The Grimm tale “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” features twelve princesses. Each night, the sisters secretly leave their locked bedroom, travel to an underground palace, and dance until their shoes are worn out.
The king cannot understand how twelve daughters could exhaust a new pair of shoes every morning. He announces that any man who discovers their secret may marry one of the princesses and inherit the kingdom. Several princes fail, but an old soldier follows an old woman’s advice, avoids the drugged wine offered by the sisters, and uses an invisibility cloak to observe them.
The number twelve shapes the entire story. There are twelve princesses, twelve underground princes, twelve boats, and twelve pairs of dancing shoes. The soldier collects evidence from the magical realm, including branches from silver, gold, and diamond trees.
The tale was collected from German oral tradition by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. In the first edition it appeared in 1815 as tale number 47; later editions renumbered it KHM 133. Variants from other countries sometimes reduce the number of dancing girls, but the Grimm version specifically has twelve.