Fairytales

[Mari]

I've always had an interest in fairytales and I've read quite a few of them too.
My favourite fairytale is that of the girl with the sulfur-sticks. (Not sure what the English title is though)
I can read them while thinking of the moral of the story, but also just for fun. Either way, I love them!

Is there someone who shares my interest?
What is your favourite fairytale? Was there one that scared you when you were little?

[Willow Oran]

I love fairytales! Before I discovered that there was a whole genre full of fantasy books; myths, fairytales, and Arthurian/Robin Hood Legends were the basis of my literary repetoire (as much as an 11 year old can have one).:)

Strangely, I don't think fairytales ever scared me. As I got older and began to recognize the various prejudices in them I grew disturbed by some, but never really scared.
My favorite is 'The White Snake'. I don't think I've come across the girl with the sulfur sticks... how does that one go?

[inked]

Fairy tales and Faerie tales.

Hansel und Gretel, I think was my favorite as a child. But as I got older I connected it to the Minotaur so it's a tough call.

The Chronicles of Narnia, Hobbit/LOTR, and Harry Potter - now and in that order.

[Mari]

The girl with the sulfur sticks is about a girl on Christmas eve, who's outside selling sulfur sticks, in a thin shirt without shoes in the snow. She's quite hungry and must sell her sticks before she can buy some food, but everyone ignores her.
She looks through a window and sees a happy family celebrating and decorating the house, when the angel on top of the Christmas tree comes to life and comes to her. The angel allows her to play to her hearts content and the girl is very happy. (I don't remember the specifics anymore, so sorry if I'm going wrong here)
The next morning people find her, dead, but with a smile on her face, still playing happily in heaven.

This is what I found on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Match_Girl
But it's a bit different from what I remember. Perhaps the version I read was Christianified. :)

Oh, I also like the stories with a few brothers. 1 or 2 smart and mean ones versus 1 not so smart, but kind one. Of course the kind one always gets happy. :D

[Willow Oran]

Oh! You mean 'The Little Match Girl'. That one is classic, but too sad for me. I do like its cameo in 'Hogfather' though... Death intervening to save her instead of waiting for the snotty angels to show up too late was much more satisfying to my mind.:p

[Earniel]

I usually shifted between favourites a lot, but I remember I quite liked Rapunzel, the girl in the tower with the massively long hair.

I don't think any of them really scared me, it's amazing what bloodshed you'll happily accept from fairytales, as long as it's all worked out in the end. Eyes gauged out? Oh no worries, a couple of happy tears will clear that up. Having to cut off your finger? Oh, it'll grow back. Sisters cut to pieces? Just put the bits together, sprinkle some magic water and *poof* sisters are alive again.

Oh! You mean 'The Little Match Girl'. That one is classic, but too sad for me. I do like its cameo in 'Hogfather' though... Death intervening to save her instead of waiting for the snotty angels to show up too late was much more satisfying to my mind.:p
Likewise. The image of a couple of angels milling around in the alley in confusion was quite fun.

[Coffeehouse]

The girl with the sulfur sticks is about a girl on Christmas eve, who's outside selling sulfur sticks, in a thin shirt without shoes in the snow. She's quite hungry and must sell her sticks before she can buy some food, but everyone ignores her.
She looks through a window and sees a happy family celebrating and decorating the house, when the angel on top of the Christmas tree comes to life and comes to her. The angel allows her to play to her hearts content and the girl is very happy. (I don't remember the specifics anymore, so sorry if I'm going wrong here)
The next morning people find her, dead, but with a smile on her face, still playing happily in heaven.

This is what I found on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Match_Girl
But it's a bit different from what I remember. Perhaps the version I read was Christianified. :)

Oh, I also like the stories with a few brothers. 1 or 2 smart and mean ones versus 1 not so smart, but kind one. Of course the kind one always gets happy. :D

Yeah you're talking about HC Andersen. Genious of a writer of children's books. He's danish though.. so minus points:rolleyes:

My favorite 'fairytale' if you will is a Norwegian fairytale about Askeladden, an intelligent guy from the Norwegian countryside. Actually many of the stories about Askeladden are set in countrysides, forests, and with characters that resemble Tolkien's fairytale characteristics. Kinda neat:rolleyes:

My favorite is called Ashlad and his Good Helpers. So basically the the King has promised that whoever can make a boat that goes as fast on land as on water would get the Princess and Half the Kingdom:rolleyes:;) So he goes on a quest, through the forests, to get the help he needs, without cheating mind you, as his brothers Per and Pål are older (and dumb&mean):evil:

It's written about 1850, and is one of many tales collected by Peter Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. They rule at fairytales!:p

Here's a translated version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dMbxrspfoU

[feawen]

i always liked the snow queen and the little tin man. I still read fairytales and im in my 20's! long live being about to read childrens storys!

