The Quest for the Earliest Fairy Tales by Heidi Anne Heiner. The Quest for the Earliest Fairy Tales: Searching for the Earliest Versions of European Fairy Tales with Commentary on English Translationsby Heidi Anne Heiner. This article isn't completed yet, but there is still quite a bit of helpful information provided. Note: Many of the significant historical events described in this article are included in Sur. La. Lune's A Fairy Tale Timeline. I have also created an Amazon Listmania List at History of the Earliest Fairy Tales. The quest for the earliest versions of fairy tales has become a popular topic with Sur. La. Lune readers over the years, becoming one of the most frequently asked categories of questions. While it is a question easily asked, it's far from easily answered. The challenge begins with the nature of the literary fairy tale, in other words, the tale recorded into a print medium, making it accessible to readers, fixing it in one form in print.
Grimm's Fairy Tales for Adults (1969) Posters at AllPosters.com. Choose from over 500,000 Posters and Art Prints. Value Framing, Fast Delivery, 100% Satisfaction.Imagine a world where the characters from your favorite childhood fairy tales and fables are armed. Hansel with a hunting rifle. Or Little Red Riding Hood’s granny. Literary tales, overall, have derived from oral traditions. Once recorded and published, the literary tales have in turn influenced oral tradition. Occasionally, original literary tales have entered oral tradition; Beauty and the Beast is a shining example as well as some of Hans Christian Andersen's tales. Scholars are forced to rely on the few literary versions, fixed in print, to represent folklore tradition, making it a fascinating but inexact science. Sur. La. Lune's primary focus is on the literary tale, presenting and annotating versions of the most popular tales in primarily western European and United States cultures. Study of tales predating the earliest literary versions is the work of doctoral dissertations and professional folklorists. In the end, while the research is commendable, the theories are just that, theories based on fragments, descriptions of tales in other sources, and other mostly vague references. It is unlikely an earlier manuscript is going to come to surface now. Obviously, no one is alive today to share the earliest versions as he or she heard them centuries ago. This type of research involves a great knowledge of early literature and study of the original documents in their original tongues. On the other hand, Sur. La. Lune offers information, and often English translations, on the earliest known literary versions of the tales. The challenge is to find the information. This article is being added in hopes of guiding you to the information you seek. Before we begin, please don't expect modern day horror stories. We are still dealing with fairy tales and folklore here. It is true that the older versions of the tales contain adult content which has been edited, glossed over, or deleted over the years, primarily sex, incest, murder, and cannibalism to name a few. Yes, Sleeping Beauty is raped while she sleeps. Donkeyskin's father is incestuous. Cinderella is a murderess. Still, we are talking descriptions and action more in nature with the bawdiness and horrors of Greek and Roman mythology and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Do not go searching for the equivalent of Stephen King at his most descriptive. By the way, many of these early variants of familiar tales just described are found in Giambattista Basile's Il Pentamerone, but more about that in a bit. Ancient Greece and Rome. The earliest known origins of fairy tales go back to the worlds' earliest cultures and their mythologies, but in forms barely recognizable as fairy tales. For obvious geographic reasons, Greek and Roman mythology have the strongest connection to western European folklore. Graham Anderson has written an excellent book, Fairytale in the Ancient World, in which he explores the common themes and possible influences of ancient mythology on our fairy tales. Anderson's research and theories are strong; his book is highly recommended if your interests lean towards mythology and its relation to fairy tales. After ancient mythology, fairy tale history skips centuries until circa 1. A. D. It is a collection of tales and anecdotes thought to have influenced William Shakespeare and Edmund Spenser, author of The Faerie Queen. While these two books are important in folklore, neither collection had a significantly direct influence on the stories found in our modern day European fairy tales. For this reason, neither is presented on Sur. La. Lune at this time. Medieval Fairy Tales. A new book published in early 2. Fairy Tales from Before Fairy Tales: The Medieval Latin Past of Wonderful Lies by Jan M. I haven't had the opportunity to review the book yet, but it appears to be a study of folklore and fairy tales of the time period. Italy. In 1. 