Fairy tale

A fairy tale is a story featuring folkloric characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, and others. The fairy tale is a sub-class of the folktale. These stories often involve princes and princesses, and modern versions usually have a happy ending. In cultures where demons and witches are perceived as real, fairy tales may merge into legendary narratives, where the context is perceived by teller and hearers as having historical actuality. However unlike legends and epics they usually do not contain more than superficial references to religion and actual places, persons and events.

History

Although in the late nineteenth and twentieth century the fairy tale came to be associated with children's literature, adults were originally as likely as children to be the audience of the fairy tale. The fairy tale was part of an oral tradition: tales were narrated orally, rather than written down, and handed down from generation to generation.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The tales often had sad endings; such was the penalty for dealing with the fairy folk.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Later fairy tales were about princes and pricesses, combat, adventure, society, and romance. Fairies had a secondary role. Moral lessons and happy endings were more common, and the villain was usually punished. In the modern era, fairy tales were altered, usually with violence removed, so they could be read to children (who according to a common modern sentiment should not hear about violence).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sometimes fairy tales are simply miraculous entertainments, but often they are disguised morality tales. This is true for the Brothers Grimm Kinder- und Hausmärchen, and much of the drily witty, dead-pan, social criticism beneath the surface of Hans Christian Andersen's tales, which influenced Roald Dahl.

Related Topics:
Miraculous entertainments - Brothers Grimm - Hans Christian Andersen - Roald Dahl

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The fairy tale has ancient roots, older than the "Arabian Nights" collection of magical tales, in antiquity: Cupid and Psyche, Bel and the Dragon. Fairy tales resurfaced in literature in the 17th century, with the Neapolitan tales of Giambattista Basile and the later Contes of Charles Perrault, who fixed the forms of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.

Related Topics:
Arabian Nights - Cupid and Psyche - Bel and the Dragon - Giambattista Basile - Charles Perrault - Sleeping Beauty - Cinderella

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An extensive collection of European fairy tales were published by Andrew Lang in a series of books: The Red Fairy Book, The Orange Fairy Book, and so forth. These provide some excellent examples of the genre.

Related Topics:
European - Andrew Lang

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

According to a 2004 poll of 1,200 children by UCI Cinemas, the most popular fairy tales (in the USA?) are:

Related Topics:
2004 - UCI Cinemas

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Cinderella
• Sleeping Beauty
• Hansel and Gretel
• Rapunzel
• Little Red Riding Hood
• Town Musicians

All of these are from the Brothers Grimm collection.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In addition, the Arabian Nights stories like Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves are often thought to be fairy tales themselves.

Related Topics:
Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp - Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~