161-435: " Frau Holle " ( / ˌ f r aʊ ˈ h ɒ l / HOL , German: [fʁaʊ ˈhɔlə] ; also known as " Mother Holle ", " Mother Hulda " or " Old Mother Frost ") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Children's and Household Tales in 1812 (KHM 24). It is of Aarne-Thompson type 480. Frau Holle (also known in various regions as Holla , Holda , Perchta , Berchta , Berta , or Bertha )
322-461: A Chinese Studio (published posthumously, 1766), which has been described by Yuken Fujita of Keio University as having "a reputation as the most outstanding short story collection." The fairy tale itself became popular among the précieuses of upper-class France (1690–1710), and among the tales told in that time were the ones of La Fontaine and the Contes of Charles Perrault (1697), who fixed
483-401: A baker's peel , she took all the loaves out and then walked on. Then she came to an apple tree that asked that its apples be harvested. So she did so and gathered them into a pile before continuing on her way. Finally, she came to a small house of an old woman, who offered to allow the girl to stay if she would help with the housework. The woman identified herself as Frau Holle, and cautioned
644-647: A batch of stinging nettles. If all the tow is already spun, then there will not only be no punishment, even one of the nettles will be left in the house to ward the house of misfortune for the whole coming year. Additionally, in Bohemia all spinning is banned on the night of St. Thomas. If a spinster is working anyway, she will be punished by Frau Holle. To children spinning in the night the Spindelholle says: " Verzage nicht, verzage nicht, warum spinnst du die Zahl am Tage nicht? " (Do not quail, do not quail, why do you not spin
805-528: A benevolent pagan religion that had survived the Christianization of Europe. This has been discredited by further historical research. From the 1930s, occult neopagan groups began to emerge who called their religion a kind of 'witchcraft'. They were initiatory secret societies inspired by Murray's 'witch cult' theory, ceremonial magic , Aleister Crowley 's Thelema , and historical paganism. The biggest religious movement to emerge from this
966-492: A fixed form, and regardless of literary influence, the tellers constantly altered them for their own purposes. The work of the Brothers Grimm influenced other collectors, both inspiring them to collect tales and leading them to similarly believe, in a spirit of romantic nationalism , that the fairy tales of a country were particularly representative of it, to the neglect of cross-cultural influence. Among those influenced were
1127-418: A folklore, Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index 300–749,—in a cataloguing system that made such a distinction—to gain a clear set of tales. His own analysis identified fairy tales by their plot elements, but that in itself has been criticized, as the analysis does not lend itself easily to tales that do not involve a quest , and furthermore, the same plot elements are found in non-fairy tale works. Were I asked, what
1288-573: A goddess variously called Holda, Diana, Herodias , Signora Oriente , Richella , Arada, and Perchta. He also identifies strong morphological similarities with the earlier goddesses Hecate / Artemis , Artio , the Matres of Engyon , the Matronae , and Epona , as well as figures from fairy-tales, such as Cinderella . A 16th-century fable recorded by Erasmus Alberus speaks of "an army of women" with sickles in hand sent by Frau Hulda. Thomas Reinesius in
1449-847: A literary variant of fairy tales such as Water and Salt and Cap O' Rushes . The tale itself resurfaced in Western literature in the 16th and 17th centuries, with The Facetious Nights of Straparola by Giovanni Francesco Straparola (Italy, 1550 and 1553), which contains many fairy tales in its inset tales, and the Neapolitan tales of Giambattista Basile (Naples, 1634–36), which are all fairy tales. Carlo Gozzi made use of many fairy tale motifs among his Commedia dell'Arte scenarios, including among them one based on The Love For Three Oranges (1761). Simultaneously, Pu Songling , in China, included many fairy tales in his collection, Strange Stories from
1610-427: A man-eating tiger with her own hand." In contemporary literature , many authors have used the form of fairy tales for various reasons, such as examining the human condition from the simple framework a fairytale provides. Some authors seek to recreate a sense of the fantastic in a contemporary discourse. Some writers use fairy tale forms for modern issues; this can include using the psychological dramas implicit in
1771-707: A mask on a human face, as in fables . In his essay " On Fairy-Stories ", J. R. R. Tolkien agreed with the exclusion of "fairies" from the definition, defining fairy tales as stories about the adventures of men in Faërie , the land of fairies, fairytale princes and princesses, dwarves , elves, and not only other magical species but many other marvels. However, the same essay excludes tales that are often considered fairy tales, citing as an example The Monkey's Heart , which Andrew Lang included in The Lilac Fairy Book . Steven Swann Jones identified
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#17330942017111932-533: A minority of the accused in any area studied". Likewise, Davies says "relatively few cunning-folk were prosecuted under secular statutes for witchcraft" and were dealt with more leniently than alleged witches. The Constitutio Criminalis Carolina (1532) of the Holy Roman Empire , and the Danish Witchcraft Act of 1617, stated that workers of folk magic should be dealt with differently from witches. It
2093-638: A minority of those accused. European belief in witchcraft gradually dwindled during and after the Age of Enlightenment . Many indigenous belief systems that include the concept of witchcraft likewise define witches as malevolent, and seek healers (such as medicine people and witch doctors ) to ward-off and undo bewitchment. Some African and Melanesian peoples believe witches are driven by an evil spirit or substance inside them. Modern witch-hunting takes place in parts of Africa and Asia. Today, followers of certain types of modern paganism identify as witches and use
2254-487: A monumental work called Le Cabinet des Fées , an enormous collection of stories from the 17th and 18th centuries. The first collectors to attempt to preserve not only the plot and characters of the tale, but also the style in which they were told, was the Brothers Grimm , collecting German fairy tales; ironically, this meant although their first edition (1812 & 1815) remains a treasure for folklorists, they rewrote
2415-800: A multi-phase journey influenced by culture , spirituality , and societal norms. Ancient witchcraft in the Near East intertwined mysticism with nature through rituals and incantations aligned with local beliefs. In ancient Judaism , magic had a complex relationship, with some forms accepted due to mysticism while others were considered heretical . The medieval Middle East experienced shifting perceptions of witchcraft under Islamic and Christian influences, sometimes revered for healing and other times condemned as heresy . Jewish attitudes toward witchcraft were rooted in its association with idolatry and necromancy , and some rabbis even practiced certain forms of magic themselves. References to witchcraft in
2576-494: A number of contrasts with other stories. Typically, the magical beings who appear in the tales must enter the real world and appear to the protagonists before any intercession can take place. Moreover, these beings are almost always anonymous and therefore difficult to correlate with figures in pre-Christian mythology. By contrast, Frau Holle resides somewhere above the Earth, and the protagonists must go to her, paradoxically by diving into
2737-451: A picture book aimed at children in which a princess rescues a prince, Angela Carter 's The Bloody Chamber , which retells a number of fairy tales from a female point of view and Simon Hood's contemporary interpretation of various popular classics. There are also many contemporary erotic retellings of fairy tales, which explicitly draw upon the original spirit of the tales, and are specifically for adults. Modern retellings focus on exploring