[Mari]

My teacher always told us that fairytales weren't for children. Originally they were written for adults and always had a moral or a local wisdom to tell. If you read the original Cinderella you'll find that it's quite bloody and the stepmother and sisters are punished quite severely in the end. It was Disney that made all those old tales into sappy goody good stories. (Not that I mind, I love them either way)

When I was young, I had the little tin man as a picture book. I still remember the expression of the soldier when he thinks he isn't good enough for the beautiful princess. In the picture book it was a ballerina, but I think in the original story it was a shepherdess, right?

Coffeehouse, that story reminded me of another fairytale in which a sloppy soldier comes across several extraordinary people who can hear very well, eat everything, is always cold, etc. and in order to marry the princess he has to overcome a few trials. In the end he finds a ship of ice that can fly. I'm not sure if you know that story?
And thanks for the link! :)

[Willow Oran]

Many of the morals were added later on. The oldest versions never have an explicit moral, just bloody examples of what happens if you aren't good, kind, polite, clever, etc.

I know I've read the one about the soldier before, but I can't remember which version. I don't recall an ice ship in any of them...

Favorite soldier gets the girl story has to be the Twelve Dancing Princesses. I always appreciated the version in which the soldier ends up with the oldest sister. Oldest sisters get a really bad rap in most fairy tales.:(

[Mari]

Many of the morals were added later on. The oldest versions never have an explicit moral, just bloody examples of what happens if you aren't good, kind, polite, clever, etc.

Enough of a moral if you ask me ;)

Kind of funny how there are so many versions of the same fairytales and so many fairytales that appear the same, but are different anyhow.

[BeardofPants]

My favourite is East of the Sun, West of the Moon (http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/norway034.html) (translated text).

From wiki:

East of the Sun and West of the Moon is the Norwegian version of an old Scandinavian fairy tale. The Swedish version is called Prince Hat under the Ground.
The Norwegian version East of the Sun and West of the Moon was collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, and it is Aarne-Thompson type 425A, the search for the lost husband. The themes of marriage to the monstrous or mysterious husband, of curiosity inspired by the mother, and even the drops of spilled tallow are very similar to the Hellenistic romance of Eros and Psyche. Others of this type include The Black Bull of Norroway, The Brown Bear of Norway, The Daughter of the Skies, The King of Love, The Enchanted Pig, The Tale of the Hoodie, Master Semolina, The Sprig of Rosemary, The Enchanted Snake, and White-Bear-King-Valemon.

[Mari]

Oh, I loved it! :)
Funny it had distinct Christians in it though.

[Earniel]

Coffeehouse, that story reminded me of another fairytale in which a sloppy soldier comes across several extraordinary people who can hear very well, eat everything, is always cold, etc. and in order to marry the princess he has to overcome a few trials. In the end he finds a ship of ice that can fly. I'm not sure if you know that story?
And thanks for the link! :)
I know the story, I believe it is originally from Russia or thereabout. EDIT: Wikipedia calls it the The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fool_of_the_World_and_the_Flying_Ship)

My favourite is East of the Sun, West of the Moon (http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/norway034.html) (translated text).
There's a rather good novelisation of it called 'East' by Edith Pattou. At least, I rather enjoyed it.

[Rían]

The kids and I really like fairy tales - I read them out loud quite often. The "colored" fairy books (The Red Fairy book; The Orange Fairy book, the Green Fairy book, etc.) edited by Andrew Lang are a great place to start, and are in libraries in the US. The pictures are wonderful black-and-white illustrations.

The Enchanted Pig - I adore that story! I love the line "Now the King was astonished to hear so fine a speech from a Pig, and at once it occurred to him that something strange was the matter." :D :D

12 Dancing Princesses - yeah, it's the younger in my version.

Anyone heard of Soria Moria Castle? I just love the name of it.

[Mari]

Do those contain the normal fairy tales, or are they specifically about faeries?
I had a faerie tale book (in English) which was only about faeries...

[Rían]

They're collections of fairy tales from around the world. It really should be "The Red Fairy TALE Book", I suppose, because it's not about a red fairy - it's just a collection of fairy tales. There's quite a few of them - pink, olive, blue, etc.

[Acalewia]

The Ice Queen is one of my faves. along with Rapunzel.

There is a story about a prince that fell in love with a woman walking on the beach and asked her to marry him. She agreed on two conditions: he build her a castle on the beach and that he not bother or see her one day a week. He agreed. But one day, after listening to court gossip snuck into the castle to see what she did one that day to herself. He discovered she was a mermaid and she caught him there and, iirc, died. I forget how long after she croaked. After she died he's walking on the beach and he hears women singing "Come away. Come away," and he follows the women into the ocean and they drown him for breaking his promise to his wife. I think it was either English or French.

Rumpelstiltskin was another fave

[Empress_Flynn]

Of course, I've been somewhat obsessed with fairy tales my whole life... I remember having these two anthologies of "The World's Best Fairy Tales" in them when I was growing up and then when I got to college I purchased the complete fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and the complete Hans Christian Andersen.... Made me very happy :)

I even wrote a research paper on gender stereotypes in fairy tales for one of my classes...

