Fairy Tale Facts: Little Red Riding Hood

I’m breaking away from the winter theme for a week (because it’s surprisingly hard to find them) to examine Little Red Riding Hood. This week the movie Into the Woods comes out (and I am beyond excited to see it!) and part of the story follows Little Red as she attempts to navigate the woods to her grandmother’s house. Little Red Riding Hood was a story told for years before being published. Charles Perrault wrote the earliest version in 1697. The Grimm Brothers’ version was published in 1812. The Grimms actually based the story off of two separate versions and split the tale into two parts; the original and the sequel. The first part is nearly identical to Perrault’s, so they probably drew inspiration from it.

Perrault’s Version

Perrault’s tale features a young lady travelling to her grandmother’s house. A scheming wolf tricks her into telling him where the grandmother’s home is and he heads there, avoiding the woodcutters in the forest. He eats the grandmother and when Little Red arrives, he tricks her into climbing into the bed where he’s hiding and he eats her as well. That’s it. No happy ending. It’s rather depressing. It was published in a book called Tales and Stories of the Past with Morals. So the moral of Little Red? Don’t talk to strangers. At least, not wolves.

Grimm’s Version

The only change the Grimm Brothers made to the first part of the Red Riding Hood story was the ending. In their tale, a huntsman saves Red and her grandmother when he kills the wolf for it’s skin. The sequel shows Red and her grandmother wiser for the experience; after another run in with a wolf, Red and her grandmother lay elaborate traps for it, eventually killing it.

Fun Fact #1

In the Grimm story, the main character is actually called Little Red-Cap because she wears a red cap, not a red hooded cloak.

Fun Fact #2

As is often the case with fairy tales, the older tales are much more gruesome than the ones we see today. In some of the earliest tellings, the wolf tricked Red into eating parts of her grandmother and tells poor Red to take her clothes and throw them in the fire before getting into bed. In some versions, he eats her. In others, she manages to escape.

Fun Fact #3

Instead of a wolf, some versions feature an ogre or a werewolf.

If You’re Interested….

Like I said, Disney’s Into the Woods comes out on Christmas. It’s a film adaptation of Sondheim’s musical, which I have loved for years. I highly recommend the movie, even though I haven’t seen it yet. What I’ve seen from commercials and teasers looks fantastic! The plot also features fairy tale favorites Cinderella, Jack and his beanstalk, Rapunzel, and of course, Little Red.

Until next time, Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

Hello everyone!

As you may have noticed, I only posted once last week. I’ve decided to cut back on posting during December to spend time with my family and relax while I’m on break. So, for the rest of the month, I’ll only be posting once a week. Don’t worry, I’ll be back on schedule in January, with a special surprise as well! So keep your eyes peeled and enjoy the holiday season!

Best wishes!

Kate

Winter Tales: The Snow Queen

As I was choosing what tale to talk about this week, I was surprised that I hadn’t covered this one sooner. But I haven’t, so today I will! The Snow Queen was written by Han Christian Anderson, first published in 1844 (December 21, 1844, to be exact, almost 170 years ago to the day!). It provided a very vague inspiration for Disney’s Frozen, though there are very few similarities in the story.

Winter In Poland 2

What It’s About

The story follows two children, Gerda and her friend Kai (sometimes Kay). The story is broken into 7 parts. The first part tells of a wicked spirit who makes a mirror that reflects only the bad in people, magnifying it until all they can see are the exaggerated bits of ugly and horror. The spirit tries to fly the mirror up to heaven, but drops it. The pieces of shattered mirror are blown around the world and lodge into people’s eyes, distorting their vision, or hearts, making them as hard and cold as ice. The second part of the story begins, introducing Kai and Gerda, friends and neighbors. Kai’s grandmother tells the story of the Snow Queen, who rules over the winter. Kai sees her that night outside his window, beckoning for him to follow her. He doesn’t. Over the next summer, however, a shards of the mirror get lodged into Kai’s heart and eyes. He turns into a cruel and angry person, going so far as to pull up the roses Gerda loves so much. The next winter, he is approached by the Snow Queen, who takes him away in her sleigh. She kisses twice; first to make him numb to cold, and second to make him forget his family and home. Gerda goes after Kai, determined to save him. She travels a great distance to find him, encountering a sorceress, a band of robbers run by a young girl, a river spirit, and women living in the North Pole. When Gerda finally reaches the Snow Queen’s palace, she finds that Kai has been enslaved by the Snow Queen’s power. The power of her love and the warmth of the tears she sheds breaks the spell and the two happily return home.

Fun Fact #1

The roses Kai pulls up are more than just Gerda’s favorite flowers; they are reminders of how much she cares about him. Gerda is actually captured by the sorceress, who traps her with her a beautiful garden. The sorceress causes all the roses to be buried so that Gerda won’t be reminded of Kai.