2898-468: A popular costumed portrayal, perhaps as part of a seasonal festival or holiday drama. Here cometh up Dame Hulde with the snout, to wit, nature, and goeth about to gainstay her God and give him the lie, hangeth her old ragfair about her, the straw-harness; then falls to work and scrapes it featly on her fiddle. — M. Luther (1522) Grimm based his theory of Holda on what he took to be the earliest references to her: An 11th century interpolation to
3059-459: A spring. When she makes her bed, loose feathers are 'stirred up' and fall to earth as snow, and so this fairy tale is an origin myth as well. Comparison between Frau Holle and a weather or earth goddess is inevitable. Jakob Grimm notes that Thunar ( Thor ) makes rain in a similar fashion, implying for Frau Holle a very high rank in the pantheon. Though not unique in this respect, the Frau Holle story
3220-558: A technique developed by evolutionary biologists to trace the relatedness of living and fossil species . Among the tales analysed were Jack and the Beanstalk , traced to the time of splitting of Eastern and Western Indo-European, over 5000 years ago. Both Beauty and the Beast and Rumpelstiltskin appear to have been created some 4000 years ago. The story of The Smith and the Devil ( Deal with
3381-476: A time ", this tells us that a fairy tale or a märchen was originally a little story from a long time ago when the world was still magic. (Indeed, one less regular German opening is "In the old times when wishing was still effective".) The French writers and adaptors of the conte de fées genre often included fairies in their stories; the genre name became "fairy tale" in English translation and "gradually eclipsed
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#17330942017113542-490: A version intended for children. The moralizing strain in the Victorian era altered the classical tales to teach lessons, as when George Cruikshank rewrote Cinderella in 1854 to contain temperance themes. His acquaintance Charles Dickens protested, "In an utilitarian age, of all other times, it is a matter of grave importance that fairy tales should be respected." Psychoanalysts such as Bruno Bettelheim , who regarded
3703-472: A viable explanation of evil in the world". The belief in witchcraft has been found throughout history in a great number of societies worldwide. Most of these societies have used protective magic or counter-magic against witchcraft, and have shunned, banished, imprisoned, physically punished or killed alleged witches. Anthropologists use the term "witchcraft" for similar beliefs about harmful occult practices in different cultures, and these societies often use
3864-630: A wagon, and first taught the craft of making linen from flax. According to Erika Timm , Perchta emerged from an amalgamation of Germanic and pre-Germanic, probably Celtic, traditions of the Alpine regions after the Migration Period in the Early Middle Ages. Holle is the goddess to whom children who died as infants go, and alternatively known as both the Dunkle Großmutter (Dark Grandmother) and
4025-613: A wax or clay image (a poppet ) of a person to affect them magically; or using herbs , animal parts and other substances to make potions or poisons. Witchcraft has been blamed for many kinds of misfortune. In Europe, by far the most common kind of harm attributed to witchcraft was illness or death suffered by adults, their children, or their animals. "Certain ailments, like impotence in men, infertility in women, and lack of milk in cows, were particularly associated with witchcraft". Illnesses that were poorly understood were more likely to be blamed on witchcraft. Edward Bever writes: "Witchcraft
4186-460: A white-robed female spirit. She was known as a goddess who oversaw spinning and weaving, like myths of Holda in Continental German regions. He believes she was the feminine equivalent of Berchtold, and she was sometimes the leader of the wild hunt. According to Erika Timm, Perchta emerged from an amalgamation of Germanic and pre-Germanic, probably Celtic, traditions of the Alpine regions after
4347-406: A wide range of practices, with belief in black magic and the evil eye coexisting alongside strict prohibitions against its practice. The Quran acknowledges the existence of magic and seeks protection from its harm. Islam's stance is against the practice of magic, considering it forbidden, and emphasizes divine miracles rather than magic or witchcraft. The historical continuity of witchcraft in
4508-499: A witch (m. kaššāpu , f. kaššāptu , from kašāpu ['to bewitch'] ) was "usually regarded as an anti-social and illegitimate practitioner of destructive magic ... whose activities were motivated by malice and evil intent and who was opposed by the ašipu , an exorcist or incantation-priest". These ašipu were predominantly male representatives of the state religion, whose main role was to work magic against harmful supernatural forces such as demons . The stereotypical witch mentioned in
4669-586: A witch, what makes a woman more likely than a man to be a witch, how to put a witch on trial, and how to punish a witch. The book defines a witch as evil and typically female. It became the handbook for secular courts throughout Europe, but was not used by the Inquisition, which even cautioned against relying on it. It was the most sold book in Europe for over 100 years, after the Bible. Islamic perspectives on magic encompass
4830-539: A world where all the fairy tales take place, and the characters are aware of their role in the story, such as in the film series Shrek . Other authors may have specific motives, such as multicultural or feminist reevaluations of predominantly Eurocentric masculine-dominated fairy tales, implying critique of older narratives. The figure of the damsel in distress has been particularly attacked by many feminist critics. Examples of narrative reversal rejecting this figure include The Paperbag Princess by Robert Munsch ,
4991-504: Is a Silesian variant of female German legendary creatures such as Hulda (Frau Holle) or Perchta. In Bohemia, she is simply known as Frau Holle ("Mrs. Holle"). Other Silesian names are Satzemsuse, Mickadrulle, and Mickatrulle. The Spindelholle is a sallow old woman with short arms and legs, sometimes directly called a hag . She appears hooded (characterized by the name Popelhole or Popelhôle; Standard German: Popelholle; English translation: "hooded Holle") or wearing ragged clothing (as shown by
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5152-462: Is a crime punishable by death and the country has executed people for this crime as recently as 2014. Witchcraft-related violence is often discussed as a serious issue in the broader context of violence against women . In Tanzania, an estimated 500 older women are murdered each year following accusations of witchcraft or accusations of being a witch, according to a 2014 World Health Organization report. Children who live in some regions of
5313-405: Is a fairytale? I should reply, Read Undine : that is a fairytale ... of all fairytales I know, I think Undine the most beautiful. As Stith Thompson points out, talking animals and the presence of magic seem to be more common to the fairy tale than fairies themselves. However, the mere presence of animals that talk does not make a tale a fairy tale, especially when the animal is clearly
5474-531: Is also notable for the absence of class-related motifs such as palaces, halls to which one may or may not be invited, and the rise to the status of the nobility through marriage. According to the Aarne and Thompson classification system of fairy tales , Mother Hulda is a story of type 480, The Kind and the Unkind Girls . Others of this type include Shita-kiri Suzume , Diamonds and Toads , The Three Heads in
