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The article presents information on the Hans Christian Anderson's fairytale "The Little Mermaid" and discusses how the mermaid in the text can be seen as an icon, a saint-like representation, whose existence is articulated. It notes that the iconicity of the Little Mermaid is tied to two sources: Edvard Ericksen's famous bronze statue erected on the Copenhagen waterfront in 1913 and Anderson's fairytale from 1837. It discusses the qualities that changed the course of tradition and supplied modern industrial, popular, and mass culture with material. It also describes the film version produced by Walt Disney.

Discusses the focus of the novel "Lykke Per," by Henrik Pontoppidan on the problem of spiritual authority during the early modernism in Denmark. Possible reasons behind the use of fairy tale by Pontoppidan; Similarities between the themes in the work of Pontoppidan and Henrik Ibsen's "Peer Gynt"; Comparison between Pontoppidan and the main character in his novel.