Once

upon a time

Fairy tales are part of the oral tradition of literature.

What makes the fairy tale

different from folklore, fables,
and tall tales is its use of magic
and fantasy.

The supernatural characters in fairy stories are not always

fairy godmothers or winged sprites.
They may be magicians, ogres,

dragons

goblins, gnomes, or leprechauns.

elfs,

Often fairy tales involve ordinary people who have

experiences of a supernatural kind and are affected
by charms, disguises, spells, or other fantastic
occurrences.

In The Sleeping Beauty, a princess is

shut up by enchantment in a castle and
sleeps for 100 years; the thick wood that
grows up around the castle is penetrated
by a prince who awakens the princess
with a kiss.

Although the stories were told centuries ago to

entertain children, many were originally written for
adults.

As their popularity spread, the fairy tale came to

have a major influence on children's literature.

Authors of Fairy Tales

include:

Born in Paris, France in 1628

Collected fairy tales and

published Tales of Mother
Goose in 1697
Among the eight stories in this
book are The Sleeping Beauty,
Little Red Riding Hood, Blue
Beard, and Cinderella.

Died in 1703

In the early 19th century the Grimm brothers of Germany claimed

to have traveled around the countryside collecting stories. It has
recently been discovered that they collected the stories from literate
bourgeois women. However, they kept their identities a secret.

Their 200 stories commonly called Grimms Fairy

Tales have been translated into 70 languages.
Fewer people know about the lives of
the Grimm brothers and how they
went about the countryside listening
to folktales as told by those who had
heard them from their mothers and
fathers.

The brothers were born in Germany.

Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was

born on Jan. 4, 1785.

Wilhelm Carl Grimm

was born on Feb. 24, 1786.

The brothers went to school determined to study

law as their father had done.
However, while attending school, Jacob
became interested in the legends and both
discovered that they enjoyed folk poetry.
Because of these interests, Wilhelm
obtained a job in a library and Jacob joined
him.

The brothers
quiet, scholarly
Jacob

and the more

friendly, jovial
Wilhelm

spent some 13 years collecting stories "from the lips

of people" of Hesse in middle Germany.
The first volume of Nursery and Household
Tales was published in Berlin in 1812
A second volume was published in
1815 and a third in 1822.

Sometimes there were several versions of the stories, and

these the Grimms combined into one.
Wilhelm revised and altered the fairy tales to be the
voice of the people and to reflect German bourgeois
tendencies.
Should Rumpelstiltskin ride around the
fire in a ladle, or should he hop around it
on one foot?
Should a wolf
live in the sugar house
found by Hansel and
Gretel?

or a witch

Another writer whose tales became universally popular

was

He was born April 2, 1805, on the island of Fyn, off

the coast of Denmark.
He memorized and recited plays to
anyone who would listen.
To put an end to this, his mother apprenticed him first
to a weaver, then to a tobacconist, and finally to a
tailor.

Hans Christian knew these occupations were not for

him. The only things that held his interest were the
theater, books, and stories

When he was 14, he decided to go to Copenhagen, the

capital of Denmark, and seek his fortune.

Andersen's writings began to be published in Danish

in 1829. His first works were poems, plays, novels,
and impressions of his travels. He was slow to
discover that he especially excelled in explaining
the essential character of children.
In 1835 Andersen published Fairy
Tales Told for Children.
He published these short stories with little
appreciation of their worth and returned to the
writing of novels and poems. However, people who
read the stories--adults as well as children--wanted
more.

In 1833 the king gave him a grant of money for travel, and he
spent 16 months wandering through Germany, France,
Switzerland, and Italy.

Germany

Switzerland
France

Italy

Andersen published 168 fairy tales in all.

"The real ones come of themselves," he
said. "They knock at my forehead and
say, 'Here I am'."

Although he never married

and had no children of his
own, he was at his best as an
interpreter of the nature of
children.
He died on Aug. 4, 1875.

Although these authors lived long ago and far away...

Andersen--Denmark
Perrault--France
Us-United
States

Grimm Brothers--Germany

...the appeal and popularity of the tales, continue to

entertain us and we live happily

ever after.

Resources:
Comptons Encyclopedia Online v3.0 c 1998 The
Learning Co., Inc.
Andersen, Hans Christian
Fairy Tale
Grimm Brothers
Mother Goose
Perrault, Charles
Perault Tales
Maps: European Countries; c. 1996 Houghton Mifflin Co.
Denmark; About.com
World; Silver Burdett Gim Inc.
Pictures: Sleeping Beauty--Comptons
Encyclopedia Online v3.0
c. 1998, The Learning Co., Inc., Fairy Tale
Charles Perrault--Petit Larousse, Dictionnaire des
citations
Hans Christian
Andersen--www.kb.dk/elib/illbooks/hcaportr/
Clip Art: Witch--www.clip-art.com