5635-451: Is best known today. The Brothers Grimm titled their collection Children's and Household Tales and rewrote their tales after complaints that they were not suitable for children. In the modern era, fairy tales were altered so that they could be read to children. The Brothers Grimm concentrated mostly on sexual references; Rapunzel , in the first edition, revealed the prince's visits by asking why her clothing had grown tight, thus letting
5796-539: Is found in five Latin inscriptions: three from the lower Rhine ( Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum XIII 8611, 8723, 8661), one from Münstereifel ( CIL XIII, 7944 ) and one from Beetgum, Frisia ( CIL XIII, 8830 ) all dating from 197 AD-235 AD. Many attempts have been made to interpret this name. As Christianity slowly replaced Germanic paganism during the Early Middle Ages , many of the old customs were gradually lost or assimilated into Christian tradition . By
5957-406: Is in its essence only one aspect of the collective unconscious as well as always representing also the whole collective unconscious. Other famous people commented on the importance of fairy tales, especially for children. For example, G. K. Chesterton argued that "Fairy tales, then, are not responsible for producing in children fear, or any of the shapes of fear; fairy tales do not give the child
6118-409: Is its own best explanation; that is, its meaning is contained in the totality of its motifs connected by the thread of the story. [...] Every fairy tale is a relatively closed system compounding one essential psychological meaning which is expressed in a series of symbolical pictures and events and is discoverable in these". "I have come to the conclusion that all fairy tales endeavour to describe one and
6279-605: Is no clear line separating myth from folk or fairy tale; all these together form the literature of preliterate societies. Fairy tales may be distinguished from other folk narratives such as legends (which generally involve belief in the veracity of the events described) and explicit moral tales, including beast fables . Prevalent elements include dragons , dwarfs , elves , fairies , giants , gnomes , goblins , griffins , merfolk , monsters , monarchy , pixies , talking animals , trolls , unicorns , witches , wizards , magic , and enchantments . In less technical contexts,
6440-549: Is particularly used for women. A male practitioner of magic or witchcraft is more commonly called a ' wizard ', or sometimes, 'warlock'. When the word witch is used to refer to a member of a neo-pagan tradition or religion (such as Wicca ), it can refer to a person of any gender. Witches are commonly believed to cast curses ; a spell or set of magical words and gestures intended to inflict supernatural harm. Cursing could also involve inscribing runes or sigils on an object to give that object magical powers; burning or binding
6601-608: Is that the fairy tale has ancient roots, older than the Arabian Nights collection of magical tales (compiled circa 1500 AD), such as Vikram and the Vampire , and Bel and the Dragon . Besides such collections and individual tales, in China Taoist philosophers such as Liezi and Zhuangzi recounted fairy tales in their philosophical works. In the broader definition of the genre,
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6762-654: Is that witches cause harm by introducing cursed magical objects into their victim's body; such as small bones or ashes. James George Frazer described this kind of magic as imitative . In some cultures, witches are believed to use human body parts in magic, and they are commonly believed to murder children for this purpose. In Europe, "cases in which women did undoubtedly kill their children, because of what today would be called postpartum psychosis , were often interpreted as yielding to diabolical temptation". Witches are believed to work in secret, sometimes alone and sometimes with other witches. Hutton writes: "Across most of
6923-514: Is the causation of snow, just like it is known from the standard Frau Holle as well. When the Spillaholle shakes her bed, then it will snow. The Spindelholle's home lies beneath a rock in the woods, known as the Spillalutschenstein ("Spillalutsche's stone"). At night, seven lights can be seen above the Spillalutschenstein . Normally, the Spillaholle appears solitarily, but as Popelhole, she
7084-411: Is the use of alleged supernatural powers of magic . A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic or supernatural powers to inflict harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to Encyclopedia Britannica , "Witchcraft thus defined exists more in the imagination", but it "has constituted for many cultures
7245-414: Is the usual name, some are also known as 'blessers' or 'wizards', but might also be known as 'white', 'good', or 'unbinding witches'. Historian Owen Davies says the term "white witch" was rarely used before the 20th century. Ronald Hutton uses the general term "service magicians". Often these people were involved in identifying alleged witches. Such helpful magic-workers "were normally contrasted with
7406-411: Is to use protective magic or counter-magic , often with the help of magical healers such as cunning folk or witch-doctors . This includes performing rituals , reciting charms , or the use of talismans , amulets , anti- witch marks , witch bottles , witch balls , and burying objects such as horse skulls inside the walls of buildings. Another believed cure for bewitchment is to persuade or force
7567-446: Is tolerated or accepted by the population, even if the orthodox establishment opposes it. In these societies, practitioners of helpful magic provide (or provided) services such as breaking the effects of witchcraft, healing , divination , finding lost or stolen goods, and love magic . In Britain, and some other parts of Europe, they were commonly known as ' cunning folk ' or 'wise people'. Alan McFarlane wrote that while cunning folk
7728-676: Is wed to the Popelmann, a German Silesian Bogeyman . As Satzemsuse she has companions which are the Satzemkater ( Kater = tomcat), the Satzemziege ( Ziege = goat) and the Rilpen, a collectivity of wood sprites. The Bohemian Frau Holle is accompanied by small deformed wights which she orders to beat outrageous spinsters with rods. The tale was published by the Brothers Grimm in the first edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen , published in 1812. Their source
7889-544: The Canon Episcopi by Burchard of Worms , and pre-Christian Roman inscriptions to Hludana that he tentatively linked to the same divinity. There were early challenges to connecting this figure with a pagan goddess, since her earliest definite appearance links her with the Virgin Mary , commonly called the "Queen of Heaven": An early-13th-century text listing superstitions states that "In the night of Christ's Nativity they set
8050-490: The Age of Colonialism , many cultures were exposed to the Western world via colonialism , usually accompanied by intensive Christian missionary activity (see Christianization ). In these cultures, beliefs about witchcraft were partly influenced by the prevailing Western concepts of the time. In Christianity , sorcery came to be associated with heresy and apostasy and to be viewed as evil. Among Catholics, Protestants, and
8211-465: The Bronze Age . Fairy tales, and works derived from fairy tales, are still written today. The Jatakas are probably the oldest collection of such tales in literature, and the greater part of the rest are demonstrably more than a thousand years old. It is certain that much (perhaps one-fifth) of the popular literature of modern Europe is derived from those portions of this large bulk which came west with
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#17330942017118372-555: The Crusades through the medium of Arabs and Jews. Folklorists have classified fairy tales in various ways. The Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index and the morphological analysis of Vladimir Propp are among the most notable. Other folklorists have interpreted the tales' significance, but no school has been definitively established for the meaning of the tales. Some folklorists prefer to use the German term Märchen or "wonder tale" to refer to
