Fairy Tale Origins - Part XX Godfather Death

There once was an old man who had twelve children that he could barely care for. When a thirteenth child was born, the man was determined to find a fitting godfather for the boy. After rejecting God, who favours the rich over the poor, and the Devil, who deceives men and leads them astray, he was approached by Death. Because Death takes both the rich and the poor, making all men equal, the man decided he was the perfect choice for a godfather.

When the boy grew up, Death helped him become a famous physician. Because he was able to see Death, he had the ability to know immediately if a patient was going to live or die. If Death was standing at their head, the patient would live; if Death was standing at their feet, they would die.

One day a king became ill and when the physician was called to see him he saw Death standing at his feet. He tricked Death by turning the body around so Death was at his head and the king lived. This made Death angry turned him around so that Death was at his head and therefore he lived. Death was very angry, but let him off with a warning.

Some time after this the king’s daughter became ill. Again the physician tricked Death but this time Death would not forgive him and took the physician in her place.

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Death is a very common feature in fairy tales, especially in the tales of the Brothers Grimm. Many stories begin with the death of one or both of the hero's parents. Death in childbirth was far more common in centuries ago, and the prevalence of step–children and orphans in fairy tales reflected a social reality.

Many of these tales (in their pre–Victorian forms) were exceedingly violent — even those gathered by the Grimms in editions published for German children. Though the Grimms were known to have edited their fairy tales to remove traces of sensuality and moral ambiguity, they had no such qualms about leaving much of the worst violence intact. Murder, cannibalism, and infanticide are staples of the fairy tale genre.

In Godfather Death, Death is not the protagonist, but a secondary character who remains constant throughout the story. His presence demonstrates that death is a part of life and is always around. Death does not discriminate, it strikes both the rich and the poor and is something everyone in the world must deal with.

Death standing by the head of a person who could be cured incorporated the old belief that if you stood by the head of a dying person it would stop their soul from departing. By the same token, placing Death at the feet of a dying person reinforces the old saying “one foot in the grave,” which means "about to die."

Although Death is usually considered evil, he is seen here as a father figure, taking care of his Godson as if he were his own. Death is chosen as the godfather because of his sense of social justice. He makes the boy rich, gives him gifts and he even allows him to cheat death, once. By making Death human, the Grimms Brothers are demonstrating that Death is not something to fear.

Godfather Death shows child readers that they should not fear Death, as it is not as scary as they might think. By making the Grim Reaper friendly and fatherly, the Brothers Grimm succeed in explaining that, although Death is a part of everyone’s life, it is nothing to be afraid of.

Godfather Death
additional versions

Fairy Tale Origins - Part XIX The Frog Prince

The best known version of the Frog Prince is the tale written by the Brothers Grimm. A princess reluctantly befriends a frog, who demands she keeps the promises she made to him. At the end of the tale, he magically transforms into a handsome prince.

The greatest difference between the tale we are familiar with today and the tale originally penned by the Grimms is the ending. The original breaking of the enchantment had the princess becoming so disgusted with the frog that she hurled him against a wall. In later versions the frog needed only to spend three consecutive nights on the princess’ pillow, and this was eventually changed to the princess bestowing a kiss upon the frog.

The original story, known as both The Frog Prince and The Frog King, dates back to thirteenth century Germany in a Latin version of the tale. In 1549 it appeared in Scotland as a story titled, "The Well of the World's End." An English version was written by Robert Chambers in 1842. He had learned it from Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe who had heard it in turn from his nurse as a child.

Tales of enchanted frogs, appear in many cultures including China, Sri Lanka and Korea. Versions of this particular tale have been known in numerous countries, from Scotland to Russia. It is believed, however, that the tale gained such great popularity because it is traditionally the first tale presented in the Grimms collection.

Edgar Taylor, who translated the tale in 1823, changed the title from the Frog King to the Frog Prince and revised the ending completely. He replaced the Grimms’ violent resolution with a more passive one. He believed English readers would not accept the ending as it was.

In some versions of the story, princess meets the frog at a fountain instead of a well. Traditionally, good spirits live in wells, which is how the tradition of throwing coins into wells in hopes of having a wish come true came about.

