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.

[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.

[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.

Originally Posted by 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.

Likewise. The image of a couple of angels milling around in the alley in confusion was quite fun.

[Coffeehouse]

Originally Posted by 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.

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

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

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 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)

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

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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 (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]

Originally Posted by Mari

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.

Originally Posted by BeardofPants

My favourite is East of the Sun, West of the Moon (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."

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*