55. 0 and 1. Italy, Gianfrancesco Straparola published two volumes comprising Le Piacevoli Notti or The Facetious Nights, also known as The Pleasant Nights and The Delightful Nights. The first volume appeared in France as early as 1. These volumes contain some of the earliest versions of literary fairy tales, such as Costantino Fortunato (like Puss in Boots) and Biancabella and the Snake (like Girl Without Hands/Armless Maiden). The Facetious Nights has been translated in its entirety into English only once by E. Fortunately, this translation is out of copyright and is now available on Sur. La. Lune at The Facetious Nights. Bottigheimer and Out of the Woods: The Origins of the Literary Fairy Tale in Italy and France by Nancy L. More recent translations of some of the most significant tales are available in Jack Zipes' The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm. Less than a hundred years later, but once again in Italy, Giambattista Basile wrote. Il Pentamerone, also known as Lo cunto de le cunti (The Tale of Tales). It is written in the hard- to- translate Neapolitan dialect. Volumes 1- 3 appeared in 1. They were published posthumously since Basile died in 1. Due to its obscure dialect, the collection was not first published in Italian until 1. German in 1. 84. 6, and English in 1. However, Il Pentamerone contains many tales that are directly related to many of today's most popular tales, including Cenerentola (like Cinderella), Sun, Moon, and Talia (like Sleeping Beauty), Petrosinella (like Rapunzel), and Gagliuso (like Puss in Boots). Their existence in this collection, albeit in sometimes drastically different versions, shows that the tales did exist in oral tradition and influenced Basile's writing almost 4. Barring the few similar tales by Straparola, Basile provides the earliest known literary versions of many of today's fairy tales. Like The Facetious Nights, Il Pentamerone has been translated in its entirety into English less than a handful of times. Canepa has a new translation published in 2. The first English translation by John Edward Taylor in 1. Taylor's translation is available on Sur. La. Lune. Sir Richard Burton, most famous for his translation of 1,0. Nights, also translated Il Pentamerone, including the bawdier tales Taylor had omitted. However, Burton's translation emphasizes the ribald elements, perhaps more than the original, making it problematic, too. At this time, Burton's Il Pentamerone is not available online, although one of the long term goals is to publish it on Sur. La. Lune. At this time, Benedetto Croce's translation is probably the best and definitely contains the most comprehensive study of the book in English. Alas, it is still very much in copyright, but readily available through most academic libraries or interlibrary loan at your public library. Further reading about Basile and his Il Pentamerone should include From Court to Forest: Giambattista Basile's Lo Cunto De Li Cunti and the Birth of the Literary Fairy Tale by Nancy L. Canepa, Out of the Woods: The Origins of the Literary Fairy Tale in Italy and France by Nancy L. Canepa, and Jack Zipes' The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm. Two other significant collections of Italian fairy tales are Italian Popular Tales (available on Sur. La. Lune) by Thomas Crane and Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino. France. In the late 1. French Salons were filled with fairy tale writing, primarily by women writers. Many of the tales were influenced by oral traditions, but most did not end up influencing oral tradition directly. The most prolific and influential author is Marie- Catherine D'Aulnoy. She published four volumes of fairy tales. They were translated into English in 1. Her most famous tale today is The White Cat. Many of the writings from the French salons have never been translated into English. The best collections of translations include The Fairy Tales of Madame D'Aulnoy (available in its entirety on this site) and Jack Zipes' Beauties, Beasts, and Enchantment: Classic French Fairy Tales. This book is out of print, but can usually be found in larger libraries or as a used copy. A paperback edition is in print, Beauty and the Beast and Other Classic French Fairy Tales, but it omits some of the tales provided in the hardcover edition. For example, the translation of Gabrielle de Villeneuve's Beauty and the Beast from 1. The shorter version by Madame Le Prince de Beaumont in 1. Marina Warner also edited Wonder Tales: Six French Stories of Enchantment, presenting six salon tales. The French Salons directly influenced the literary fairy tale by increasing the overall popularity of tales. The Gruesome Side of Grimms' Fairy Tales. Not all fairy tales end in “happily ever after.” — Credit: AForest. Frolic (via Flickr)When some people think of fairy tales from their youth, they