Frogs symbolize new life in many cultures and often appear helpful or kind in folklore. However, frogs also have connections with witchcraft, often as witches' familiars, and are despised by some religious groups for that reason.

Frogs are also animals involved in natural transformations as they progress from tadpoles to frogs. The frog's transformative nature makes it an acceptable animal to transform into a prince at the end of the story.

The story as one about sexual maturity and acceptance of a marital relationship is more explicit in the earliest Grimms manuscript of 1810. In this version, the frog's desire to sleep with the princess is overt and not hidden in the details. The frog makes no pretense of wanting material possessions despite the princess' desire to pay her debt with her riches.

The prince is a somewhat puzzling figure. There is no version of the story that explains why the witch cast a spell over him to turn him into a frog. Was he being punished for some misdeed? Was he an innocent victim?

In the end, we have the moral that one should always keep a promise. The princess is rewarded by the frog transforming into a prince, whom she marries. One has to wonder whether she deserves such a reward after the way she treated the frog, but of course they live happily ever after.

For several different versions of The Frog Prince, go HERE

Fairy Tale Origins - Part XIII Thumbelina

Thumbelina (Tommelise in Danish) is a tale written by Hans Christian Anderson about the adventures of a thumb-sized girl who eventually falls in love with a flower-fairy prince. It was published in 1835 in a collection of fairy tales that were not well-received by Danish critics. They disliked the informal style, and because the stories lacked a moral they were considered inappropriate for children. Andersen was advised not to waste his time writing fairy tales.

Although Thumbelina was Andersen’s invention, he took its inspiration from the traditional story of Tom Thumb. He was also inspired by the Lilliputians in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s travels and by Voltaire’s short story, Micromegas.

Mary Howitt, was the first to translate "Thumbelina" into English and published it as Tommelise in 1846. She did not approve of the woman in the story consulting a witch, and instead had her giving food to a hungry beggar woman who rewarded her with a magic barleycorn. In 1846, Charles Boner also translated the tale, giving it the name of Little Ellie. Madame de Chatelain gave the heroine the name of Little Totty in her 1852 translation. It was not until H.W. Dulcken published his translations of Andersen’s tales in 1864 and 1866 that Tommelise was given the name of Thumbelina.

American literary critic Roger Sale believed Andersen was expressing his feelings of social and sexual inferiority by creating characters who were inferior to those who loved them. Andersen portrays the toad, the beetle, and the mole as Thumbelina’s inferiors, but Sale suggests they are not inferior, merely different.

This is an adventure story from a feminine point of view, with a moral that people are happiest with their own kind. Thumbelina is a somewhat passive character, a victim of circumstances. It was the first of Andersen’s tales to dramatize the sufferings of the outsider, the one who is different from everyone else and is therefore an object of ridicule.

It was also the first of Andersen's tales to incorporate the swallow as the symbol of the poetic soul. According to biographer Jackie Wullschlager, Andersen identified with the swallow as a migratory bird whose pattern of life his own traveling days were beginning to resemble.

Thumbelina

Tom Thumb

Micromegas

Fairy Tale Origins - Part XVII The Little Mermaid

The tale of the mermaid who fell in love with a mortal prince and longed, not only to be with him, but to gain an immortal soul so she could be with him forever, is a perennial favourite. Written by Hans Christian Andersen in 1837, the original tale was a far cry from Disney’s animated feature film.

The Little Mermaid didn’t just lose her voice to the sea witch, her tongue was cut off as payment; in exchange, she received legs for which each footfall was like "stepping on piercing needles and sharp knives." "Her tender feet bled so that even her steps were marked."

Andersen himself admitted that The Little Mermaid was "the only one of my works that has affected me while I was writing it. . . .I suffer with my characters, I share their moods, whether good or bad, and I can be nice or nasty according to the scene on which I happen to be working."

The closest precursor of the tale is Undine, a story by Friedrich de La Motte Fouque. Andersen admited to his familiarity and consideration of Undine while writing his Little Mermaid. Undine, originally published in Germany in 1811, is the story of a water–sprite who can only gain a soul by marrying a human. She falls in love with a knight and marries him, only to later be betrayed. Unlike Undine, Andersen's mermaid is allowed another option; when the mermaid refuses to kill the prince, she dissolves into foam and becomes a "daughter of air.”