I can't think of any stand out favorites at the moment, but I'm also a big fan of fairy tale revisions.... Gregory Maguire stuff and Robin McKinley...

Good stuff ^^

[Mari]

Who are they? What did they do to the fairytales? *is slightly alarmed*

[Empress_Flynn]

Lol... it's okay, don't be alarmed... well, actually, you might want to be alarmed if you're a fairy tale purist..

They're writers who take traditional fairy tales and "retell" them... give them a bit more depth, maybe take out the magic and explain the happenings of them in terms of more practical solutions, Or they could have them retold from the view of someone who was the villain in the original tale, they just "re-envision" the fairy tales...

They can end of being a lot naughtier I suppose lol... but not always...

Try reading the summary of "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" by Gregory Maguire... or, if you're feeling brave, try this short story which is a retelling of Snow White by Neil Gaiman:

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/lofts/6656/snow.html

[Mari]

That's a nice story! Do you know the miniseries The 10th Kingdom by any chance? I very much like it! :D

[Empress_Flynn]

I know of it, and one of my old roommates loved it... but I've never had a chance to see it myself... hopefully I will someday :)

I dabble in writing fairy tale revisions myself, so I enjoy reading them :)

[Varnafindë]

I can't think of any stand out favorites at the moment, but I'm also a big fan of fairy tale revisions.... Gregory Maguire stuff and Robin McKinley...

Good stuff ^^
I love Robin McKinley's books!
She rewrites the fairytales as novels, going further into the development of the characters and the plots. (She has also written her own fantasy books - The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword are the ones I know about.)

One of her books is just called Beauty, if I remember rightly - about Beauty and the Beast.
One episode that I remember, is when she goes into Beast's library and finds a section of books that haven't been written yet - I think the Narnia books were one of the titles that were mentioned. :)

[Empress_Flynn]

Yeah! That one was always my favorite of hers... I found Spindle to be a bit dull... then again I always really loved the tale of Beauty and the Beast and so I found this retelling to be really wonderful... especially considering the more or less lack of beauty of Beauty... if that sentence made any sense lol

Have you read any Donna Jo Napoli? She did a retelling of The Little Mermaid and one of Rumplestiltskin that I really enjoyed!

[Varnafindë]

Yeah! That one was always my favorite of hers... I found Spindle to be a bit dull... then again I always really loved the tale of Beauty and the Beast and so I found this retelling to be really wonderful... especially considering the more or less lack of beauty of Beauty... if that sentence made any sense lol

It does to me ;)


Have you read any Donna Jo Napoli? She did a retelling of The Little Mermaid and one of Rumplestiltskin that I really enjoyed!

No, I'm afraid I haven't - nor any Gregory Maguire - I don't often hear about these people if they're not translated into Norwegian. I heard about Robin McKinley before she was translated, though - can't remember now how I got to hear about her or whether I just came across her books on a visit to England ...

[Empress_Flynn]

Hooray, I make sense!

Sometimes, anyway!

Well if you DO get a chance, pick either Gregory Maguire or Napoli up... Napoli is much much easier to get through, but Gregory Maguire has his moments... his are something like historical novels combined with fairy tales because he tends to set them in real time periods... the exception to this being Wicked and Son of a Witch

[Varnafindë]

Some bookshops here in Oslo have a good choice of literature in English, even fantasy - so I might be able to come across them. I'll keep my eyes open.

[Noble Elf Lord]

OK. This thread is meant for you all to post stories/fairytales that already exist. Perhpas native to your countries? As soon as I have brought my old English book here at my Mom's place, I'll post a story of the Glass cabinet. Nice one, trust me. :)

[Empress_Flynn]

Okay, well, this isn't a fairy tale, it's a short story... but it's one of my favorites.

And it's from my adopted country of England, so close enough :)

So, without further ado I present:

August Heat
by W. F. Harvey

http://www.donaldtyson.com/august.html

[Earniel]

The Writer's Workshop is for your own writings, so I moved the fairy-tale thread to General Literature and merged it with the existing one. Please try and avoid posting copied stories in their entirety, they're most likely still under copyright. :)

[Empress_Flynn]

What if they can already be found in their entireties online?

[Earniel]

I'm no expert in the matter, but I would assume it depends on whether it was placed there with the copyright holder's permission. A link may in that case be the best course of action.

[Empress_Flynn]

Yeah... it's been awhile since I took Mass Communication Law... I believe if there's a written material past a certain age beyond it's original copyright, then it becomes fair game.... but I'm not completely positive... so links it is! :)

I've already fixed mine.

[katya]

I thought the other thread was supposed to be for our own writings of the old fairy tales. :/

[Varnafindë]

I believe if there's a written material past a certain age beyond it's original copyright, then it becomes fair game....

That's usually 70 years after the death of the author. Rules may vary between countries, though.

If the author has released individual texts into Public Domain, that's another matter, but then that would have to be stated explicitly. Just posting it on the Internet does not put it into Public Domain.

So yes, I think you're safest with the links. :)