Once upon a time, a king and queen desperately want a child, and are finally blessed with a baby girl. But while arranging their daughter's christening, the King forgets to invite his sister, Princess Makemnoit, a horrible witch. Out of spite, Makemnoit curses the Princess to live without gravity.
Because of this, the Princess spends her life floating in the air, unable to touch the ground and always dangerously close to being carried off into the sky. Moreover, there's no gravity to weigh down her soul, either. She never thinks seriously on any topic, cannot be made to empathize with people, and never cries.
The only thing that seems to help is a nearby lake the Princess loves to swim in, which miraculously makes her better behaved the more time she spends in it. The King and Queen, after being told that water from an internal source may bring back her gravity, try to make her cry, to no avail.
One evening, a prince happens sees her in the lake and, believing she's drowning, swims out to rescue her. By the time he realizes his mistake, he's already fallen in love with her. Though the Princess is incapable of being serious about anything, least of all love, she consents to spend time with him while she swims at night.
Unfortunately, Makemnoit discovers the Princess' love of the lake and curses it to drain. It's said that the only way to refill it is if a man is brave enough to give his life by plugging the hole with his body until it's full again. Fearing the Princess will die of sadness if the lake is not restored, the Prince volunteers to sacrifice himself, on the condition the Princess sits beside him in a boat till the deed is done.
Though initially pleased that the lake is returning, when the Princess sees the Prince drowning she becomes distraught and pulls him out. When he finally wakes the next morning, she bursts into tears, breaking the curse. The two marry and have many children—none of which ever lose their gravity.
Noted children's author Maurice Sendak illustrated a version, which was released in 1977.
In 2013 it was adapted into a musical by London's National Theatre, with the book by Samuel Adamson and music by Tori Amos.
The Light Princess provides examples of:
- Accidental Kiss: Among other incidents, an accident when the Princess gets caught up in the wind as she rushes to greet her father causes her to blow into a page and accidentally kiss him instead.
- Cheerful Child: Growing up, the Princess is never anything but joyful.
- Chocolate Baby: Both the Princess's parents are brunette, while the Princess is blonde. This leads to some light speculation from the king that the light-bodied baby might not actually be theirs.
- Corporal Punishment: When the possibility comes about that making the Princess cry may break her curse, the king in desperation whips his daughter. She laughs all the way through.
- Cursed with Awesome: The Princess seems to think so at first; she doesn't understand why everyone makes such a fuss about her lack of gravity.
- Dissonant Laughter: The Princess reacts with laughter to the news of the kingdom being under attack, the sight of he mother's tears, and to being whipped by her father. It's not a happy sound and can be mistaken for screaming.
- Empathic Environment: When the Princess cries for the first time in her life, her tears go on for more than an hour. Meanwhile, a rainstorm greater than any the land has ever known happens, filling the lake from shore to shore.
- Evil Aunt: The witch that curses the Princess is her father's sister, estranged due to having fallen out with their father.
- Fairy Tale Motifs: Princess? Check. King and Queen? Check. Evil fairy? Check. Handsome knight-errant prince? Check....
- Heroic Sacrifice: The Prince
doesn't mind dying if it means the Princess will be happy. - No Name Given: The Princess, the Prince, and most of the other characters as well.
- The Philosopher: Two of them, a Materialist and a Spiritualist. Played for Laughs.
- Snakes Are Sinister: Makemnoit drains the lake with the help of her pet, the White Snake of Darkness.
- Swiss-Army Tears: Crying for the first time in her life is what finally causes the Princess to regain her gravity.
- Troperiffic: The story is chock-full of fairy tale tropes: one childless couple who desperately want a child, a main character who is a princess, a wicked witch who curses the baby during her christening out of spite...