Andersen may have tried to use the story of The Little Mermaid to express the ideals of Christian faith and redemption, but the emotional heart of the story is in the mermaid's yearning for the prince and the world above.

From a feminist perspective, this story is a misogynist tale about dampening the sexual curiosity of a young female who wants to explore other worlds. The little mermaid who begins the story is of a completely different character than the one who ends it. In the beginning of the story, the little mermaid is adventurous, talented, and yet sensible and modest. She is also brave and bold.

However, the mermaid's character soon devolves as she begins to fixate on the prince. She becomes obsessed; she discovers where he lives and night after night goes to sit in the canal under his balcony to watch him.

She gives up everything for the prince: her family, her voice, her ability to move without crippling pain. She suffers in silence, never demanding appreciation for her sacrifice. The prince treats her more like a pet than a person and in the end he marries someone else.

Sexual overtones abound throughout the text, usually in a negative context. When the mermaid's tail transforms into legs, for example, "it felt like a double–edged sword going through her delicate body." The mermaid cannot manage the pain of this bodily invasion, and so "she fainted and lay there as if dead." When she awakens, it’s to find the prince standing over her.

The word "mermaid" is usually read as "sea maid," or "virgin of the sea." There are many connections between the mermaid and the ancient Goddess, whose origin and power are associated with the sea. The first syllable, "mer," French for “sea,” sounds much like mêre or "mother." One of the underlying deep meanings of "mermaid" is "virgin mother," directly linking the term and the figure it names with the Virgin Mary.

The tale originally ended with the mermaid dissolving into foam, but Andersen later changed it to include the “daughters of air”, which was the working title of the story. The daughters of air can earn their souls by doing three hundred years worth of good deeds, and this again was revised to state that it depended on whether children are good or bad. Good behavior takes a year off the maidens' time of service; bad behavior makes them weep, and a day is added for every tear they shed.

The prince never learns that it was the mermaid who saved him, nor does he fall in love with her. He is struck by her devotion, and it is this devotion that entails self–sacrifice and brings about her own miraculous salvation. . . .Voiceless and tortured, the mermaid serves a prince who never fully appreciates her worth. Twice she saves his life. The second time is the most significant: instead of killing him to regain her identity and rejoin her sisters and grandmother, the mermaid forfeits her own life and is rewarded by the chance of gaining a soul.

All in all, the tale of The Little Mermaid can be seen as a cautionary tale, containing a message about love and self-sacrifice, and the dangers of accepting abuse or inconsiderate treatment in the name of love.

The Little Mermaid

Undine

Fairy Tale Origins - Part XVI The Pied Piper

The Pied Piper of Hamelin is, at heart, the story of the disappearance of a great many children from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Germany, in the Middle Ages. The earliest references describe a piper, dressed in multicolored (pied) clothing, leading the children away from the town never to return. In the 16th century the story was expanded into a full narrative, in which the piper is a rat-catcher hired by the town to lure rats away with his magic pipe. When the townsfolk refuse to pay for this service, he retaliates by turning his magic on their children, leading them away as he had the rats.

There is a fascination in the story of the Pied Piper which draws us in. For children, the fascination is wonder. They wonder at the magic that led those children away and they wonder about what those children must have found. For adults the fascination is that of horror. The loss of so many children in such a fashion is incomprehensible and the question of ‘What would I do?’ haunts the listener.

The earliest account of the story appears to have been on a stained glass window placed in the Church of Hamelin in 1300. On the glass was an inscription that read, "On the day of John and Paul 130 children in Hamelin went to Calvary and were brought through all kinds of danger to the Koppen mountain and lost" – there was no mention of a piper.

The window was described in several accounts between the 14th century and the 17th century. It was destroyed in 1660. Based on the surviving descriptions, a modern reconstruction of the window has been created by Hans Dobbertin. It features the colorful figure of the Pied Piper and several figures of children dressed in white.

