Fairy Ttales

 FAIRY TALES

Fairy tales are stories that range from those in folklore to more modern stories defined as literary fairy tales. Despite subtle differences in the categorizing of fairy tales, folklore, fables, myths, and legends, a modern definition of the fairy tale, as provided by Jens Tismar's monologue in German, is a story that differs "from an oral folk tale", written by "a single identifiable author", which can be characterized as "simple and anonymous", and exists in a mutable and difficult to define the genre with a close relationship to folktales.

History of fairy tales

Most of the fairy tales that people are familiar with today were first written down in the 16th and 17th centuries. The earliest written versions of many tales were originally compiled by a man named Charles Perrault, who presented his stories at Versailles. They were later translated into English. Today, when many people think of a fairy tale, they think of the Brothers Grimm. The Grimm Brothers have a reputation for writing fairy tales that are much more violent than the versions of the tales told today. The reason for this is that fairy tales were not always considered the domain of children; they often had adult audiences as well. Another early writer of fairy tales was Hans Christian Andersen, who wrote perhaps the earliest version of stories like ''The Little Mermaid.'' Again, while these writers were probably responsible for setting these stories down on paper, most if not all of them had existed as folk tales for years or even centuries prior.

Some scholars have even posited that the earliest fairy tales have origins that date back thousands of years, though such claims remain controversial. Another notable thing about the history of fairy tales is that they exist all over the world; the authors listed above are famous for putting European fairy tales to paper, but every culture on Earth has its own folk tales and fairy tales that are integral part of the culture. Interestingly, these stories often share common elements even when they come from very different places, perhaps indicating some universal storytelling elements that humans gravitate towards.

What's your favorite fairy tale?

These memorable short stories often involve magic and legendary deeds. The fantastical characters found in a fairy tale include elves, fairies, witches, and dragons. Fairy tales are traditional stories told and retold through generations that are usually spun from folklore. Many were finally written down and have had lasting fame.

Cinderella grew up with an evil stepmother and stepsisters. They would not let her go to the prince's ball, but her fairy godmother made it happen with magic. Cinderella danced with the prince and they fell in love. Since she had to leave by midnight, she ran and lost one slipper. The prince found the slipper and searched for her. After he found her, they were married and lived happily ever after.