Snow White

Snow White (or Snow-White, and in German, Schneewittchen) is the title character of a well known fairy tale known from many places in Europe, the most known version is the one collected by the Brothers Grimm. The story ends in the first published version which was published in Paris in 1697 with Snow White's death in the wolf?s jaws. A substantial body of stories from France have a similar plot, varying in details which include cannibalism, defecation, a striptease, and a bedroom encounter with a beast. Heroine mostly escapes by her own wits. Although Brothers Grimm claimed in the preface to their first edition of Children?s and Household Tales that they did not adapted the tale for a new children?s audience, their little girl acquired a rescuer. The German version also features elements such as the mirror, the seven dwarfs, and the kiss from a prince. In non-German versions the dwarfs are generally robbers, while the talking mirror is a dialog with the sun or moon. In a version from Albania, collected by Johann Georg von Hahn and published in Griechische und albanesische Märchen. Gesammelt, übersetz und erläutert (1864), the main character lives with 40 dragons. The sleep is caused by a ring. The start of the story also has an interesting twist in that a teacher urges the heroine to kill her own mother so that the teacher can take her place. The origin of the tale is debated; it is probably quite young, probably no older than the middle ages. Many scholars think it originated somewhere in the orient.

Related Topics:
German - Character - Fairy tale - Brothers Grimm - 1697 - France - Albania - Dragon

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