What are your favorite fairy tales and why ?

[BarryDuncan]

What are your 4 or 5 current, personal favorite (and reasonably well known) 'once upon a time' English language fairytales and please also state what are any unique qualities to each one named, that makes it appeal to you, much more than numerous other fairy tales.

[emily655321]

I like the Grimms' fairy tales, where everybody gets dismembered and killed and cursed.
1)What's it called...the Juniper Tree, where someone gets turned into a bird and then their mother kills them for some reason?
2)I also like the original version of Sleeping Beauty -- in that one the "Prince Charming" character actually rapes her while she sleeps, she becomes pregnant, then for some reason she is living with the man and his wife and the wife plots to cook the illegitimate kids and serve them to the princess, but the man finds out about it and substitutes them with a goat I think. Anyway, it's pretty darn cool.
3)Repunsel (I like the hair, and the blinding by thorn bushes)
4) Rumpelstiltskin (It just always really captivated my imagination as a kid)

[faith]

Ive always liked Cinderella. Its a so beautiful fairytale, and It Think I loved it as kid. Whats nice about it is that the bad ones are so human.

[Avalive]

All of them. I love fairytales. Growing up reading them.

[Diceman]

I had a big book of Hans Christian-Andersen's fairy stories when I was a kid. Some of those were just plain morbid. Take for example "The Dead Child" in which a mother contemplates suicide following the loss of her kid - or "The Little Match Girl" where a poor girl freezes to death in a doorway while fantasizing of a better life. Not the sort of stuff I'd read to my (hypothetical) kids when I put them to bed...

[amuse]

every one of George MacDonald's tales.

[ajoe]

2)I also like the original version of Sleeping Beauty -- in that one the "Prince Charming" character actually rapes her while she sleeps, she becomes pregnant, then for some reason she is living with the man and his wife and the wife plots to cook the illegitimate kids and serve them to the princess, but the man finds out about it and substitutes them with a goat I think. Anyway, it's pretty darn cool.


You know, I've always wondered about princes in fairy tales. Do they get a kick out of kissing every single girl they see sleeping/dead? And why are the princesses falling in love with them? *scratches head* Yea, I'm not a fairytale person. Aside from unrealistic, fairytales are usually too gory for children, if you think about it. But I like Shrek. :)

[amuse]

also, like Avalive i love them all, not just George MacDonald. still read them. :)
have the brothers grimm, russian fairy tales, used to have native american ones, have leather-bound hans christian anderson, bookmarked norwegian ones on my computer, precious, precious ones like "east of the sun west of the moon" and "toads and diamonds" in my large Anthology of Children's Lit...could go on and on ad infitum. they make me happy... ...
oops! you said 4 or 5.

[Shea]

Just had to say real quick, that Cinderella has always been one of my favorites, but it became even more so when my husband proposed to me. He treated me to a fancy dinner and had the slipper and the whole bit. I even wore the shoes at our wedding. The only thing missing were the wicked step-mother and sisters.

Ok, now I'll stop being to love sappy.

[ajoe]

o ya, just thought to point out, I read somewhere that when Cinderella was first translated from its original language, there was a nustranslation and the slippers were actually not from glass but from hay or something like that. am I ruining your favorite fairytale or what? :p

[amuse]

only because you, of the 150 wpm +/- made a typo. ajoe, how could you?! she repeated in mock horror.
hay's kind of cool; she did have an awful stepfamily after all, and that makes her prince so much more romantic.

[mike401]

they're not really fairy tales, but gregory maguire's two books (i'm not sure if there are more yet) "Wicked," about the wicked witch of the west in Wizard of Oz, and "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" about the stepsister in Cinderella were pretty entertaining. If you haven't read either, go with "Wicked"...it even got turned into a broadway musical of some success.

[Shea]

o ya, just thought to point out, I read somewhere that when Cinderella was first translated from its original language, there was a nustranslation and the slippers were actually not from glass but from hay or something like that. am I ruining your favorite fairytale or what? :p

lol!
That's ok, my husband could actually find a glass slipper anyway. They're sort of a clear plastic.

Oh, and Mike, I tried to read Wicked and couldn't stand it. I didn't finish the story. But I've been told the Step-sister one was better.

[Love to Read]

Hmm. Fairy tales. I love them. The gory ones and the sappy ones. I love legends and myths as well. I've read Wicked and the Ugly Stepsister. They were interesting. At first I had problems trying to read them, but they were worth plowing through. They definitely told a different story. However, if you are looking for a good rewrite of a fairy tale, read Robin Mckinnley. She does an excellent job of not only rewriting fairy tales, but also writing new ones. Anyway, I'd have to say my favorite fairy tale is Beauty and the Beast because the girl has courage to do leave her life and family for the sake of her father and live with a beast that at first terrifies her. I also love the obscure fairy tales.