8533-461: The Indo-European root from which it may have derived. Another Old English word for 'witch' was hægtes or hægtesse , which became the modern English word " hag " and is linked to the word " hex ". In most other Germanic languages, their word for 'witch' comes from the same root as these; for example German Hexe and Dutch heks . In colloquial modern English , the word witch
8694-463: The Renaissance , such as Giovanni Francesco Straparola and Giambattista Basile , and stabilized through the works of later collectors such as Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm . In this evolution, the name was coined when the précieuses took up writing literary stories; Madame d'Aulnoy invented the term Conte de fée , or fairy tale, in the late 17th century. Before the definition of
8855-565: The Tanakh , or Hebrew Bible, highlighted strong condemnations rooted in the "abomination" of magical belief. Christianity similarly condemned witchcraft, considering it an abomination and even citing specific verses to justify witch-hunting during the early modern period. Historically, the Christian concept of witchcraft derives from Old Testament laws against it. In medieval and early modern Europe, many Christians believed in magic. As opposed to
9016-727: The Weisse Frau (White Lady), elements which are more typically associated with the Grimms' fairy tale as well. Frau Holle's festival is in the middle of winter, the time when humans retreat indoors from the cold. It may be of significance that the Twelve Days of Christmas were originally the Zwölften ("the Twelve"), which like the same period in the Celtic calendar were an intercalary period during which
9177-454: The accuser's estate was handed over instead. The Maqlû ("burning") is an ancient Akkadian text, written early in the first millennium BCE , which sets out a Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft ritual. This lengthy ritual includes invoking various gods , burning an effigy of the witch, then dousing and disposing of the remains. Witchcraft's historical evolution in the Middle East reveals
9338-456: The devil ; and he comes to them in the likeness of the man that is buried there, as if he arises from death." Most societies that have believed in harmful or black magic have also believed in helpful magic. Some have called it white magic , at least in more recent times. Where belief in harmful magic is common, it is typically forbidden by law as well as hated and feared by the general populace, while helpful or apotropaic (protective) magic
9499-434: The secular leadership of late medieval/early modern Europe, fears about witchcraft rose to fever pitch and sometimes led to large-scale witch-hunts . The fifteenth century saw a dramatic rise in awareness and terror of witchcraft. Tens of thousands of people were executed, and others were imprisoned, tortured, banished, and had lands and possessions confiscated. The majority of those accused were women, though in some regions
9660-409: The "purest and simplest expression of collective unconscious psychic processes" and "they represent the archetypes in their simplest, barest and most concise form" because they are less overlaid with conscious material than myths and legends. "In this pure form, the archetypal images afford us the best clues to the understanding of the processes going on in the collective psyche". "The fairy tale itself
9821-560: The 16th, Martin Luther employed the image to personify the shortcomings of hostile Reason in theological contexts. Frau Gauden, also known as Frau Gode, Frau Gaur, Fru Goden, Frau Wohl, and Mutter Gauerken, is a being from the folklore of Mecklenburg . She is said to be cursed because she expressed to prefer eternally hunt rather than go to Heaven, and her daughters, who expressed the same desire, were transformed into small dogs who either pull her wagon or sled, or serve as hunting dogs. She visits
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#17330942017119982-470: The 17th century, a passion for the conversational parlour game based on the plots of old folk tales swept through the salons. Each salonnière was called upon to retell an old tale or rework an old theme, spinning clever new stories that not only showcased verbal agility and imagination but also slyly commented on the conditions of aristocratic life. Great emphasis was placed on a mode of delivery that seemed natural and spontaneous. The decorative language of
10143-559: The 17th century speaks of Werra of the Voigtland and her "crowd of maenads." Frau Holle figures in some pre-Christian Alpine traditions that have survived to modern times. During the Christmas period in the alpine regions of Germany, Austria and northern Switzerland, wild masked processions are still held in a number of towns, impersonating Holda, Perchta, or related beings, and the wild hunt . Vivid visual descriptions of her may allude to
10304-466: The 19th century: that the folk tradition preserved fairy tales in forms from pre-history except when "contaminated" by such literary forms, leading people to tell inauthentic tales. The rural, illiterate, and uneducated peasants, if suitably isolated, were the folk and would tell pure folk tales. Sometimes they regarded fairy tales as a form of fossil, the remnants of a once-perfect tale. However, further research has concluded that fairy tales never had
10465-605: The British Isles. Historian Ronald Hutton outlined five key characteristics ascribed to witches and witchcraft by most cultures that believe in this concept: the use of magic to cause harm or misfortune to others; it was used by the witch against their own community; powers of witchcraft were believed to have been acquired through inheritance or initiation; it was seen as immoral and often thought to involve communion with evil beings; and witchcraft could be thwarted by defensive magic, persuasion, intimidation or physical punishment of
10626-399: The Brothers Grimm, the story of Frau Holle was told to teach a moral. In this case, it is that hard work is rewarded and laziness is punished. A rich widow lived with her daughter and her stepdaughter. The widow favored her younger biological daughter, allowing her to become spoiled and idle while her older stepdaughter was left to do all the work. Every day, the stepdaughter would sit outside
10787-625: The Devil ) appears to date from the Bronze Age , some 6000 years ago. Various other studies converge to suggest that some fairy tales, for example the swan maiden , could go back to the Upper Palaeolithic. Originally, adults were the audience of a fairy tale just as often as children. Literary fairy tales appeared in works intended for adults, but in the 19th and 20th centuries the fairy tale became associated with children's literature. The précieuses , including Madame d'Aulnoy , intended their works for adults, but regarded their source as
10948-614: The Devil , though anthropologist Jean La Fontaine notes that such accusations were mainly made against perceived "enemies of the Church". It was thought witchcraft could be thwarted by white magic , provided by ' cunning folk ' or 'wise people'. Suspected witches were often prosecuted and punished, if found guilty or simply believed to be guilty. European witch-hunts and witch trials in the early modern period led to tens of thousands of executions. While magical healers and midwives were sometimes accused of witchcraft themselves, they made up
11109-458: The Grimms' tale appears to be the only independent German variant. Similarly, the close agreement between the opening of the Grimms' version of Little Red Riding Hood and Perrault's tale points to an influence, although the Grimms' version adds a different ending (perhaps derived from The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids ). Fairy tales tend to take on the color of their location, through
11270-460: The Middle East underlines the complex interaction between spiritual beliefs and societal norms across different cultures and epochs . During the 20th century, interest in witchcraft rose in English-speaking and European countries. From the 1920s, Margaret Murray popularized the ' witch-cult hypothesis ': the idea that those persecuted as 'witches' in early modern Europe were followers of
