Little Wild-Rose, the Radiant Child

Overview

A hermit gives two blessed apple halves to a childless old man, directing one to his wife. The man mistakenly eats her half and falls asleep. A child appears beside him among the plants; an angel baptizes and names her Little Wild-Rose. The old man takes her home, but leaves her temporarily on the roof, from which a passing bird abducts her. The narrative does not describe a pregnancy or explain a usual birth from either elderly spouse.

The bird’s young protect rather than eat her. After an archangel destroys the nest-raiding dragon, the returning parent bird mistakenly credits the child’s radiance. It swallows her, but she reappears seven times more beautiful, and thereafter receives a moss-and-flower chamber and care alongside its own young. Her first emergence is accompanied by a second brilliant sun and rejoicing nature. At fourteen her appearance dazzles a hunting prince who was about to shoot the young birds, making him drop his bow and faint.

She remains in her arboreal home until an old woman deliberately mishandles a kettle and tripod, inducing her to climb down and demonstrate. The woman then seizes and carries her to the waiting prince. Their marriage follows at court. The narrative records abduction both into and out of her forest household; it does not supply a later reunion with the old man or a final account of her foster family.

Origins & earliest records

Roumanian Fairy Tales, collected by Mite Kremnitz, adapted and arranged by J. M. Percival (New York: Henry Holt, 1885), Little Wild-Rose, pp. 91–104.

Records & interpretation

Complete selected English narrative from blessed apple to marriage. Preface assigns tale 9 to Miron Pompilin. Bird naming and later uncertainty are preserved.

Selected bibliography

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

1. 01

   Roumanian Fairy Tales: Little Wild-Rose, pp. 91–104

   Mite Kremnitz, collector; J. M. Percival, adapter and arranger · 1885

   Preface assigns tale 9 to Miron Pompilin in Convorbiri Literare. Complete selected English narrative; Romanian original not collated.

Family, evolution & connections

The griffin’s young and fostered Wild-Rose

Complete English adaptation, pp. 91–104; nest parentage and subsequent fostering.

Narrator-stated children and later care for the previously existing human child; labels distinguish fostering from birth. The bird is initially described uncertainly as vulture or griffin; no lion anatomy is supplied. Own offspring number and other parent are unknown. Wild-Rose appears beside the old man after he eats the apple half, with no narrated pregnancy; the archangel is a rescuer, not an inferred parent. Romanian originals have not been collated.

References

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

1. Primary historical English adaptationKremnitz/Percival 1885: Little Wild-RoseResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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