[Love to Read]

oh hey shea can you translate that poem after your name. Just curios as to what it says thanks.

[Shea]

oh hey shea can you translate that poem after your name. Just curios as to what it says thanks.

Well, there are several different translations actually. It's the first 11 lines of Beowulf in Old English, minus the really neat "eth", "thorn" and "ashe" symbols because I couldn't get them to show up on the sig. I had to recite this (in dialect) for my History of the English Language class last semester, and really enjoyed learning it.

This is the translation from this site:

LO, praise of the prowess of people-kings
of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped,
we have heard, and what honor the athelings won!
Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes,
from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore,
awing the earls. Since erst he lay
friendless, a foundling, fate repaid him:
for he waxed under welkin, in wealth he throve,
till before him the folk, both far and near,
who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate,
gave him gifts: a good king he!

[Shea]

Oh! I just realized I have an extra "i" in my aethelingas! I'll go fix it.

[Love to Read]

Thanks Shea, I actually love Beowulf. Its one of the myths/legends/stories that I grew up reading. In fact I think I read a translation when I was in Junior High.

[emily655321]

I read somewhere that "Cinderella" originated in China, and the whole foot-fitting-into-the-tiny-shoe thing was in reference to foot-binding. If you recall the story, Cinderella was originally a nobleman's daughter, before her stepmother made her a servant. In China, to have a golden lotus foot (the smallest size a bound foot can be), signified nobility, and was a status symbol. So this prince went searching for a girl whose foot was small enough to wear a little shoe he had. When it was discovered that the shoe fit Cinderella (eg. that she had a golden lotus foot), her nobility was revealed. That's why everyone was so impressed and the stepsisters began to treat her well -- and of course, the prince married her.

I always thought the losing-the-slipper-at-the-ball thing was a pretty weird storyline, so I was really interested to learn about the Chinese version. The story kind of makes more sense.

[Taliesin]

I, on the other hand, have heard, that the Cinderella-story has come from Herodotos. It goes like this:
"When a slave-girl called Rhodope went swimming in the beach of Samos, came an eagle, snatched her sandal, flew to Egypt,to the city of Memphis and let the sandal fall to a pharaoh's lap.Praraoh Psammetich looked curously at the little sandal and got interested in its owner. He made an order to find the girl. The sandal was tried to many feet of many women and girls in many lands, until they finally found Rhodope and she was taken to Egypt, where the pharaoh married her."
It is just what I heard. Actually, the Chinese version sounds much more logical, but still...

[emily655321]

That's awesome. I've never heard of that version before. It makes me wonder -- is the story even older than anyone has thought, carried throughout the world by people who were once members of the same tribe? Or did it travel by trade routes through Asia, and was changed to adapt to the different cultures there? Or is it possible that the story we know was created by combining two or more shoe stories of different origins?

[simon]

I am not suprised that fairy tales go as far back as that. Stories with the same plot lines are found in many differnt cultures without having influenced eachother, they have a universal appeal and applicability, plus they all have morals.

My favorite fairy tales are these German ones I read in German, so that means I may have screwed some of the words up, and I can't remember what they were called. But anyway there are a series about two little boys who are after this woman's chickens and are always causing trouble and eventually they slash a farmers grain sacks and he catches them and grinds them up and feeds them to his chickens, and point of telling it to children was to make them behave. It was quite graphic.

Also has anybody read these modern interpretation of fairy tales, I recommend them:

The Sun the Moon and The Stars by Steven Brust
The Nightingale by Kara Dalkey
Snow White, Blood Red by Patricia C. Wrede
Tam Lin by Pamela Dean
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen (short-listed for the Nebula) Award
White as Snow by Tanith Lee
Fitcher's Brides by Gregory Frost

[Miranda]

My favoute fairy story is where the princess kisses the frog and he becomes a prince and they live happily ever after - cos I just like happy endings and am sloppy. I never read my kids Grimm's Fairy Tales cos I dont think they are for kids..they really are grim! But lots of other things we read. One of our favourites wasn't'a fairy story though, but a book of cartoons called 'Fungus and the Bogeyman'. It had things in it like 'toilet water' that really was..and all sorts of revoltingly funny things. Although not a fairy story either, but at least a children's story, we loved reading The Willows in Winter' by William Horwood which is a sort of sequel to Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham. It's a wonderful book and I enjoyed it as an adult as much as my kids enjoyed it because the writing is so magical and some of the concepts aren't childlike at all, but really deep and spiritual.
I think I have gabbyitis today

[Love to Read]

I've done some research on fairy tales and a Cinderella story is in pretty much every culture. The English have a version called Tattercoats, the French have one with a fur slipper. The russians, japanese, native americans, irish, and germans all have a version. Just thought I'd let you all know. You'd be surprised at how wide spread and similar fairy tales are.

