Princess Florecita and the Iron Shoes

            I was trying to think about how I wanted to structure this section of my blog. As I mentioned, my love of fantasy began with the fairy tales of my childhood. I read a lot of fairy tale adaptations that I will speak of, but I also decided that I would also speak of some of the fairy tales that I enjoyed, ones you may not have heard of before. The first one is Princess Florecita and the Iron Shoes.

            The story of Princess Florecita is a Spanish one. One day Florecita learns of a sleeping prince from a little bird. This prince is handsome, kind, and gentle (reminds me a little of Sleeping Beauty). She is told that only a maiden can break the spell by drifting a black feather over his forehead and that he is so far away that she would wear out a pair of iron shoes looking for him. Florecita decides to go seek out the prince and has a special pair of iron shoes made for the occasion. In her journey, she meets the mothers of the West, East, and North wind which tell her which way to go. In the end she rescues the prince and they live happily ever after.

            What I liked about this story is its strong female lead. She goes out to save the prince, not the other way around. All together an excellent story.