The earliest written record is from the town chronicles in an entry from 1384 which states: "It is 100 years since our children left"

Although research has been conducted for centuries, no explanation for the historical event is agreed upon. Scholars generally agree that something horrible happened in the town of Hamelin to spawn the story. Though there might not have been a piper with magical musical talents, it’s safe to assume that some tragedy ensued.

A number of theories suggest that children died of some natural causes and that the Piper was a symbolic figure of Death. Death is often portrayed dressed in motley, or "pied" clothing. Various ecstatic outbreaks were associated with the Plague, such as the Flagellants, who wandered from place to place while scourging themselves in penance for sins that presumably brought the plague upon Europe. The rat is the preferred host for the plague vector, the rat flea. When the rats die, the fleas seek humans as a substitute host. Children might be especially vulnerable to the disease.

William Manchester proposed that the Pied Piper was a psychopathic pedophile and claims that on June 20, 1484, this criminal kidnapped 130 children from the Saxon village of Hammel and used them in "unspeakable ways." He adds that "some of the children were never seen again. Others were found dismembered and scattered in the forest underbrush or hanging from tree branches." No documenting support for this alleged incident has ever been found, and Manchester offers no references or citations for his asserted explanation.

Others have suggested that the children left the city to be part of a pilgrimage, a military campaign, or even a new Children's crusade (which occurred in 1212, not long before) but never returned to their parents. These theories see the unnamed Piper as their leader or a recruiting agent.

It has also been suggested that one reason the disappearance of the children was never documented was that the children were sold to a recruiter from the Baltic region of Eastern Europe. The selling off of illegitimate children, orphans or other children the town could not support was not uncommon at the time.

The theory with the broadest support is that the children willingly abandoned their parents and Hamelin in order to become the founders of their own villages during the colonization of Eastern Europe. Several European villages and cities founded around this time have been suggested as the result of their efforts as settlers. This claim is supported by corresponding placenames in both the region around Hamelin and the eastern colonies where names such as Querhameln ("mill village Hamelin") exist.

Last year, the town of Hamelin in Germany celebrated the 725th anniversary of this macabre event that has been kept alive through children’s fairytales for more than seven centuries. Beyond the musical Rats, the colourful souvenirs and tourist attractions, the town of Hamelin is full of references to a real tragedy – one recorded on the walls of the Ratten­fängerhaus, or House of the Piper:

“In the year of 1284, on the day of Saints John and Paul, the 26th of June, 130 children born in Hamelin were seduced by a piper, dressed in all kinds of colours, and lost at the calvary near the koppen.”

There is said to be a long-established law forbidding singing or playing music in the street adjacent to the House of the Piper, Bungelosen­strasse: "street without drums”. This is the street where the children were said to be last seen. During public parades which include music, the band will stop playing upon reaching this street and resume upon reaching the other side. Though the source of the loss may never be known, the town of Hamelin will never forget the loss itself.

Fairy Tale Origins - Part XV Puss In Boots

Puss In Boots, classified as tale type 545B by Aarne-Thompson, is probably the most famous of the animal helper tales. Straparola Piacevole published a story about a trickster cat in 1550, which was believed to have been derived from an oral tale. Giambattista Basile also included such a tale in his collection in 1634.

The story has been found in all parts of Europe, across Siberia, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It traveled with colonists and travelers from Europe to Africa and the Americas.

In 1695 Charles Perrault published Le Maistre Chat, or Le Chat Botté, (literally the “Master Cat” or "The Booted Cat"). This was a handwritten and illustrated manuscript about a cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand of a princess in marriage for his penniless and low-born master.

Le Maistre Chat first was translated into English by Robert Samber in 1729. This translation has been described as "faithful and straightforward, conveying attractively the concision, liveliness and gently ironic tone of Perrault's prose, which itself emulated the direct approach of oral narrative in its elegant simplicity."

The tale's immorality has provoked some concern about its influence on young minds. Perrault, a retired civil servant, composed his tales mainly to reinforce standards of civilized conduct in the upper-class French society, rather than to provide amusement for children.

The story is unusual in that the hero doesn’t really seem to deserve his good fortune. As well, although Puss is a king of con artists, he doesn’t appear to have a reason for helping the boy, neither is any reason given for his demand for the boots.