Fun Fact #2

Everyone assumes that Kai had drowned in the nearby river when he disappeared. When Gerda first set out to find him, she went to the river and offered to make an exchange for Kai. That’s when she finds out that he’s still alive.

Fun Fact #3

The Snow Queen’s power has trapped Kai by giving him an impossible task. She promises that if he can arranged shards of ice in a certain way, she will free him. After Gerda breaks the spell, the two dance and cause the ice pieces to fall into place.

If You’re Interested….

Disney’s Frozen was loosely (and I mean very loosely) based on The Snow Queen. Other than that, I’ve yet to come across adaptations of this story, but I’d love some recommendations if you have!

Winter Tales: The Nutcracker and the Mouse King

It’s getting closer and closer to Christmas, so for the next few weeks, I’m going to highlight some tales that are centered around Christmas or winter. To start us off, one of the most classic Christmas stories: The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffmann. The story, first published in 1816, was turned into a ballet in 1892 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It soon became world famous.

If nutcrackers can be soldiers, why not baseball players?

What It’s About

It’s Christmas Eve. Marie Stahlbaum and her brother Fritz are wondering what their godfather, Drosselmeyer, will bring them for Christmas. He is a clockmaker and an inventor and always makes presents for them. When the children finally receive their gifts, they find a mechanical house full of people that can move. Marie, however, is entranced by a nutcracker soldier. She and Fritz crack nuts with it, until it’s jaw cracks. Marie bandages it and the family goes to bed, but she wants to stay with the nutcracker a little longer. As the clock strikes twelve, the nutcracker comes alive and joins the other now-living toys in fighting against a mouse army that has appeared. The mice are led by a seven-headed king. As the toys begin to be overwhelmed, Marie throws her shoe at the Mouse King. The next day, Marie tells Drosselmeyer what happened, and he tells her the story of Princess Pirlipat and the Mouse Queen.

The Mouse Queen played a cruel trick on Princess Pirlipat’s parents (try saying that five times fast) and the king retaliated by having the court inventor, Drosselmeyer, make traps for them. The Mouse Queen was understandably upset at the death of her children and in turn cursed the Princess, giving her a huge head, a wide (and probably creepy) smile, and a cottony beard. People searched for a cure that, as they often are in fairy tales, was ridiculously complicated. (You can find all the details of it here if you’re curious.) In the end, the poor boy who was trying his hardest to fulfill all the requirements failed and the curse affected him instead of the princess. He turned into a nutcracker and she had him banished because he was ugly.

The next few nights, Marie hears the Mouse King threatening to bite the nutcracker unless she makes a sacrifice to him (her other toys, candy, etc. Nothing too crazy). Finally, the nutcracker fights and defeats him and takes Marie to the doll kingdom. When she tells her parents about it the next day, they tell her to stop talking about her crazy dreams. Marie can’t forget about it, however, and promises the nutcracker that she’s different from Princess Pirlipat and would love him no matter what he looked like. The nutcracker becomes human again and thanks Marie for breaking the curse (it was apparently a lot easier the second time around). He proposes to her and a year and a day later, takes her away to the doll kingdom where they are crowned king and queen.

Fun Fact #1

The boy who tries to break Princess Pirlipat’s curse, and consequently gets turned into a nutcracker, is Drosselmeyer’s nephew.

Fun Fact # 2

The seven-headed Mouse King was the son of the Mouse Queen of Drosselmeyer’s story; part of the cure to the nutcracker’s curse was defeating him.

Fun Fact #3

This one isn’t so much fun as it is creepy. Marie was seven when the story took place. Seven. Yeah.

Fun Fact #4

In the ballet, Marie’s name changed to Clara. So no, I wasn’t mixed up. It was originally Marie.

I’m not going to do an “If You’re Interested….” because I’ve never seen any adaptations of this, other than the ballet. Let me know if you have, though!

What winter story should I talk about next week?

Until next time!

Flash Fiction

I got some exciting news today. A flash fiction piece I wrote has been accepted for publication! I’m pretty stoked for this opportunity.

Some of you might be asking, “What is flash fiction?” It’s a form of writing that’s been gaining popularity over the last few years. It’s called flash fiction because it tells a story in 1,000 words or less.

You would think that writing a short piece would be easy, but it’s actually quite difficult to write a well-rounded story in so few words. You have to be very selective about what you say.

Speaking of things that move quickly, I am getting ready to take finals for the semester. I also turned in my application to graduate in a year. A YEAR! I’m practically done with school and I’ve started thinking about the future. It’s a little intimidating.

So these are essentially the ramblings of a mind worn out from studying. Please excuse them if they don’t make sense.

Until next time, fellow wonderers!

Fairy Tale Facts: The Goose Girl

Today I’ll introduce you to yet another Grimm’s fairy tale, The Goose Girl, first published in 1815.