11431-537: The Migration Period in the Early Middle Ages. The Spillaholle ( Silesian German also Spillahulle, Spillahole, Spillahôle, Spiellahole; Standard German : Spindelholle; English translation: " spindle Holle") is a legendary creature exclusively found in German folklore of formerly German Silesia including Austrian Silesia . A similar being is found in folktales of formerly German-speaking Bohemia . The Spillaholle
11592-679: The Russian Alexander Afanasyev (first published in 1866), the Norwegians Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe (first published in 1845), the Romanian Petre Ispirescu (first published in 1874), the English Joseph Jacobs (first published in 1890), and Jeremiah Curtin , an American who collected Irish tales (first published in 1890). Ethnographers collected fairy tales throughout
11753-449: The Spillaholle shows connection to spindles, such as Spilladrulle, Spillagritte, Spillmarthe, Spillalutsche or Spellalutsche. The appearance of the Spillaholle is mainly during the winter months, especially during Advent , Christmas or during the Zwölften (twelve nights of Christmas). She goes from house to house to see if the children and spinsters are spinning diligently, looking through
11914-622: The Well , Father Frost , The Three Little Men in the Wood , The Enchanted Wreath , The Old Witch , and The Two Caskets . Literary variants include The Three Fairies and Aurore and Aimée . Fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale , fairy story , household tale , magic tale , or wonder tale ) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre . Such stories typically feature magic , enchantments , and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cultures, there
12075-401: The alleged witch to lift their spell. Often, people have attempted to thwart the witchcraft by physically punishing the alleged witch, such as by banishing, wounding, torturing or killing them. "In most societies, however, a formal and legal remedy was preferred to this sort of private action", whereby the alleged witch would be prosecuted and then formally punished if found guilty. Throughout
12236-457: The alleged witch. It is commonly believed that witches use objects, words, and gestures to cause supernatural harm, or that they simply have an innate power to do so. Hutton notes that both kinds of practitioners are often believed to exist in the same culture and that the two often overlap, in that someone with an inborn power could wield that power through material objects. One of the most influential works on witchcraft and concepts of magic
12397-426: The beginning of the 11th century she appears to have been known as the leader of women, and of female nocturnal spirits, which "in common parlance are called Hulden from Holda ". These women would leave their houses in spirit, going "out through closed doors in the silence of the night, leaving their sleeping husbands behind". They would travel vast distances through the sky, to great feasts, or to battles amongst
12558-427: The body are believed to grant supernatural powers, the substance may be good, bad, or morally neutral. Hutton draws a distinction between those who unwittingly cast the evil eye and those who deliberately do so, describing only the latter as witches. The universal or cross-cultural validity of the terms "witch" and "witchcraft" are debated. Hutton states: [Malevolent magic] is, however, only one current usage of
12719-405: The children's window of tolerance". These fairy tales teach children how to deal with certain social situations and helps them to find their place in society. Fairy tales teach children other important lessons too. For example, Tsitsani et al. carried out a study on children to determine the benefits of fairy tales. Parents of the children who took part in the study found that fairy tales, especially
12880-435: The choice of motifs, the style in which they are told, and the depiction of character and local color. The Brothers Grimm believed that European fairy tales derived from the cultural history shared by all Indo-European peoples and were therefore ancient, far older than written records. This view is supported by research by the anthropologist Jamie Tehrani and the folklorist Sara Graca Da Silva using phylogenetic analysis ,
13041-423: The clouds. The 9th century Canon Episcopi censures women who claim to have ridden with a "crowd of demons". Burchard's later recension of the same text expands on this in a section titled "De arte magica": Have you believed there is some female, whom the stupid vulgar call Holda [in manuscript Cod. Vat. 4772, strigam Holdam , the witch Holda], who is able to do a certain thing, such that those deceived by
13202-399: The color in them, triggered their child's imagination as they read them. Jungian Analyst and fairy tale scholar Marie Louise Von Franz interprets fairy tales based on Jung's view of fairy tales as a spontaneous and naive product of soul, which can only express what soul is. That means, she looks at fairy tales as images of different phases of experiencing the reality of the soul. They are
13363-452: The common elements in fairy tales found spread over continents. One is that a single point of origin generated any given tale, which then spread over the centuries; the other is that such fairy tales stem from common human experience and therefore can appear separately in many different origins. Fairy tales with very similar plots, characters, and motifs are found spread across many different cultures. Many researchers hold this to be caused by
13524-562: The concept of "witchcraft" as one of the ways humans have tried to explain strange misfortune. Some cultures have feared witchcraft much less than others, because they tend to have other explanations for strange misfortune. For example, the Gaels of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands historically held a strong belief in fairy folk , who could cause supernatural harm, and witch-hunting was very rare in these regions compared to other regions of
13685-418: The conversations consisted of literature, mores, taste, and etiquette, whereby the speakers all endeavoured to portray ideal situations in the most effective oratorical style that would gradually have a major effect on literary forms." Many 18th-century folklorists attempted to recover the "pure" folktale, uncontaminated by literary versions. Yet while oral fairy tales likely existed for thousands of years before
13846-472: The cottage and spin beside the well. One day, she pricked her finger on the point of the spindle . As she leaned over the well to wash the blood away, the spindle fell from her hand and sank out of sight. The stepdaughter feared that she would be punished for losing the spindle, and in panic she leapt into the well after it. The girl found herself in a meadow, where she came upon an oven full of bread . The bread asked to be taken out before it burned. With
14007-503: The cruelty of older fairy tales as indicative of psychological conflicts, strongly criticized this expurgation, because it weakened their usefulness to both children and adults as ways of symbolically resolving issues. Fairy tales do teach children how to deal with difficult times. To quote Rebecca Walters (2017, p. 56) "Fairytales and folktales are part of the cultural conserve that can be used to address children's fears …. and give them some role training in an approach that honors
14168-457: The dead were thought to roam abroad. Holda's connection to the spirit world through the magic of spinning and weaving has associated her with witchcraft in Catholic German folklore . She was considered to ride with witches on distaffs , which closely resemble the brooms that witches are thought to ride. Likewise, Holda was often identified with Diana in old church documents. As early as