Bruno Bettelheim remarks that "the more simple and straightforward a good character in a fairy tale, the easier it is for a child to identify with it and to reject the bad other."

Amoral tales such as "Puss in Boots" build character, not by offering choices between good and bad, but by giving the child hope that even the meekest can survive.

Children can do little on their own, however fairy tales show them that ordinary events (such as befriending an animal) can lead to great things. It encourages children to believe and trust that even though it may not be recognized at the time, even small achievements can be important.

In the story of Puss In Boots, it is the cat who is brave, ambitious, and intelligent and it is only through his intervention that the hero is able to work up the social ladder. The cat has enough wit and manners to impress the king, the intelligence to defeat the ogre, and the skill to arrange a royal marriage for his low-born master.

George Cruikshank, illustrator of Dickens' novels and stories, was shocked that parents would allow their children to read Puss in Boots. He declared: "As it stood the tale was a succession of successful falsehoods—a clever lesson in lying!—a system of imposture rewarded with the greatest worldly advantages."

Critic Maria Tatar suggests that if the tale has any redeeming quality, "it has something to do with inspiring respect for those domestic creatures that hunt mice and look out for their masters."

The Story of Puss In Boots
Constantino Fortunato by Straparola Piacevole
The Poor Miller’s Boy and the Cat by the Brothers Grimm

Fairy Tale Origins Part XIV - Beauty and the Beast, Part Two

Aarne-Thompson lists 179 tales from different countries with a similar theme to Beauty and the Beast. There are usually three daughters, the youngest being the most kind and pure, her sisters displaying some of the undesirable traits of humankind. Beauty often has no name but is referred to as the youngest daughter.

There never seems to be a mother, which omits the possible quarrel a mother would have allowing Beauty to live with the Beast. It also allows the daughter to have a closer relationship with her father, who is in most cases is well-to-do.

The Beast takes on many forms—serpent, wolf, pig, dog, lizard, etc. His appearance is never appealing, although he is usually wealthy and powerful. Beauty is usually separated from the Beast at some point and it’s her remorse over breaking faith with him that saves the Beast and allows him to transform into a handsome man.

It has been observed by psychologists that the men in the story are all passive, the older sisters are never sympathetic characters, and the youngest woman is always pure and virginal. Even the rose that Beauty’s father plucks is questions. To the Greeks and Romans, the rose is a symbol of pleasure, the flower of romance and worldly delight. It is to be wondered if the father is literally dying or is he dying for the love of his Beauty, who now belongs to the Beast.

When Madame Gabrielle de Villeneuve created her version of Beauty and the Beast in 1740, she was influenced by the story of Cupid and Psyche and other animal bridegroom legends, but the story she came up with was uniquely her own. Her intent was to address issues concerning the women of her day, such as a marriage system which gave women few rights. Often the brides were fourteen or fifteen years old, given to men who were decades older. Failed wives risked being locked up in mental institutions or distant convents.

Women fairy tale writers of the 17th & 18th centuries were often sharply critical of such practices, promoting the ideas of love, fidelity, and civility between the sexes. Their tales reflected the realities they lived with, and their dreams of a better way of life. These varying versions are mirrors of the societies in which they were written, reflecting gender roles, stereotypes, repression, and morality.

Beauty comes to see that under the Beast’s physical ugliness there dwells a beautiful soul. The story and its questions regarding human values run deeper than the simple facts and details of the tale and remain timeless. We all have the potential to be beautiful or beastly we just need to learn how to overcome our monsters.

Fairy Tale Origins - Part XIII Beauty and the Beast, Part One

Like Cinderella, the tale of Beauty and the Beast is one of the most popular fairy tales in the world. It’s the story of a self-less young woman who agrees to go live with a beast in order to save her father’s life. In time she grows fond of the beast who treats with nothing but kindness. It’s not until she almost loses him that she realizes she loves him, and triggers his transformation into a handsome prince.

It is believed the tale is based on the story of Cupid and Psyche, as told by Lucius Apuleius in the second century C.E. In this myth, Psyche weds a hideous serpent that is actually Cupid who is under a spell. By night, a man makes love to her, but she is forbidden to look. When she does, she loses her beloved husband.

