George Newbern
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Ashputtel, or Cinderella, is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression and triumphant reward. In it, a young girl is forced by her cruel stepmother and stepsisters to a life of servitude, and to sleep next to the fireplace, earning her the nickname "Ashputtel". Elements of the Grimm treatment of this story are much more intense than the Perrault or Disney versions, with the stepsisters experiencing a more violent conclusion. The theme...
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Snow-White, fair-haired, quiet and shy and Rose-Red, dark-haired, outspoken and lively, are two little girls living with their mother in a small cottage by the woods. They give shelter on a winter night to a kindly bear, who treats them gently and returns every night. In the summer the girls encounter a wicked dwarf whose beard is stuck in a tree. Freeing the dwarf, the girls are met with loud ungrateful recriminations for cutting his beard. More...
3) Tom Thumb
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In the Brothers Grimm version of "Tom Thumb", a lonely couple hopes for a child, even "if it were no bigger than my thumb". To their delight, their wishes come true and the boy is named "Tom Thumb" for his diminutive stature. The boy is crafty and helps his father by directing the family horse to haul firewood by standing in his ear and whispering commands. Embarking on several adventures, Tom displays a knack for tricking the slow-witted people who...
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In The Golden Bird a king who has been robbed of a golden apple commands his gardener's sons to watch the tree. Seeing that the thief is a golden bird, the youngest son tries to shoot it, but only knocks a feather off. Fascinated by the feather, the king decides he wants the whole bird. The gardener's son and his two brothers must make fateful choices in what turns into a fearsome quest to capture the bird. It is Aarne-Thompson folktale type 550,...
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The Juniper Tree is a German fairy tale that contains themes of child abuse, murder and cannibalism and is one of the Brothers Grimm's darker and more mature fairy tales. In it, a boy is murdered and made into a stew by his evil stepmother, who buries his bones beneath a juniper tree outside their house. The boy is reincarnated as a bird who flies forth from the tree and enlists the townspeople to help him exact revenge. It is thought that the Grimm...
6) Iron Hans
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In Iron Hans" a series of huntsmen disappear in a mysterious forest. It is eventually discovered that an iron-skinned man is dragging everything into the lake where he lives. The man is captured by the king and subsequently released by the prince, who then sets out on his own. What follows is a coming of age story in which the prince, with the help of the iron-skinned man defeats an army and wins the hand of a princess. The prince is reunited with...
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In "The Golden Goose" Dummling, the youngest and simplest of three brothers, is sent into the forest to chop wood. He shares his food and drink with a little gray man who directs him to a tree which, when chopped down, is found to contain a golden goose. Dummling sets off on a journey with the goose under his arm, eventually arriving in a kingdom wherein the king will offer his daughter's hand in marriage to any man who can make her laugh. This fairy...
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In Snowdrop (or "Snow White") a queen sewing by the window during a snowfall pricks her finger. Admiring the drops of blood on the snow, she wishes for a daughter "as white as that snow, as red as that blood, and as black as this ebony window frame!" The queen dies, but not before giving birth to Snowdrop. The girl's stepmother, a vain and vindictive woman, plots to eliminate Snowdrop, who grows more beautiful by the day. Snowdrop is left in the forest...
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In Little Red Cap, or Little Red Riding Hood, a little girl walks through the woods to deliver wine and cake to her sickly grandmother. Having been warned by her mother not to stray from the path, she is tricked by a large wolf into picking flowers in a nearby field. During this time, the wolf, masquerading as Little Red Cap, swindles the grandmother into letting him in and devours her, and dons her clothing. When Little Red Cap arrives, the wolf,...
10) The Frog-Prince
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In The Frog Prince", a spoiled princess grudgingly befriends a frog after a chance meeting at a pond. Forced against her will to spend time with the creature, he is ultimately revealed to be a handsome prince under a spell when she hurls him against the wall. In many other versions of the story the curse is broken by a kiss or a night spent on the princess' pillow. It is possible that the idea for the story goes back to Roman times when the emperor...
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In Briar Rose", better known as "Sleeping Beauty" seven good fairies are invited to be godmothers to the infant princess. An old, overlooked fairy feels slighted and puts a deadly curse on the princess. A kind fairy modulates the curse from death to 100 years of deep sleep which can be terminated by the kiss of a handsome prince. This combination of princess, sleep enchantment and prince exists in multiple folk tales going back as early as the narrative...