[emily655321]

Is "Tattercoats" the one where she puts three dresses into three walnut shells and hides them until she goes to the ball? I remember one was made of fur, and I think the others were gold and silver. Anyway, that version was one of my favorites when I was little. :)

[Miranda]

Gosh Shea..where did you find a man like that? When I had our first child, my husband brought me roses...but he had picked them on the way to the hospital from a council flower bed and they still had all the thorns on. I did better when I had our second child..I got silk roses in a flower pot thing! I kept them..and when I had our third child..guess what I got...the same silk flowers from the year before....

[Kiwi Shelf]

Although I know I must have had many fav fairy tales as a kid, I just have this vivid memory of lots of time spent reading "Puss and Boots" haha I also liked "The Three Little Pigs," "Cinderella," and basically anything out of Grimm's Fairy Tales.

[Libra Swords]

My favorites are...

Sleeping Beauty
Snow White
and Alice In Wonderland!

Great Stories and great disney animation!!

[emily655321]

This isn't a fairy tale, it's a book...and a fairly recent one, I think. But oh well. :D I was reminded of it when thinking back on nursery rhymes, and it used to be one of my favorites...and, hey! I found the text online. So...this is it:

"The Teeny Tiny Woman"

A teeny tiny time ago, there lived a teeny tiny woman, in a teeny tiny house, on a teeny tiny hill. One teeny tiny day, the teeny tiny woman took a teeny tiny walk down the teeny tiny hill, down the teeny tiny road, till she came to a teeny tiny wall. In the teeny tiny wall, there was a teeny tiny gate. Through the teeny tiny gate, the teeny tiny woman went a teeny tiny way. Found herself in a teeny tiny graveyard. (Are you scared? After all, this is a SCARY story.)

In the teeny tiny graveyard, the teeny tiny woman found a teeny tiny gravestone. At the teeny tiny foot of the teeny tiny grave stone, the teeny tiny woman found a teeny tiny bone. Picked it up in her teeny tiny hand and in her teeny tiny voice the teeny tiny woman said, "This teeny tiny bone will make teeny tiny me, a teeny tiny soup for my teeny tiny supper." (Do you like bone soup?)

The teeny tiny woman put the teeny tiny bone in her teeny tiny pocket. Took a teeny tiny turn around, went a teeny tiny way, through the teeny tiny graveyard, through the teeny tiny gate, up the teeny tiny road, up the teeny tiny hill, to the teeny tiny house. In the teeny tiny door, up the teeny tiny stairs, to her teeny tiny bedroom. The teeny tiny woman took the teeny tiny bone from her teeny tiny pocket, put it in her teeny tiny cupboard, climbed in her teeny tiny bed and took a teeny tiny nap. But a teeny tiny while later, the teeny tiny woman heard a teeny tiny Voice in the teeny tiny cupboard and it said, "Give me my bone." (Are you scared? After all, this is a SCARY story.)

The teeny tiny woman was a teeny tiny bit afraid, so she pulled her teeny tiny covers a teeny tiny bit tight to her teeny tiny nose and went back to her teeny tiny nap. But a teeny tiny while later, the teeny tiny woman heard the same teeny tiny voice coming from the teeny tiny cupboard, only this time it was a teeny tiny bit louder and it said, "Give Me My Bone." (Are you scared? After all, this is a SCARY story.)

The teeny tiny woman was a teeny tiny bit more afraid, so she pulled her teeny tiny covers a teeny tiny bit tighter, right around her teeny tiny head and went back to her teeny tiny nap. But a teeny tiny while later, the teeny tiny woman heard the same teeny tiny voice coming from the teeny tiny cupboard only this time it was a teeny tiny bit (a lot) louder and it said, "GIVE ME MY BONE!" (Are you scared? After all, this is a SCARY story.)

The teeny tiny woman was a teeny tiny bit more afraid, but she pulled the teeny tiny covers from her teeny tiny head, sat up in her teeny tiny bed, and said, "JUST TAKE IT!" The teeny tiny woman never heard the teeny tiny voice in her teeny tiny cupboard again, but she also never got her teeny tiny bone for her teeny tiny soup, for her teeny tiny supper.

And now here's a teeny tiny:
The End.

[edit]: The "are you scared"s get a teeny tiny bit annoying, but they were at the bottom of every page or so.

