Yong-nyeo- Korean DragonDragon"Princess of the Dragon Palace"
Also known as: 용녀 and 龍女
Description
A mortal man rescues a sea turtle, returns a lost treasure, or cures the Dragon King's illness, and the grateful Yongwang offers his daughter in marriage. The Dragon Princess rises from the Yonggung with pearls and magical gifts, crossing from the underwater palace to the surface world as a bride between realms.
Mythology & Lore
The Bride from Below the Waves
The story runs like this across Korean folk tradition, from Jeju to the mainland: a mortal man does the Dragon King a service he cannot repay with gold. He rescues a turtle. He returns a stolen treasure. He cures the king's illness. The reward Yongwang offers is his daughter.
Yong-nyeo leaves the Yonggung, the underwater palace of coral and pearl, and accompanies her husband to the surface. She brings with her treasures from the deep: pearls, or the yeouiju itself, the wish-granting pearl that holds the wealth of the sea. She is beautiful, loyal, and her presence fills the household with fortune.
But she is a being of the water living in the air. In some tales she adapts and stays. In others, she yearns for the sea and eventually returns to the Yonggung, leaving her husband wealthy and alone.
Relationships
- Family