Sevenskins: A Scandinavian Fairy Tale and How it Relates to Narcissistic Abuse

(Stories as Mirrors to our Lives)

Hi lovely,

In Scandinavian folklore, there is a creature called a lindworm (or lindorm). This creature is dragonlike. serpentlike.

There are many versions of this tale, but the ones that intrigue me the most are the ones involving the motif of shedding seven skins.

Ink-Stained Compass is the weekly newsletter of Caitlin Gemmell. It is for seekers of stories and magic. Readers who opt for a paid subscription receive more personal journal entries, poetry, and access to the Ink-Stained Compass community chat.

The above note from Russell Nohelty caught my attention after I had already created a draft of this newsletter. I knew I had to include it — it’s too perfect not to. Thanks Russell. Also, autocorrect wanted to turn Lindworm into Kindwork, and I really love that.

The Lindworm or Sevenskins

The story goes something like this:

There is a queen who gives birth to twins. One twin is a perfect human baby and the other a terrifying monster — a lindworm. The human child grows up and leaves home to seek his fortune and his bride. The lindworm makes of his mother a request to find him a bride. No woman is brave enough or foolish enough to wish to marry such a creature, until one day a clever young woman agrees to marry this lindworm prince. On their wedding night, it is revealed that the woman has sheathed herself in seven layers of clothing. For every layer of clothing that she removes, she requests the lindworm remove a layer of his snakeskin. Layer after layer is shed, until underneath the final layer of snakeskin, the lindworm prince is revealed to be a perfect human, just like his twin.

This tale helped me to see my story of narcissistic abuse and recovery from a new light. I had an aha moment as I read it.

Fairy tales and folktales are wonderful tools for giving us insight into our own life stories. Have you had any aha moments from reading stories? How have stories helped you make sense of your life?

This is something we cover in my two personal mythology courses. Unearthing Your Story begins in January and is open for registration here and Healing the Cinderella Wound begins on December 21st and is open for registration here. You can get module one of Healing the Cinderella Wound for free by leaving a comment on my post below.