After all the miraculous acts that the old woman’s son performed, my father and I agreed to meet him. Perhaps I would marry him after all.

The old woman came into the palace, and what do you think she carried with her? Her son’s head on a silver platter! I laughed, but my father flew into a violent rage.

“I will never marry my daughter to such a monster!” he cried.

The head smiled sweetly at me and I placed my hand on my father’s arm. “You have given your word, father, and you cannot break it. Besides, he has a beautiful head. I love him already.”

The Princess Who Marries a Head in The Enchanted Head, Brown Fairy Book. Illustration by H.J. Ford.