The Well of the World’s End

United Kingdom

According to the folk tale, a girl’s mother died, and her father remarried a wicked woman who abused her, made her do all the housework, and finally decided to get rid of her. The stepmother gave the girl a sieve, ordering her to not come back without filling it at the Well of the World’s End. The girl set out, asking everyone she met about the how to find the well. Finally, a little old woman directed her to the well, but of course the girl could not fill the sieve. She cried, and a frog asked what was wrong. The frog said it could help her if she promised to do everything he asked for a night. She agreed, and the frog told her to block the holes with moss and clay. The girl did so, filled her sieve and carried back the water.
The frog later arrived at the girl’s house and insisted that the girl keep her promise. The frog asked to sit on her knee, have some supper, and go to bed with her. In the morning, it made her chop off its head. When she did, it was transformed into a handsome prince, making the stepmother was even angrier, but the prince took the girl home and married her.

Read more

Posted in Folk Tale, Myths and Folktales.