can count on one thing — a “happily ever after.” But fairy tales weren’t always feel- good stories. Many were downright morbid. These fairy tales of old — like those passed down by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm — were more often cautionary tales meant to teach children hard lessons. The Brothers Grimm became famous for their retellings of these old German folk tales, in all their gory glory. But thanks to brands like Disney, the fairy tales children grow up with today scarcely resemble their darker origins. Let’s explore those “grimm” beginnings. The Dark Side of Grimms’ Fairy Tales. Here are some of the darkest elements to be found in early translations of Grimms’ fairy tales, including some specific examples from some popular and lesser- known stories. Murder. A bone flute — Credit: asgitner (via Wikimedia)Perhaps one of the most basic dark elements common to Grimms’ fairy tales is murder. The particularly disturbing part is that murder in fairy tales very often happens within families. The Juniper Tree. A woman decides to eliminate her stepson so her daughter can inherit all of her father’s riches. She chops off the boy’s head by slamming a chest shut on it as he reaches in for an apple. To make matters worse, she props his head back onto his body and ties the head on with a scarf (so apparently no one will realize he’s been murdered). She then prompts her own daughter to “box his ears” if he doesn’t respond to her, thereby making her daughter think she murdered her brother. The Singing Bone. Two brothers are tasked with killing a wild boar, with the successful one promised the king’s daughter’s hand in marriage. One brother goes out and kills the boar. When his drunk brother sees this he murders the successful brother and takes the boar to the king himself to claim the princess. How Some Children Played at Slaughtering. This is actually two short tales from Grimms’ first edition. In one a group of children “play at slaughtering” with a child being chosen to play a pig. The “butcher” in the group slits his throat while other catches his blood in a bowl (to later make sausage). The murderous child is let go in that first one. In the second tale we have two brothers. Again, one plays a butcher and one plays the pig. The “pig” has his throat slit. The boys’ mother, who was bathing a third child at the time, comes downstairs at the commotion. She grabs the knife and stabs her other son in the heart. When she goes back upstairs, the third child had drowned. Cannibalism. If a violent death isn’t enough to turn you off of Grimms’ fairy tales, how do you feel about devouring human flesh? Cannibalism is another theme found within several of their collected stories. The Robber Bridegroom. A young woman is promised to a man by her father. She never gets a good feeling about the guy, and she’s warned by a bird that she is in a murderer’s house when she visits her bridegroom’s home for the first time. As it turns out, her bridegroom has no intention to marry her and live happily ever after. He and his fellow robbers instead capture girls, kill them, and eat them. She sees them do this to another young woman before escaping. The Juniper Tree. After murdering her stepson, the woman in this tale chops up his body and feeds him to his own father in the form of stew. Mutilation. Parents in some of Grimms’ tales seem to have no problem ordering the mutilation of their children’s bodies (or even doing it themselves). These two tales are perfect examples. Cinderella. In older versions of this tale, the two stepsisters mutilate their feet in an attempt to fit into the glass (or golden, depending on the version) slipper. One cuts off her big toe and the other cuts off part of her heel — all at their mother’s instruction. After all, notes their mother, “when you are queen you will no longer have to go on foot.”The Girl Without Hands. Long story short, a father is instructed by the devil to chop off his daughter’s hands. And he does. Child Abuse & Neglect. The Girl With No Hands — Credit: cheekycrows. Flickr)One of the darker themes found in Grimms’ tales that sometimes survives into the sanitized versions is that of child abuse and neglect. For example, you probably know the story of Snow White’s stepmother sending a huntsman after her to kill her in the forest. Planning to murder your children seems to be an unfortunate, but common, theme in these early folk tales. Hansel and Gretel. In Hansel and Gretel, the children are deserted in the forest after their stepmother convinces their father that they’d be better off without an extra two mouths to feed. When the children find their way home following a trail of pebbles, that doesn’t stop the loving parents from trying again to leave them for dead. The Twelve Brothers. In this tale a king decides that he wants his pregnant wife to bear him a daughter, and when that daughter is born he wants her to be his sole