What’s It About?

A young princess is being sent to a neighboring kingdom by her widowed mother to marry the prince there. She leaves with her maid and her magical horse, Falada. Along the way, the princess loses the magical handkerchief her mother gave her to protect her. The maid sees and forces the princess to switch places with her, making her promise to never tell under threat of death. The princess agrees and the maid rides Falada to the city wearing the princess’s clothes, leaving the princess to find her own way to the city. When the real princess finally arrives, the king sees her and takes pity on her, giving her a job helping the goose boy, Conrad. The fake princess has Falada killed, worried that the magical horse will reveal her secret. The horse’s head is mounted on the wall. The real princess passes by the head every day on her way to and speaks to it. One day, the king overhears their conversation. He asks the real princess to tell him her troubles, but she says that she can tell no person what has happened. He leaves her, suggesting that she tell her woes to a nearby stove. She does, not realizing that the king was eavesdropping. The king is outraged to find that a maid has been parading as a princess, but instead of exposing her right away, he sets a trap. He asks the fake princess various questions about justice, finally asking what should be done to a woman who pretends to be a princess. She responds that the pretender should be put in barrel, naked, and pulled through the streets by horses until she is killed. Then the king reveals the true princess and sentences the fake princess to the punishment she herself described. The real princess marries the prince and they live happily ever after.

The bond between a girl and her horse can be quite strong.

Fun Fact #1

The princess appears to have a talent for speaking to things; she talks to her horse (and the dead horse’s head), the magical handkerchief from her mother, the wind, and a stove. And funnily enough, all but the last thing speak back. Luckily, in fairy tales, we can just call that magic instead of craziness.

Fun Fact #2

I was just rereading the summary, and apparently the princess climbed into the stove to tell it about her problems. Seems like a little bit of an over-reaction.

Fun Fact #3

While being a goose girl, the princess liked to comb her hair. After Conrad, the goose boy, tried to take a few locks of her beautiful hair, she asked the wind to blow his hat away. He ended up chasing his hat for as long as she combed her hair.

If You’re Interested…

Check out Shannon Hale’s The Goose Girl. Magic is a little more prominent, and the idea of a person being able to speak to animals or the wind is a little more normal.

Comment below with any fairy tales you’d like to see me cover here!

Until next time, fellow wonderers!

What Just Happened?

Guys I did it! I did the thing! You know the one, right? That means that I won the thing! Cause I did all the stuff!

Sorry, but my brain is having trouble wording right now. See, I just finished writing 50,ooo (yes, FIFTY THOUSAND) words in 30 DAYS!

I’m a little bit in shock.

In case you couldn’t tell, I just finished National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I wrote every day (some days, like today, more than others.). I honestly didn’t think I was going to make it. But thanks to some encouragement from friends and family, plus a mug of very hot tea, I have done something I have never done before! Well, several things, actually. Here’s a list:

#1: I wrote a book. Like, a full story. Granted, there’s still a lot I need to flesh out. But I wrote that whole dang story (minus the very end, but I have that all planned out). It is officially out of my head and on paper. Well, electronic paper.

#2: I wrote every day for a month straight. I usually do some sort of writing every day, whether for school or myself. But I don’t think I’ve ever written so consistently for a single project before. So I’m quite proud. Plus, the thought of not writing every day now seems rather odd. So yay for new habits!

#3: I made myself write when I didn’t think I had anything to say. Some would call it writer’s block. And this is something I’ve forced myself to do before, but never on such a large scale. There are pages of ramblings I probably won’t use, but they led to some pretty great stuff.

#4: I came to terms with the idea of a first draft. I’ve never considered myself a perfectionist, but I am when it comes to writing. I always want to wait until the story or scene is just right before I put it down in words. But I’ve come to realize that won’t happen unless I put it down in words. It will only get better once I have the chance to edit it. Besides, I often find the best things I write are the unplanned ones. They happen naturally as I’m writing. So don’t be afraid of first drafts. They’re called rough drafts for a reason.

So that’s my big news for the weekend! I hope those of you who celebrated it this last week had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I certainly did, spending time with family and participating in various family holiday traditions.

Until next time, fellow wonderers!

Also, if you want to see some of the steps I took to reach the goal, check out my Facebook page, here.

And look! I got this cool little badge!

Fairy Tale Facts: The Wild Swans

The Wild Swans is a fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson, first published in 1838. I’ve recently discovered this story and I love it!

Swans

What’s it About?

