncle’s wife and mother-in-law burn her skin and present her as a newly acquired servant. Speaking her history to a talisman, the girl explicitly describes her confinement as an enchantment. Her uncle overhears, acknowledges her as his niece and keeps her with him after punishing the persecutors. The ending is a family recognition, not a marriage between uncle and niece.
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 XV, The Maiden with the Rose on her Forehead, pp. 62–66. No individual narrator or collecting locality is identified.
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.
- 01
Portuguese Folk-Tales XV: The Maiden with the Rose on her Forehead, pp. 62–66
Complete tale read through its final recognition, marriage or helper’s refusal. The translator’s narrative is kept distinct from introductory comparative commentary.
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.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- 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.