14329-675: The devil affirm themselves by necessity and by command to be required to do, that is, with a crowd of demons transformed into the likeness of women, on fixed nights to be required to ride upon certain beasts, and to themselves be numbered in their company? If you have performed participation in this unbelief, you are required to do penance for one year on designated fast-days. Later canonical and church documents make her synonymous with Diana , Herodias , Bertha , Richella , and Abundia . Ginzburg has identified similar beliefs existing throughout Europe for over 1,000 years, whereby men and women were thought to leave their bodies in spirit and follow
14490-457: The distinction is commonly made, even within the works of a single author: George MacDonald's Lilith and Phantastes are regarded as fantasies, while his " The Light Princess ", " The Golden Key ", and "The Wise Woman" are commonly called fairy tales. The most notable distinction is that fairytale fantasies, like other fantasies, make use of novelistic writing conventions of prose, characterization, or setting. Witchcraft Witchcraft
14651-408: The economy and concision of the tales. Originally, stories that would contemporarily be considered fairy tales were not marked out as a separate genre. The German term " Märchen " stems from the old German word " Mär ", which means news or tale. The word " Märchen " is the diminutive of the word " Mär ", therefore it means a "little story". Together with the common beginning " once upon
14812-712: The employment (or presumed employment) of some occult means of doing harm to other people in a way which was generally disapproved of. In this sense the belief in witchcraft can be defined as the attribution of misfortune to occult human agency". Emma Wilby says folk magicians in Europe were viewed ambivalently by communities, and were considered as capable of harming as of healing, which could lead to their being accused as malevolent witches. She suggests some English "witches" convicted of consorting with demons may have been cunning folk whose supposed fairy familiars had been demonised . Hutton says that magical healers "were sometimes denounced as witches, but seem to have made up
14973-513: The end of the High Middle Ages , Germanic paganism was almost completely marginalized and blended into rural folklore , in which the character of Frau Hulda eventually survived. In Germanic pre-Christian folklore, Hulda , Holda , Holle , and Holla were all names to denote a single being. Hulda is also related to the Germanic figure of Perchta . She dwells at the bottom of a well, rides
15134-433: The fairy tale Momotarō . Jack Zipes has spent many years working to make the older traditional stories accessible to modern readers and their children. Many fairy tales feature an absentee mother, as an example " Beauty and the Beast ", " The Little Mermaid ", " Little Red Riding Hood " and " Donkeyskin ", where the mother is deceased or absent and unable to help the heroines. Mothers are depicted as absent or wicked in
15295-403: The fairy tale is a distinct genre within the larger category of folktale, the definition that marks a work as a fairy tale is a source of considerable dispute. The term itself comes from the translation of Madame D'Aulnoy's Conte de fées , first used in her collection in 1697. Common parlance conflates fairy tales with beast fables and other folktales, and scholars differ on the degree to which
15456-655: The fairy tales served an important function: disguising the rebellious subtext of the stories and sliding them past the court censors. Critiques of court life (and even of the king) were embedded in extravagant tales and in dark, sharply dystopian ones. Not surprisingly, the tales by women often featured young (but clever) aristocratic girls whose lives were controlled by the arbitrary whims of fathers, kings, and elderly wicked fairies, as well as tales in which groups of wise fairies (i.e., intelligent, independent women) stepped in and put all to rights. The salon tales as they were originally written and published have been preserved in
15617-752: The first famous Western fairy tales are those of Aesop (6th century BC) in ancient Greece . Scholarship points out that Medieval literature contains early versions or predecessors of later known tales and motifs, such as the grateful dead , The Bird Lover or the quest for the lost wife. Recognizable folktales have also been reworked as the plot of folk literature and oral epics. Jack Zipes writes in When Dreams Came True , "There are fairy tale elements in Chaucer 's The Canterbury Tales , Edmund Spenser 's The Faerie Queene , and in many of William Shakespeare plays." King Lear can be considered
15778-503: The forms of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella . Although Straparola's, Basile's and Perrault's collections contain the oldest known forms of various fairy tales, on the stylistic evidence, all the writers rewrote the tales for literary effect. In the mid-17th century, a vogue for magical tales emerged among the intellectuals who frequented the salons of Paris. These salons were regular gatherings hosted by prominent aristocratic women, where women and men could gather together to discuss
15939-460: The fourth added by Christina Larner : Witch-hunts, scapegoating, and the shunning or murder of suspected witches still occurs. Many cultures worldwide continue to have a belief in the concept of "witchcraft" or malevolent magic. Apart from extrajudicial violence , state-sanctioned execution also occurs in some jurisdictions. For instance, in Saudi Arabia practicing witchcraft and sorcery
16100-507: The gate. Other versions describe the first girl having a piece of gold fall from her lips every time she speaks, whilst the second has a toad fall from her lips every time she speaks, as depicted in Diamonds and Toads . Like many of the other tales collected by the Grimm brothers, "Frau Holle" personifies good behavior and bad, and the appropriate reward meted out for each. Even so, it also exhibits
16261-435: The general public in at least four ways. Neopagan writer Isaac Bonewits proposed dividing witches into even more distinct types including, but not limited to: Neopagan, Feminist, Neogothic, Neoclassical, Classical, Family Traditions, Immigrant Traditions, and Ethnic. The word is over a thousand years old: Old English formed the compound wiccecræft from wicce ('witch') and cræft ('craft'). The masculine form
16422-460: The genre of fantasy, many works that would now be classified as fantasy were termed "fairy tales", including Tolkien's The Hobbit , George Orwell 's Animal Farm , and L. Frank Baum 's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz . Indeed, Tolkien's "On Fairy-Stories" includes discussions of world-building and is considered a vital part of fantasy criticism. Although fantasy, particularly the subgenre of fairytale fantasy , draws heavily on fairy tale motifs,
16583-819: The genre rather than fairy tale , a practice given weight by the definition of Thompson in his 1977 [1946] edition of The Folktale : "...a tale of some length involving a succession of motifs or episodes. It moves in an unreal world without definite locality or definite creatures and is filled with the marvellous. In this never-never land, humble heroes kill adversaries, succeed to kingdoms and marry princesses." The characters and motifs of fairy tales are simple and archetypal: princesses and goose-girls ; youngest sons and gallant princes ; ogres , giants , dragons , and trolls ; wicked stepmothers and false heroes ; fairy godmothers and other magical helpers , often talking horses, or foxes, or birds ; glass mountains; and prohibitions and breaking of prohibitions. Although
16744-479: The genres are now regarded as distinct. The fairy tale, told orally, is a sub-class of the folktale . Many writers have written in the form of the fairy tale. These are the literary fairy tales, or Kunstmärchen . The oldest forms, from Panchatantra to the Pentamerone , show considerable reworking from the oral form. The Grimm brothers were among the first to try to preserve the features of oral tales. Yet
16905-405: The girl to shake the featherbed pillows and coverlet well when she made the bed, as that would make it snow in the girl's world. The girl agreed to take service with Frau Holle, and took care to always shake the featherbed until the feathers flew about like snowflakes. After a time, the girl became homesick and told Frau Holle that it was time for her to return home. Frau Holle had been impressed by
