Summary
Summary of The Moon Princess
The Moon Princess at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 1 h 50 min1 h 25 min fast, 2 h 10 min slow
- Length
- 26,200 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1902by Edith Ogden Harrison
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
Key ideas
Key idea 1
A silver road leads home
Ethelda, the Moon's youngest and dearest daughter, is marrying Dorion, a prince of the Sun. On her wedding day she may ask for anything, and she chooses a honeymoon on Earth. Her mother fears the journey but cannot refuse her wish.
The Moon sends maidens with her daughter and lays a ladder of moonlight from the palace to Earth. A law calls Moon maidens home after a year, but the ladder promises something gentler: Ethelda may return whenever she chooses.
Key idea 2
An invitation unsettles the bride
Earth holds a ball for the bridal couple, honoring the Sun whose warmth makes her fruitful.
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Key idea 3
The sea treasures different things
The Ocean King's chariot carries the party across the waves to his palace.
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Key idea 4
Birdsong carries a fairy story
On the southern shore, a messenger becomes the party's guide toward the Valley of Enchantment.
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Key idea 5
Asgard keeps faith with hope
Prince Asgard's country suffers without rain.
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Key idea 6
Love leaves marks on Earth
Another tale tells how Minio wins the love of Kuldah, the Sun King's daughter.
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Key idea 7
Promises reveal the quality of love
Selene's suitors promise that whoever she refuses will remain loyal.
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Key idea 8
Gifts cannot replace another person's freedom
The dwarf welcomes the travelers respectfully, but when Ethelda pauses to gather ferns, he seizes her and sinks into the earth.
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Key idea 9
The world becomes a family
Ethelda's bridal journey brings together kingdoms ruled by the Sun, Moon, Earth and Ocean.
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Go deeper: the whole of The Moon Princess
About 1 h 50 min to read.Who it’s for
You will love this book if you enjoy fairy tales that explain the world, stories of brides and princes, or tales to read aloud.
What this book is
Why would a princess of the sky beg to spend her honeymoon on Earth? Her mother, the Moon, dreads the request, but she grants it anyway. She lays a ladder of silver light from her white palace down to the sea.
The Moon Princess by Edith Ogden Harrison is a fairy tale about Ethelda, youngest daughter of the Moon, and her husband Dorion, a prince of the Sun. Each place the bridal party visits has a story that explains something in nature. Under it all runs a thread of fear, for a short, ugly dwarf bows to the bride at the first great ball, and he does not forget her.
In this summary
- 1A mother grants a wish she dreadsFree
- 2The Earth gives a ball and a dwarf bows
- 3Under the sea, wonders are measured differently
- 4A guide tells tales of the south and the marsh
- 5The Rainbow Sisters and a prince who will not give up
- 6Stars, geysers, and a beach of jewels
- 7Two tales of love, treachery, and a red sky
- 8The dwarf strikes and the Star Chamber
- 9Home, wonder, and how the tale is told
Key point 1 of 9
A mother grants a wish she dreads
The tale opens with a sad Moon. Her youngest and dearest child, Ethelda, is betrothed to Dorion, a prince of the Sun. By an old custom, a bride may ask for whatever she most desires on her wedding day, and it cannot be denied. Ethelda asks to spend her honeymoon on Earth.
The mother has one comfort, a wise law that calls every Moon maiden home after a single year. So she hides her grief and sends a hundred of her loveliest maidens along.
Then comes the farewell. Her mother begs her not to stay beyond her time. Below the window of the white palace stretches a ladder of moonlight, reaching the foaming ocean and the green forests. It is the Queen's promise that her daughter may come home whenever she chooses. The knights and maidens march down it while the Moon smiles and sighs.
A loving mother grants a feared wish and leaves a silver road home.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
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Check yourself
What does the ladder of moonlight promise Ethelda?
Right. “It is the Queen's promise that her daughter may come home whenever she chooses.”Not quite. “It is the Queen's promise that her daughter may come home whenever she chooses.”
Why will the Rainbow Sisters forgive Asgard's people?
Right. “She tells him that for her sake, her sisters will forgive his people.”Not quite. “She tells him that for her sake, her sisters will forgive his people.”
What separates the dwarf's desire from love?
Right. “Each day she refuses and asks to be taken home.”Not quite. “Each day she refuses and asks to be taken home.”
Go deeper: the whole of The Moon Princess
About 1 h 50 min to read.Paperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
Questions about The Moon Princess
What is The Moon Princess about?
It follows Ethelda, a daughter of the Moon, and her husband Dorion, a Sun prince, on a honeymoon to Earth. A guide tells tales that explain natural wonders, while a black dwarf plots to take the bride.
Who is the black dwarf in The Moon Princess?
He is a hunchbacked, scowling builder of mountains who lives deep in the forest with thousands of imps. He bows politely at the Earth's ball, but he has set his heart on marrying Ethelda.
What is the Moon ladder in the story?
It is a ladder of moonlight, built by the Moon Queen's sprites, that runs from her palace to a beach on Earth. It is her promise that her daughter may come home whenever she wishes.
Is The Moon Princess a true story, and who wrote it?
No, it is an invented fairy tale by Edith Ogden Harrison, who died in 1955. It borrows real places and things, like geysers, deserts and mockingbirds, and gives each a legend.
Is The Moon Princess a good read-aloud book for children?
Yes, it suits reading aloud. It has short chapters, clear plain language, and tales in the middle that stand on their own. Each stop explains something like a flower, a bird or a sunset.
Cite this edition
Harrison, Edith Ogden. The Moon Princess. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-moon-princess.
Harrison, E. O. (2026). The Moon princess. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-moon-princess (Original work published 1902)
Harrison, Edith Ogden. The Moon Princess. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-moon-princess.
@book{harrison2026moon,
author = {Harrison, Edith Ogden},
title = {The Moon Princess},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-moon-princess},
note = {First published 1902}
}
