Theodor Storm\u27s The Rainmaiden : A Creative Process

Theodor Storm\u27s life-long interest in writing fairy tales found its most consummate expression in 1863 with the writing of The Rainmaiden” ( Die Regentrude ). The story of a young girl who enters a subterranean realm in order to awaken the sleeping rainmaiden and to revive a drought-stricken countryside is a metaphor for Storm\u27s own descent into the realm of his subconscious in order to activate his slumbering creative powers. Both the author and his protagonist successfully locate the fecundating impulses they seek: the latter by discovering the source for the rain that will restore the arid farmlands, and the former by finding the means to revitalize his imagination and to produce not only this tale but also two others The Rainmaiden is shown to be the story of its own making: a narrative about and demonstration of a search for fertility and creativity