heir. Therefore he has 1. Fortunately the queen warned one of the boys and he was able to get his brothers to safety. The Girl Without Hands. The father in this tale chops off his daughter’s hands solely to save his own skin. And this was all because he couldn’t keep her dirty enough for the devil (her tears washed her hands clean and the devil had no power over her if she was clean — meaning pure and pious). The devil swore to take the man himself if he couldn’t deliver his daughter. The Juniper Tree. Before the stepmother murders her stepson, she abuses him. This quote comes from an early version of the tale. If you grew up reading the “originals” you would have learned that bad deeds are not only punished, but punished severely. Cinderella. Unlike the Disney series of Cinderella tales where the stepsisters see redemption, in early versions they have their eyes pecked out by birds and are forced to live the rest of their lives as lame blind beggar women (after having already mutilated their own feet). The Twelve Brothers. In this tale we don’t directly witness the murders. But it’s noted that the 1. That ends when one brother meets their sister and strikes a deal to have her spared (and she in turn redeems them after she accidentally turns them into ravens). The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids. After a wolf eats six of her seven kids whole, a mother goat cuts open the wolf’s stomach to save her kids. But rather than leaving it at that, she seeks revenge by filling his opened stomach with stones. As the wolf goes to the river to drink, the stones weigh him down and he falls in where he drowns. Little Red Cap (Little Red Riding Hood)In a very similar ending, some versions of the Little Red Cap story also end with a wolf’s stomach being cut open. In this case it is a huntsman who finds the wolf and cuts his stomach open to rescue the girl and her grandmother (who were also swallowed whole). And again, they fill the stomach of the wolf with rocks, which kills him. Snow White. Forget the innocence you probably think of when reading about Snow White. The Grimms’ version shows a more vengeful side. The evil queen is forced to wear a pair of iron shoes heated on burning coals, in which she must dance until she dies. The Singing Bone. After it becomes known that the husband of the princess actually killed his brother and stole the wild boar he was tasked to find and kill, he’s put to death himself. Just to make this story a little darker, his acts became known after his dead brother’s bone surfaced, was turned into a flute, and tattled on him through song. The Robber Bridegroom. After she discovers that her bridegroom is killing and eating women, the young woman has him come to her family’s house for their wedding. She then tells the tale of what she witnessed and even has a victim’s chopped- off finger as proof. Her family then seizes the man and his fellow robbers and they are all executed for their crimes. Suicide. Rumpelstiltskin — Credit: Walter Crane (via Wikimedia)Sometimes the violence in fairy tales is less about violence done unto others, and instead violence done unto oneself — generally in some sort of fit. Rumpelstiltskin. People read into the ending of Rumpelstiltskin differently — whether his actions constitute suicide- by- rage or an accident. But in the end of the tale when the little man doesn’t get his way, he tears himself right in half. Bearskin. There are three sisters and one man who made a deal with the devil. Basically he has to spend 7 years unwashed and wearing a bear skin as a cloak (and using it as his only bed) to see a lifetime of wealth. He shows kindness to a stranger who then promises Bearskin one of his three daughters. When he meets the sisters, the elder two are repulsed by him. But the youngest agrees to marry him when he returns in three years (the end of his seven year deal). When he returns, the two elder sisters are so infuriated that this now- handsome and wealthy man is going to marry their sister instead of them that they both kill themselves. One drowns herself in a well and the other hangs herself from a tree. How Some Children Played at Slaughtering. In the second of these two tales, after seeing all three of her children dead, the mother then commits suicide by hanging herself. Violence Against Animals. The Frog Prince — Credit: Robert Anning Bell (via Wikimedia)Children and women weren’t the only common victims of violence in Grimm’s fairy tales. Animals saw their fair share too. The Frog Prince. Older translations don’t have a princess kissing a frog to turn him back into a prince. Instead the young princess, repulsed by the frog, throws him against a wall. Somehow that fit of violence breaks the spell he was under. The Bremen Town Musicians. This tale features a donkey, a dog, a cat, and a rooster. They venture to Bremen to become musicians.
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