New Fairytales

The Drawf's Dream by Jessie M. King for The Birthday of the Infanta by Oscar Wilde
via artsycraftsy

Last week it was reported that a collection of 500 fairytales had been discovered. Compiled by a 19th century historian and archived in Germany for 150 years, these stories contain myths and legends that Franz Xaver von Schonworth collected from country folk, labourers, and servants. These are stories that were previously only being spread by word of mouth until von Schonworth wrote them down. While this isn't unheard of for fairytales, von Schonworth, being a historian and not a writer, did nothing to add to the stories he collected—and leaving the stories untouched in something notable. Reading these stories will be like reading the oral histories from hundreds of years ago. A collection of these stories have been published (umm, English please?), but you can read one of them online here.

Fairytales are not just stories for children, and many of them contain real life lessons that are beneficial to any age. From the article: "Eichenseer says that fairytales are not for children alone. 'Their main purpose was to help young adults on their path to adulthood, showing them that dangers and challenges can be overcome through virtue, prudence, and courage.'" And, sorry, but you'd all be lying if you claimed not to need a little bit of that.

Hans Christian Anderson was a Danish writer revered for his fairytales—many still-famous tales were written by him, like Thumbelina and The Ugly Duckling. I also really liked The Storks. The Brothers Grimm have some great tales as well—these came from oral tales just like von Schonworth's, but the Grimms added their own literary devices to these old found tales, so in essence the stories became a collaboration. Some fault them for this, but the stories are still haunting and fantastic. You should read The Goose-Girl, The Juniper Tree, and The Queen Bee, and ignore that movie by Terry Gilliam. Oscar Wilde has also got some great fairytales, like The Young Prince and The Birthday of the Infanta. Lots of important lessons to learn there, guys.

Also very fairytale-like are The Middle Stories by Sheila Heti. I honestly wouldn't be able to choose a favourite, so read all the available-online stories here, and buy the book. These modern fairytales are quirky and charming—written in a traditional-esque fairytale style, they force us to look for lessons where there may or may not be. It's a modern take on an old style of tale telling, and it's wonderful.