17066-422: The girl's kindness and hard work so much that, when she escorted the girl to the gate, a shower of gold fell upon the girl. She also gave her the spindle which had fallen into the well. With that, the gate was closed and the girl found herself back not far from her house. Her mother wished the same good fortune for her biological daughter. She also set her to sit by the well and spin, but the girl deliberately threw
17227-584: The helpful magic of the cunning folk , witchcraft was seen as evil and associated with Satan and Devil worship . This often resulted in deaths, torture and scapegoating (casting blame for misfortune), and many years of large scale witch-trials and witch hunts , especially in Protestant Europe, before largely ending during the Age of Enlightenment . Christian views in the modern day are diverse, ranging from intense belief and opposition (especially by Christian fundamentalists ) to non-belief. During
17388-628: The history of their development is necessarily obscure and blurred. Fairy tales appear, now and again, in written literature throughout literate cultures, as in The Golden Ass , which includes Cupid and Psyche ( Roman , 100–200 AD), or the Panchatantra ( India 3rd century BC), but it is unknown to what extent these reflect the actual folk tales even of their own time. The stylistic evidence indicates that these, and many later collections, reworked folk tales into literary forms. What they do show
17549-759: The homes of humans during the Twelve Nights of Christmas and punishes the lazy while sometimes rewarding the virtuous or those who help her. The Grimms say Perchta or Berchta was known "precisely in those Upper German regions where Holda leaves off, in Swabia, in Alsace, in Switzerland, in Bavaria and Austria." According to Jacob Grimm (1882), Perchta was spoken of in Old High German in the 10th century as Frau Berchta and thought to be
17710-500: The idea of the evil or the ugly; that is in the child already, because it is in the world already. Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon." Albert Einstein once showed how important he believed fairy tales were for children's intelligence in
17871-404: The issues of the day. In the 1630s, aristocratic women began to gather in their own living rooms, salons, to discuss the topics of their choice: arts and letters, politics, and social matters of immediate concern to the women of their class: marriage, love, financial and physical independence, and access to education. This was a time when women were barred from receiving a formal education. Some of
18032-541: The law codes also prescribed the death penalty for those found guilty of witchcraft. According to Tzvi Abusch, ancient Mesopotamian ideas about witches and witchcraft shifted over time, and the early stages were "comparable to the archaic shamanistic stage of European witchcraft". In this early stage, witches were not necessarily considered evil, but took 'white' and 'black' forms, could help others using magic and medical knowledge, generally lived in rural areas and sometimes exhibited ecstatic behavior. In ancient Mesopotamia,
18193-521: The literary forms, there is no pure folktale, and each literary fairy tale draws on folk traditions, if only in parody. This makes it impossible to trace forms of transmission of a fairy tale. Oral story-tellers have been known to read literary fairy tales to increase their own stock of stories and treatments. The oral tradition of the fairy tale came long before the written page. Tales were told or enacted dramatically, rather than written down, and handed down from generation to generation. Because of this,
18354-444: The majority were men. In Scots , the word warlock came to be used as the male equivalent of witch (which can be male or female, but is used predominantly for females). The Malleus Maleficarum (Latin for 'Hammer of The Witches') was a witch-hunting manual written in 1486 by two German monks, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. It was used by both Catholics and Protestants for several hundred years, outlining how to identify
18515-499: The masses did not accept this and continued to make use of their services. The English MP and skeptic Reginald Scot sought to disprove magic and witchcraft altogether, writing in The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), "At this day, it is indifferent to say in the English tongue, 'she is a witch' or 'she is a wise woman'". Historian Keith Thomas adds "Nevertheless, it is possible to isolate that kind of 'witchcraft' which involved
18676-453: The more general term folk tale that covered a wide variety of oral tales". Jack Zipes also attributes this shift to changing sociopolitical conditions in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that led to the trivialization of these stories by the upper classes. Roots of the genre come from different oral stories passed down in European cultures. The genre was first marked out by writers of
18837-405: The most gifted women writers of the period came out of these early salons (such as Madeleine de Scudéry and Madame de Lafayette ), which encouraged women's independence and pushed against the gender barriers that defined their lives. The salonnières argued particularly for love and intellectual compatibility between the sexes, opposing the system of arranged marriages. Sometime in the middle of
18998-492: The most popular contemporary versions of tales like " Rapunzel ", " Snow White ", " Cinderella " and " Hansel and Gretel ", however, some lesser known tales or variants such as those found in volumes edited by Angela Carter and Jane Yolen depict mothers in a more positive light. Carter's protagonist in The Bloody Chamber is an impoverished piano student married to a Marquis who was much older than herself to "banish
19159-422: The name variant Zumpeldrulle or Zompeldroll). She also can be seen in old Franconian dress or generally shaped as a pelt sleeve. The Bohemian Frau Holle is a small and ugly old woman which carries a batch of stinging nettles . The main activity of the Spillaholle is connected with spinning , for she is the overseer of spinning taboos and a bogey used for spinning children. Therefore, a broad variety of names for
19320-501: The narrative is perceived both by teller and hearers as being grounded in historical truth. However, unlike legends and epics , fairy tales usually do not contain more than superficial references to religion and to actual places, people, and events; they take place " once upon a time " rather than in actual times. Fairy tales occur both in oral and in literary form ( literary fairy tale ); the name "fairy tale" (" conte de fées " in French)
19481-408: The number at day?) Then she kills the children or takes them away. That this will not happen the children will be warned by their parents when at evening the wind is howling in the stove: " Die Spillagritte kommt! " (The Spillagritte comes!), or they will have to listen to the following rhyme: The Spillaholle also scares people to death or walks abroad at forest tracks. A less malicious activity of her
19642-551: The particular societies with which they are concerned". While most cultures believe witchcraft to be something willful, some Indigenous peoples in Africa and Melanesia believe witches have a substance or an evil spirit in their bodies that drives them to do harm. Such substances may be believed to act on their own while the witch is sleeping or unaware. The Dobu people believe women work harmful magic in their sleep while men work it while awake. Further, in cultures where substances within
19803-525: The presence of fairies and/or similarly mythical beings (e.g., elves , goblins , trolls , giants, huge monsters, or mermaids) should be taken as a differentiator. Vladimir Propp , in his Morphology of the Folktale , criticized the common distinction between "fairy tales" and "animal tales" on the grounds that many tales contained both fantastic elements and animals. Nevertheless, to select works for his analysis, Propp used all Russian folktales classified as