[amuse]

em, i forgot this story! it scared the crap out of me when i was six, the library was bi-level, and i think the book was tucked away in a very quiet corner, and she had a long long nose, was dressed in red on a white cover. so creepy!

[emily655321]

The one we had was a very little book, and I think the only colors were blue, black, and white. The teeny tiny woman was drawn too small to distinguish her face very well, but she had a blue dress and black hair up in a bun.

[edit]: I tried to find an illustration online, and there are tons of different versions, but none of them are mine. :( I distinctly remember the "After all, this is a scary story" thing though. That's from the one I had. But I guess it's a fairy tale after all; apparently it's an "Old English Ghost Story."

[Helga]

I love H.C. Andersen, well most of them. but I read the Grimm fairy tales as a kid and always hated the fact that the bad guy dies so often, I don't think that is the message we should send out.

There are some guys in the UK that have made movies aout the dark side of the fairy tales. Snowwhite was very good, the dwarfes were workers that had been in trouble with the law and that's why they were deep in the woods and the prince was a doctor seduced by the evil stepmother, I really liked it.

A woman I know was telling me about a course in her university about the Grimm fairytales were the real meaning is tought. like the reason why little red riding hoods hood is really red (a symbol that she was maturing and becoming a woman) and the angry wolf is really a symbol for a guy that is seducing a young girl away from her track to rob her and much more in the same tone.. very interesting

[subterranean]

there are many versions of cinderella i suppose. in my country it's called upik abu (dusty little girl)..but if im not mistaken somehow it's adapted to fits the local culture, where eventually all of them live hapily ever after. (local value here is related to familyhood).

i have several fairy tales stories which came from my local cultures, and when i compare them to stories from the west, one of the biggest difference is that the stories from i come from always related to God and obidience towards Him.Im from Indonesia btw..

cherrs

[rachel]

I love faerie tales with a passion. It is said by W.S.W Anson the "these fairy stories are not written for the amusement of the idle, they embody the profound religion of our forefathers"

From what I have gleaned it appears that faerie stories, classically speaking tell about the separation of the human soul from the spirit or from the Heavenly Father and the intense struggle to reunite the two to their first divine state. The way Tolkien describes it as the Fall and the longing to go home and the struggles contained therein.He said that the gospel was the greatest Faerie story ever told.
For instance did you know that the Cinderella story is as old as ancient Hindu and is to be found in all of europe and even Egypt.
So because of the horrible struggle between good and evil, light and dark that is why the stories are often graphic and harsh and we need to be careful to not let little ones be exposed to a version or a concept that will frighten them at certain ages.
You might notice that the different characters represent our dual nature as it were or our struggle and it is always the pure girl who is welcomed by the King and His son the prince and enters into a sort of divine state of happiness in his kingdom . And like the garden of Eden there is often a direct correlation between the breaking of a rule and bad consequences.
My favorite is one by Hans Christian Anderson about a convict in a massive stone prison. the man is hard and dark hearted but one day a shaft of sunlight comes thru the bars and a tiny bird flies into his cell. he gives it no heed at first but then as he contemplates the bird his heart begins to melt just a little and he becomes aware of the beauty of this world and something of the divine nature of the bird. the soft sunlight warms his heart for the merest fraction of time as if God has pierced his heart by his love. but then the bird flies out, the sun goes away and instead of letting that revelation change him the man chooses to become hard and cold again.



"my grandma what big teeth you have" little red ridinghood.

[rimbaud]

Does the Beauty and the Beast counts, I've only watched the Disney adaptation but it's my all time favorite

[Maryd.]

All fairy tales are fantastic. It shows children and adults alike, how to dream. Some forget about dreaming and some of us don't know how to dream. Me, I love dreaming and love all fairy tales.

I'm a Little Red Riding Hood girl.

[Night_Lamp]

I'm taking a children's literature class currently:

The thing that struck me about Snow White was that when she was in a coma after eating the poisoned apple, and put in a glass coffin by the dwarfs- the Prince tries to buy her from the dwarfs!

What does the creepy Prince want with a hot dead chick in a glass box?

[Lulim]

(...) What does the creepy Prince want with a hot dead chick in a glass box?

:) what did the russians want with a tepid dead revolutionist in a glass box? -- Admire? Adore?

And as to the actual question of the thread, My favourite fairy tales are "brother and sister" and "Hans in Luck".

[Night_Lamp]

I smell a thesis:

Snow White as the oppressed socialist- she did live communally with the 'worker' dwarfs- poisoned by the capitalist evil step-mother, jealous of their happy share-all lifestyle. She is rescued by Prince Lenin...