Rapunzel

A peasant couple knows that their unborn child will live and die in the mud, unsung and unappreciated. They want more.

They find the witch in her forest tower, an ivory monument choked by thorns. They call up to her, begging her -- take our child when she is born. Raise her to greatness. Raise her to power. Raise her to magic.

The witch obliges.

The child is born and taken, and the witch cherishes her new apprentice. She calls her bellflower, rampion, Rapunzel. She imbues her name with magic, breathes power into her with every word. Like the rampion you will nourish. Like the bellflower you will charm.

And it is true. Rapunzel grows in power and beauty, a blossom rising towards the sun. Every day the witch leaves through the window, riding Rapunzel's long fair hair. Every day she returns, bearing herbs and crystals to show Rapunzel the magic in each one. She shows Rapunzel how to ward off hunger and sadness, thirst and fury.

As Rapunzel approaches her twenty-first year, a prince arrives. He calls up, begging the witches for their aid, for his kingdom is destitute and overrun by monsters. The witch has little pity, but Rapunzel replies:

"I will go with you, for a price -- I will save your kingdom, and you will make me your queen."

The prince agrees in his desperation, and Rapunzel is pleased. The witch cuts her hair and ties it to the window, and Rapunzel climbs down her own locks into the prince's arms.

Rapunzel uses her great and wondrous magic to save the kingdom. She slays dragons and ghouls and leads armies against hellish fiends. In return the prince keeps his promise -- he crowns her Queen Rapunzel the Bellflower, Protector of the Realm.

And as her parents wished, Rapunzel achieved greatness and power, thanks to the teachings of the witch.