History, folk lore, traditions and morals were once passed along in the form of tales, from generation to generation, around the fire, these tales of life and wisdom were passed from old to young. But as is the way with stories that are not written but spoken, with each generation that they pass through, the story changes, it becomes something different. Even after these stories were put into writing, as different publishers wanted to produce story books, they would have different authors retell the tales, and so, with time the stories change again. A classic example of this is "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Anderson, the original version of which is so vastly different from the one that Disney produced, and which most of us are probably more familiary with.
Here I have tried to represent the favourite fairy tales that we all know and love in the most original written form that I have been able to resource. All of us know these tales for we have been read these stories by our parents, or read them ourselves in fairy tale books, or even seen them as movies or cartoons, but how many of us know the version that the author intended us to read.
This is in honour of some of the greatest story tellers that our world has known, and so that the purity of the tale they wished to tell can still be passed from old to young, that is the version you will see here - as the author intended it to be known.
Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm (1785-1863) and Wilhelm Carl Grimm (1786-1859) are better known simply as "The Brothers Grimm". They worked as librarians in the hopes of researching and recording Germany's folk tales, so that they might compile a collection of them, for they felt they were in danger of being forgotten. But these tales were not to be found in books, but rather from the lips of peasants who told these tales as folklore and handed the tradition down orally. They collected 200 tales which were published in two volumes in 1812 and 1814. The first english translation was published in 1823, and the following tales are direct excerpts from a reprinting of that original publication.
ASHPUTTEL
This seems to be the most likely source for the tale we all know as Cinderella both Ashputtel and Cinderella were named because of the ashes or cinders that covered them from their labours.
Another well known classic - this one Disney called Sleeping Beauty, and apart from some added drama in their animated film, they did a fair representation of the original story.
This is the first tale that Disney ever animated - this is the one we know as Snow White. When you read this tale look for the one feature that truly makes this tale frightening.
This classic tale hasn't changed much with time, there isn't that much to change - although in this version she doesn't need to kiss the frog - only sleep with him (smile).
Lewis Caroll is the pseudonum of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. He was born in 1832 and is remembered as the author of one of the greatest children's books ever written. He studied at Oxford and was a brilliant mathematician, and there he spent his entire career. One day in 1862, he took a party of girls on a boating trip and to amuse them he made up a story which he called "Alice's Adventures Underground". This later became the book "Alices Adventures in Wonderland". In 1871 the sequel to this "Through the Looking Glass" was published. Lewis Caroll died in Oxford in 1898.
THE JABBERWOCKY
Just what is a fumious bandersnatch anyway?? An annotation by Lewis Caroll explains the proper pronunciation of certain words in this poem. Pronounce "slithy" as if it were two words "sly, the": make the "g" hard in "gyre" and "gimble": and pronounce "rath" to rhyme with "bath".
"The time has come the walrus said... to talk of many things... of shoes... and ships... and sealing wax... of cabbages... and kings..."
STILL TO COME!!! - HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON, JIM HENSON AND MORE... The bordered background on this page was made by me using the original artwork of Louise Harvey.
The Tower © Louise Harvey.
Used with permission.Please drop in and see Louise's beautiful artwork on her website.
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