The story follows a young princess with eleven older brothers. (Has anyone else noticed that in fairy tales, 12 seems to be a common number of children to have? I can’t imagine having that many siblings.) The king is sadly widowed and decides to remarry. He unfortunately chooses a witch as his second wife. The new queen dislikes the king’s children and casts a spell over his sons, turning them into swans. They become human again at night, but are driven out of the castle. When the wicked queen tries and fails to curse the princess, Elisa, she instead banishes her. Elisa finds the fairy queen, who tells her that she can break the spell on her brothers by knitting each of them a shirt of nettles. She must not say a word during her task, no matter what. Some time passes by and a king finds Elisa. As usually happens in fairy tales, he falls in love with her because she’s pretty. He invites her back to his castle, where she lives and continues to knit. The king wants to marry her, but the Archbishop is convinced she is a witch. She is put on trial and because she can’t speak to defend herself, she is found guilty of witchcraft. As they are preparing to burn her at the stake, her brothers arrive in bird form. Elisa, who has never stopped knitting, hurriedly throws the shirts over the birds and breaks the curse. She can speak again, the king apologizes and proposes again, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Fun Fact #1

Nettles are not happy plants. They are covered with tiny hairs that break off when touched, getting buried into skin. They also contain a chemical mix, which is not pleasant. So knitting eleven shirts out of nettles was no easy task. It was a true sacrifice on Elisa’s part.

Fun Fact #2

In some versions I’ve heard, the last shirt was incomplete, causing one prince to have a permanent wing. Rotten luck on his part.

Fun Fact #3

I’ve heard a rumor (and please don’t quote me on this, because it’s a RUMOR, not a FACT) that Disney might be planning on making Elisa the newest Disney Princess with a movie of her own.

If You’re Interested…

I’d highly recommend The Wild Swans by K.M. Shea. It’s wonderfully written.

Now, I have to ask. What would you find more difficult: a seemingly-impossible task (painful, yes, but I’d imagine you’d soon get used to the pain), or staying silent, even in the face of death? I personally think the silence bit would be harder for me.

Until next time, fellow wonderers!

I Want to Hear from You!

Over the course of this semester in school, I’ve been taking a class that covers the use of social media to create a platform for writers. Part of that has been the creation (or in my case, adjusting) of a blog. I’ve tried some new things, like series, and changed the look a few times.

I really just want to hear from you. You, my wonderful readers, are kind of the reason I do this. I want to make sure you are seeing what you want. So I would absolutely love some feedback. Do you like the things I’ve been doing? Is there a topic you’d like to see me cover? Would you rather I do something else? How would you feel about video posts?

Suggestion Box

Basically, I just want to make sure I’m writing the sort of thing you want to read. So comment below and make me feel good about myself! Or, you know, tell me all the things I should be doing instead.

Until next time fellow wonderers!

Fairy Tale Facts: 12 Dancing Princesses

I’ve decided to start a new series! As I was working on my Evolution of Fairy Tales series, I realized that there are a lot of fairy tales that aren’t well known or haven’t changed too much since their appearance. So I’m going to use this new series to highlight these stories, as well as recommend adaptations I really like. I’ll start with ones I know, but if you have any you’d like me to highlight, let me know! I’m always on the lookout for new stories to enjoy.

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

Pointe

What’s it About?

The Twelve Dancing Princesses is a German fairy tale, written by the Brothers Grimm in 1812. The story tells of twelve sisters, daughters of a king, who have a secret. They sleep in the same room and every morning their dancing slippers are worn through. The king, tired of paying for new shoes constantly, offers a reward to any man who can find out how the shoes get destroyed within three days and three nights. Many men, including princes, try, but all fail. A soldier, returning from war, decides to try his luck. On his way to the castle, he meets an old woman who gives him a cloak of invisibility (like in Harry Potter!) and some advice; he should not eat or drink anything the princesses offer. He arrives and settles in. When the princess offer the soldier wine before bed, he pretends to drink it and convinces the princesses he’s fallen asleep. He follows them, having donned the invisibility cloak, through a secret door to an enchanted forest. The princesses dance the night away while the soldier collects evidence. The same thing happens the next two nights and on his last day, the soldier presents the evidence to the King. The king happily offers the soldier the chance to marry any of his daughters and become his heir.

Fun Fact #1

In the early version of this story, it seems that the princesses enjoy their nightly escapades. Many of the adaptations I’ve read attribute their visits to the enchanted forest to a curse. It makes a little more sense to me. Some writers even go so far as to use magic to prevent the princesses from telling anyone.

Fun Fact #2

The twelve princesses meet twelve princes in the forest. In some versions, the princes are also cursed or enchanted. In other, the princes are…not quite human.

Fun Fact #3

In my research, I found a similar Scottish tale called Kate Crackernuts. It takes the reverse view; Kate, a princess, is trying to discover how to break a curse placed on her sister when she meets a prince, cursed to dance all night. She breaks both curses and marries the prince.

If You’re Interested…

I’ve come across two fantastic books that use The Twelve Dancing Princesses as inspiration; Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George and Entwined by Heather Dixon.

What other fairy tales should I cover here?

Until next time, fellow wonderers!