Variants of the tale appear in numerous cultures. Aarne-Thompson classifed the story as "The Search for a Lost Husband" type 425, with "Beauty and the Beast" receiving its own subtype of 425C. This tale type is one of the most extensively studied by scholars which is understandable in part because so many tales fit into the category.

In the Chinese version, The Fairy Serpent, the beast is a serpent. The girl’s father steals a few flowers for his daughters and is only released when he promises that one of his three daughters will return to marry the serpent. The youngest daughter is the one who goes to the serpent and eventually grows to like him despite his appearance. Leaving for a few hours she returns to find the serpent dying of thirst. She plunges him into water to save his life and he is transformed into a strong and handsome young man.

The Turkish version is The Princess and the Pig. The father is a king who manages to find the gifts for the elder sisters but fails to find the fruit that his youngest daughter requested. When his carriage is stuck in the mud, he meets the beast, in this case a pig. The pig is the only one able to set him loose, and does so only on the condition that the king gives him his youngest daughter as his bride. During her sleep her surroundings are transformed into incredible luxury and the pig into a handsome young man.

The Beauty in the Indonesian The Lizard Husband has six sisters who are rude to the mother of a lizard who asks that they consider her son for marriage. The youngest, Kapapitoe, takes the lizard as a husband, but her sisters heap abuse upon them both. The lizard and his wife work together to build their own farm and the lizard transforms himself into a handsome man when bathing in the river. It takes his wife awhile to accept this change and the sisters, in jealousy, try to steal him away from her. Then, during the night, a castle arises and Kapapitoe and her husband live happily ever after within it.

From Japan comes The Monkey Son-in Law. The father owes a debt to the monkey for giving him water for his crops. As payment, one of his three daughters must go and live with the monkey. The older two will have nothing to do with such a bargain and again it is the youngest who complies. After a year she tricks the monkey into falling into the river to be carried away. She returns home to a thankful father but two rude sisters who are transformed into rats for their disloyalty to their father.

The earliest French version is an ancient Basque tale where the father was a king and the beast a serpent. The 16th century Italy, Giovanni Francesco told the story of Re Porco (King Pig), a brute who received his name for his swinish behavior, especially toward women. A hundred years later, fellow Italian, Giambattista Basile, included four Beauty and the Beast type tales in his Il Pentamerone (1646).

From Russia, we have The Enchanted Tsarevitch, by Aleksander Nikolaevich Afanas’ev In recompense for picking an exotic flower, the father agrees to send the Beast the first thing he sees on arriving home, which turns out to be his youngest daughter. The Beast is a three headed, winged snake for whom Beauty eventually feels compassion. Her visit home is extended by her greedy sisters so that on her return the snake is almost dead. Upon kissing him he turns into a handsome young man.

In England there is the tale of The Small Tooth Dog. The father is a merchant whose life is saved by a dog when he’s attacked by thieves. As payment, the dog asks for the merchant’s only daughter. The daughter goes with the dog willingly, but is unable to find happiness with him. When he allows her to visit her home, she calls the dog "Sweet-as-a-honeycomb." By saying this in front of her father the enchantment is broken and the dog is transformed into a handsome young man.

A Bunch of Laurel Blooms for a Present, from Appalachia, has the father indebted to a witch from whom he has taken some laurel blooms. In this version he is the one who must stay with the witch, but the youngest daughter takes his place. The witch keeps her in a house with a large, ugly toad, whom she learns to love. One night she awakens to find a handsome young man lying next to her and the toad-skin hanging on a bed post. She takes the skin and burns it in the fire. The next morning the young man is still there and thanks her for saving him from the witch’s curse.

In 1740 by Madame Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Gallon de Villeneuve wrote a version of Beauty and the Beast that was 362 pages long. It was filled with warring fairies and lengthy histories, and contained many criticisms of arranged marriages. In 1756, French aristocrat Madame Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont took this tale and shortened it into the tale we are most familiar with today.

Next week we’ll go a little more in depth in the origins of this fairy tale.