Fairy Tales

I love fairy tales. It’s a bit of an obsession really. I’ve been collecting them over the years. I have a large book next to my bed which I read each night before I go to sleep. It’s not a Bible, it’s Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales. Sometimes I’ll read one to Rachel only to have her fall asleep or lose interest half way. To be fair, that’s what happens to me when she reads to me from her law books.

Anyway I’ve been learning some interesting things about these stories that we as children hold so dear. We often just know the Disney version, but the real stories are far more disturbing. I thought I’d share a few interesting nuggets.

Hansel and Gretel- Their parents were poor and starving and they decided to take their children to the woods and lose them so the little ones would die and no longer be a burden on them, but that darn Hansel kept finding his way back with his ingenious crumbs. They parents dump them in the woods a few times.

Rapunzel- She was kept in a tower by a witch who actually loved her like a daughter. It was the witch who asked her to throw her hair down so she could climb up into the tower. The “prince” pretended to be the witch in order to fool her in letting her hair down. A few weeks later Rapunzel is pregnant. Hmmm….

Cinderella- There actually were three balls. Cinderella snuck into all three with no help of a fairy Godmother (though she did get help from some animal friends. Disney got that part right). The night of the last ball the prince puts tar on the steps so Cinderalla’s GOLDEN slipper sticks. When the prince goes to her house, her stepsister cuts off her toe in order to fit it in the shoe. They announce a wedding until the Prince notices the blood. He has Cinderalla try on the golden shoe and when it fits some birds sing a song about how there is no blood.

The Frog Prince- A princess loses her golden ball in a lake and has a hissy fit. A frog goes in and gets it for her after she promises to marry him if he does. They get married, but the princess is reluctant to fulfill her wifely obligations to a frog, but her father forces her to because of her promise. As the frog snuggles up beside her in bed she gets repulsed and throws him across the room. He hits the wall and becomes a prince. And the moral is?

Sleeping Beauty- This was pretty close to what we imagine. Except that when she pricks her finger both she and the whole kingdom go to sleep for a hundred years. When the hundred years are up a prince comes to a castle overgrown with thorns. They magically turn into flowers and everyone wakes up. A bit anti-climactic.

Well that’s just a taste. There are some far more disturbing tales. One is about a sorcerer who seduces three sisters and cuts them up into little pieces. In another one a witch is put naked into a barrel with spikes and nails on the inside and she is dragged behind a horse with the whole town cheering. Not exactly things you want to read to your child before you put them in bed. A lot of them don’t even have good morals. Many of the stories are about taking revenge or fooling people for money.

I think I like these stories for two reasons. Firstly, they are fascinating cultural studies. The Grimm Brothers were actually academic linguists, both doctors I believe. They gathered their stories from a cross-section of German society, but many of their story tellers were from the upper class. Maybe that’s why the morals in them are actually quick shocking. Originally they weren’t even for children, they were just stories that were passed on. When the Grimm brothers first published their first collection of stories they found many of the elements seemed to resonate with children. Over time the stories were adapted by others, like Perrault who made them more child-friendly and infused them with more clear moral values. I do think it’s interesting reading them in their original form and particularly how we get a glimpse into the values of an older society and culture. I think that is true for “fairy tales” in whatever culture they come from.

Secondly, I like these stories because like children, I think I am drawn to the magical element that is involved. I love that idea that there is another reality beyond what we see and touch every day. I’ve spoken with my younger brother about this before, but there is something about picturing a little tudor cabin nestled into some woods that just evokes something inside of me. The words, “Once upon a time,” speak of the hope of a different reality beyond our life or cities and cars and 9-5s.

I know there are those of you out there who have a hard time making that connection. I should know because I married one of them:) But for those who do understand, I will quote the words of a German poet Novalis:

“Our life is no dream, but it ought to become one…and perhaps will.”