Once Upon a Time

This is my kind of story.

From wikipedia's article on Awilda. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awilda

Awilda, also known as Alwilda, was a legendary female pirate.

Awilda was the daughter of a 5th century Scandinavian king; in one source he was named Synardus and was a "Gothic king". The King, her father, had arranged a marriage for her to Alf, the crown prince of Denmark, whose father was King Sygarus of Denmark. However, Awilda refused her father's choice. She and some of her female friends dressed like sailors and commandeered a ship. While sailing, they came across a pirate ship that had recently lost its captain, and the pirates elected Awilda as their captain. The King of Denmark sent his son and a navy ship to battle with the "irksome" pirates. Prince Alf and his men were able to board their ship and gain the upper hand in the battle. Apparently, Awilda was so impressed with the prince's courage that she revealed her true identity, and agreed to marry Alf. They married on board, and lived happily ever after as King and Queen of Denmark.

The tale smacks of legend and likely is closer to fairy tale than historical fact. But examining the storytelling facets tells us more. Prominently, there is the contrast of feminizing highly masculine concepts; Awilda the king's daughter as not only a pirate, but the captain. There is also the aforementioned princess trope, the romantic star of many a fable. In some feminist analysis, the princess concept is less that of a girl and more a representation of qualities attributed to women; captive, virginal, fertile, and thus highly desirable for her baby-making abilities as well as for her father's fortune. The princess is a wealthy future.

Her viability is threatened by becoming a pirate, which normally acts as the greatest threat to the princess bride concept; violence, rape and plunder. But no, Awilda not only refuses to be a victim and play the princess, she leaves it all behind with her coterie of faithful girls disguised as sailors, and then becomes the pirate queen herself. How she convinces he captainless crew of her leadership qualities is beyond me, but I think it speaks to the magical quality of the princess trope; there is just something about her that charms her life. Is it magic? Is it the blessing of a protective deity? Or is she that noble-blooded and well bred that her true royal mien shines through? Generally, the answer is yes.

Still, all female concepts must be defeated by men. In this case, the prince is sent to protect his kingdom from pirates and attacks Awilda's ship. Of course, the story slants a bit to continue to celebrate Awilda's divine glory and preserve her feminine dignity by saying the prince's forces didn't actually win, but were gaining the upper hand in battle. The prince doesn't murder her crew and friends and claim the pirate queen as his bride. No, Awilda is impressed with the prince for his own strength and leadership, attributes she respects in herself as a pirate. She refused the prince's claim to marriage before actually knowing him (or at least knowing him like a man - in battle. Meeting him as a woman left her cold, clearly, but so did being a woman at all.)

To save her crew (like a good pirate captain) and her future (like a good princess) or maybe because the prince's swashbucklery warms her knickers, Awilda reveals her identity and agrees to marry him. They tie the knot of the boat and leave off being mere leaders of warriors or pirates, and instead reign their entire shared kingdom together. It isn't necessary to detail if the gender equality unbalanced after that; were her pirating days just a rebellious princess phase, or if she and her husband continued to meet in battle, this time on the field of marriage? Did she embrace her fertile potential and make lots of Danish babies?

Ultimately, Awilda makes the choice every time. Feminist reading between the lines and cultural storytelling development notwithstanding, I love this.