The Dragonslayer
by Adolf Holst -- translated by Jack Zipes

The old tales ring forth about a sleeping beauty. The sing about a satanic power and bring reports about witches and spindles.

They tell how a king came one hundred years later. He climbed the walls and took the power away from the curse by kissing Sleeping Beauty awake!

A knight came a-riding through sleeping Germany. He fought with hell and ran through the dragon's heart in the middle of the flaming mountain!

The knight of a special errand was endowed with wondrous power, and he lifted the glorious German soul out of the cave of thorns. And all of the people cried out: "Heil!"

Yes, but is it Hitler?
It is interesting to note that Holst's "Dragonslayer" was the only version of "Sleeping Beauty" we could find before Disney's which included a battle with a dragon. The prince in Holst's version is Hitler, of course (shown here destroying the alien races -- the dragon -- and saving Germany). I'm left wondering where Uncle Walt came up with the idea. Coincidence? Well.... Maybe.
click here for a discussion of Disney and the Grimm truth.

Poem text in German
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