Green Knight

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/greenknight.html

In the green knight the father is trapped by a promise he makes to his wife on her deathbed. He promises to give the daughter whatever she wants if it is within his power. This is similar to the donkeyskin tales in that the mother is a partly the troublemaker. The princess wishes for her father to marry a countess whom the princess loves. The Countess and the countess’s daughter pretend to be loving female companions. The king warned his daughter about the females’ two–faced nature but marries the countess as the princess wishes. The father is again at the mercy of the previous wife but unlike the other stories the young princess is also at fault because she fails to listen to good advice and fails to see the inner being. She deludes herself. Another interesting twist is that the father stays or wants to stay devoted to the old wife. He has no wish to remarry. He wishes to remain pure, chaste and steadfast.
After suffering the princess moves to a castle on an island as her father suggests. The parent child conflict is subdued. The princess is no longer fleeing from the lusty father or unjust law. The conflict is the confined to the biological daughter and step-mother/sister. Meloncholic, the princess tells her father that she wants the green knight when he returns from a voyage. The green knight is the green of the churchyard. In other versions the princess is an active agent. She runs away and puts objects into dishes. She arranges a marriage or new life. This princess is much more passive. She is emo and even suicidal. Weird!
Differing from the other tales the prince and not the biological mother comes to the princess’s aid. The Prince or green knight transforms into a bird and flies to the princess when she reads a passage. The magic is not cute and whimsical as in the Perrault and unlike the Grimms it is not firmly connected to the daughter’s virtue. This tale adds in a heavy dose of romantic relationship as the prince actually gets to know Princess before he falls in love. He knows her woes and sorrows and talks to her for 3 visits. It’s a lengthy courtship (plans to wait 3 months for father’s blessing). It is implied that unlike other princesses she has a voice and the prince does want her because she is an object to be gazed at but someone with whom he has meaningful conversations. Awh! Like the other donkeyskin tales the prince falls ill and he is saved through the princess’s cooking. He also recognizes her in the end and the story completely erases the perfect fit motif. I found it unusual that the story is labeled as a Cinderella type as it is more similar to donkeyskin.