I like those stories since I was a kid. I still watch or read whenever I find one. I also like how they picture books belong to this genre. They make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Do you like them? Which one is your favorite? My favorite is the Wolf and the Seven Kids.
I enjoy the uncensored, dark original fairy tales, such as the Grimm tales. It's crazy how much modern versions omitted
Ah yes. I have love for those as well. My favorite among originals is probably the Sleeping Beauty. It sounds more reasonable somehow.
Disney got me onto fairy tales as a kid, and I really enjoyed both the Disney films and reading the original tales. There's a German "Beauty and the Beast" story that is about a girl and a wolf, it's sort of a blend between Beauty and the Beast and Red Riding Hood. I recall really enjoying that one in particular. I'm not positive of the title, though.
I had a whole book of folk tales as a kid. I can't remember any of the titles, but there was one about 4 brothers who split at a crossroads or something, one about bringing cat back from overseas and of course, Puss in Boots
I like them. I enjoyed reading the stories then watching the film versions of them. There's something to be said about watching Beauty and the Beast in French, the language that it actually would be in, had it been real and in that exact place. Just like with watching the Little Mermaid in Danish or Rapunzel in German.
Ah, fairy tales. I remember my mom telling me the old stories and shit-talking the main characters. When she would tell Repunzel, we would poke fun at what a naive ditz Repunzel was! "Oh, mother, you are so much heavier than my boyfriend!" "I'm not pregnant! I'm...fat." oh, and what a bitch her real mother was, and how whipped her father was! But even better than that was when my brother and I acted out The Fisherman and his Wife one day. I played the wife and the magic fish.
I think I know the one with 3 princes... it might be Russian in origin Forget that part, I mistaken it with this. However there are different variations of the story, like arrows on tree trunk which bleed if one of the brothers in danger and such. I also remember one from my fairy tale book but can't recall whole details. There was a prince or boy who was saving a princess from a glass mountain by wearing lynx paws... for me at that time that was coolest thing.
I love faerytales, and I am writing a thesis on them soon (this will probably help me enormously as a post, feeling very unmotivated right now.) Can I suggest some older ones that are really good and the basis for lots of modern tales. I don't read them in the original languages either, so don't worry! Italy -Il Pentamerone- Basile: there are some great ones including Parsley: a kind of Rapunzel-esque source text. It has a frame narrative (as does the one below) with an interesting 'tell me a tale about a tale' theme. -Le piacevoli notti - Straparola German -Brothers' Grimm- can I recommend to get an early edition if you are going to read them; they did many editions, which seemed to become more academic and restricted. Most modern editions are later after Wilheim took more charge and had different priorities then when he and Johann worked together. Danish -Hans Christian Anderson- my all time favourites, especially Snow Queen; the ice in the eye device is glorious French -Perrault- these are very moral, because they were written for the French court by an author part of a family very concerned with becoming 'society people'. Angela Carter's re-writing of these are good because they so gently tease out the daftness and idealism of the morals. Scottish -Andrew Lang did a range of coloured books, all with slightly different focuses -Sir William Douglas did a cool book combining written faerytales and oral folktales, there is a twisted lay called something like 'Loch of Knockdolan' and a strange tale about an old magical woman in a hole in a woman's garden called 'Habitrot'. Modern Tales -Anyone into Angela Carter's faerytales? I think they are great, especially recommend 'The Bloody Chamber': Snow Child, Wolf Alice and The Courtship of Mr Lyons. Sorry if it is like I am rambling, or becoming all academic. It isn't at all that, I am just thrilled when I meet people who like faerytales too :icon_bigg Also I recommend Signe Pike- Faerytales; she quit/took leave from her job to go hunting for faeries and people's beliefs in faerytales. It is a great book.
I could list a few, like the Arabian Nights (1,0001 Nights), the Odyssey, or even some religious texts, but, at the end of the day... My favorite tales are: A crow was sitting on a branch of a tree, with a piece of cheese in her beak, when a fox observed her and set his wits to work, to discover some way of getting the cheese. Coming and standing under the tree, he looked up and said: " What a noble bird I see above me! Her beauty is without equal, the hue of her plumage exquisite. If only her voice is as sweet as her looks are fair, she ought without doubt to be queen of the birds. " The crow was hugely flattered by this, and just to show the fox that she could sing, she gave a loud caw. Down came the cheese, of course, and the fox, snatching it up, said: " You have a voice, madam, I see. What you want is wits. " -+- Aesop's Fables, The Fox and the Crow -+- And A scorpion was washed up on the shore of an island. Unable to swim, the scorpion was forced to remain on the island. One day, a frog approached the island. The scorpion asks the frog, " Brother Frog, might I ask you the favor, of allowing me to ride upon your back, so that I may return home? " The frog replies: " But you will sting me, Brother Scorpion. I do not want to die. " The scorpion points out, if he did sting the frog, that they would both die. And this appeased the frog, who then allowed the scorpion upon his back, to begin the return home. Halfway, the frog is stung. As the frog begins to slip into death, he asks the scorpion, why? The scorpion simply says, as it too drowns, " It is but my nature. " -+- The Scorpion and the Frog -+-
Alais and Kaiser thanks for the lists. I heard the Scorpion and the Frog one with a snake instead of a scorpion. Also there was a book I read when I was young named Kelile & Dimne (Calila e Dimna in English according to wiki) whose work was similar to Aesop and La Fontaine.
My favorite Fairy Tale is Red Riding hood , I would beg my dad to read it over and over to me . Another favorite was snow white I liked fairy tales that have a bit of horror or scary element to them . But red Red Riding hood is my all time favorite .
I love a book called Briar Rose by an author called Jane Yolen. It is a story is based on the German fairy tale briar Rose which is basically sleeping beauty. I had to read it for school in high school and i just fell in love with it. It bases the idea of sleeping beauty and centers int around the holocaust. It is very deep and keeps you in and feeling connected the whole time.
You are very welcome. In regards to fables and such stories, many mediaeval compendiums create a similar moralistic feel. An example in Middle English would be the Bestiaries, and perhaps in Old English some of the more animalistic poems such as The Whale and The Panther (in the Exeter Book codex). There are of course companion pieces in Latin. (Yes warning, mediaevalist in the house)