19964-435: The presence of magic as the feature by which fairy tales can be distinguished from other sorts of folktales. Davidson and Chaudri identify "transformation" as the key feature of the genre. From a psychological point of view, Jean Chiriac argued for the necessity of the fantastic in these narratives. In terms of aesthetic values, Italo Calvino cited the fairy tale as a prime example of "quickness" in literature, because of
20125-518: The present. According to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions there is "difficulty of defining 'witches' and 'witchcraft' across cultures—terms that, quite apart from their connotations in popular culture, may include an array of traditional or faith healing practices". Anthropologist Fiona Bowie notes that the terms "witchcraft" and "witch" are used differently by scholars and
20286-456: The quote "If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairytales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairytales." The adaptation of fairy tales for children continues. Walt Disney 's influential Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was largely (although certainly not solely) intended for the children's market. The anime Magical Princess Minky Momo draws on
20447-491: The same psychic fact, but a fact so complex and far-reaching and so difficult for us to realize in all its different aspects that hundreds of tales and thousands of repetitions with a musician's variation are needed until this unknown fact is delivered into consciousness; and even then the theme is not exhausted. This unknown fact is what Jung calls the Self, which is the psychic reality of the collective unconscious. [...] Every archetype
20608-445: The simpler riddle might argue greater antiquity. Folklorists of the "Finnish" (or historical-geographical) school attempted to place fairy tales to their origin, with inconclusive results. Sometimes influence, especially within a limited area and time, is clearer, as when considering the influence of Perrault's tales on those collected by the Brothers Grimm. Little Briar-Rose appears to stem from Perrault's The Sleeping Beauty , as
20769-415: The sources tended to be those of low status who were weak or otherwise marginalized, including women, foreigners, actors, and peddlers. The Law Code of Hammurabi ( 18th century BCE ) allowed someone accused of witchcraft (harmful magic) to undergo trial by ordeal , by jumping into a holy river. If they drowned, they were deemed guilty and the accuser inherited the guilty person's estate. If they survived,
20930-431: The spectre of poverty". The story is a variant on Bluebeard , a tale about a wealthy man who murders numerous young women. Carter's protagonist, who is unnamed, describes her mother as "eagle-featured" and "indomitable". Her mother is depicted as a woman who is prepared for violence, instead of hiding from it or sacrificing herself to it. The protagonist recalls how her mother kept an "antique service revolver" and once "shot
21091-420: The spindle into the well before jumping in herself. She too came to the oven, but would not assist the bread nor would she help the apple tree. When she came to Frau Holle's house, she likewise took service there. She then fell into her lazy careless ways. Frau Holle soon dismissed her. As the lazy girl stood at the gate, a kettle of pitch spilled over her. "That is what you have earned" said Frau Holle and closed
21252-706: The spread of such tales, as people repeat tales they have heard in foreign lands, although the oral nature makes it impossible to trace the route except by inference. Folklorists have attempted to determine the origin by internal evidence, which can not always be clear; Joseph Jacobs , comparing the Scottish tale The Ridere of Riddles with the version collected by the Brothers Grimm, The Riddle , noted that in The Ridere of Riddles one hero ends up polygamously married, which might point to an ancient custom, but in The Riddle ,
21413-464: The stories printed under the Grimm name have been considerably reworked to fit the written form. Literary fairy tales and oral fairy tales freely exchanged plots, motifs, and elements with one another and with the tales of foreign lands. The literary fairy tale came into fashion during the 17th century, developed by aristocratic women as a parlour game. This, in turn, helped to maintain the oral tradition. According to Jack Zipes , "The subject matter of
21574-451: The story, as when Robin McKinley retold Donkeyskin as the novel Deerskin , with emphasis on the abusive treatment the father of the tale dealt to his daughter. Sometimes, especially in children's literature, fairy tales are retold with a twist simply for comic effect, such as The Stinky Cheese Man by Jon Scieszka and The ASBO Fairy Tales by Chris Pilbeam. A common comic motif is
21735-455: The table for the Queen of Heaven, whom the people call Frau Holda, that she might help them". Lotte Motz and Ginzburg both conclude that she is pre-Christian in origin, based on comparison with other remarkably similar figures and ritual observances spread throughout Europe. A pagan Holda received wide distribution in catalogs of superstitions and in sermons during the 15th century, and in
21896-443: The tale through use of the erotic, explicit sexuality, dark and/or comic themes, female empowerment, fetish and BDSM , multicultural, and heterosexual characters. Cleis Press has released several fairy tale-themed erotic anthologies, including Fairy Tale Lust , Lustfully Ever After , and A Princess Bound . It may be hard to lay down the rule between fairy tales and fantasies that use fairy tale motifs, or even whole plots, but
22057-469: The tales in later editions to make them more acceptable, which ensured their sales and the later popularity of their work. Such literary forms did not merely draw from the folktale, but also influenced folktales in turn. The Brothers Grimm rejected several tales for their collection, though told orally to them by Germans, because the tales derived from Perrault, and they concluded they were thereby French and not German tales; an oral version of " Bluebeard "
22218-403: The tales that servants, or other women of lower class, would tell to children. Indeed, a novel of that time, depicting a countess's suitor offering to tell such a tale, has the countess exclaim that she loves fairy tales as if she were still a child. Among the late précieuses , Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont redacted a version of Beauty and the Beast for children, and it is her tale that
22379-459: The term "witchcraft" for the actions of those who inflict harm by their inborn power and used "sorcery" for those who needed tools to do so. Historians found these definitions difficult to apply to European witchcraft, where witches were believed to use physical techniques, as well as some who were believed to cause harm by thought alone. The distinction "has now largely been abandoned, although some anthropologists still sometimes find it relevant to
22540-684: The term "witchcraft" or " pagan witchcraft " for their beliefs and practices. Other neo-pagans avoid the term due to its negative connotations. The most common meaning of "witchcraft" worldwide is the use of harmful magic. Belief in malevolent magic and the concept of witchcraft has lasted throughout recorded history and has been found in cultures worldwide, regardless of development. Most societies have feared an ability by some individuals to cause supernatural harm and misfortune to others. This may come from mankind's tendency "to want to assign occurrences of remarkable good or bad luck to agency, either human or superhuman". Historians and anthropologists see
22701-452: The term is also used to describe something blessed with unusual happiness, as in "fairy-tale ending" (a happy ending ) or "fairy-tale romance ". Colloquially, the term "fairy tale" or "fairy story" can also mean any far-fetched story or tall tale ; it is used especially to describe any story that not only not true, but also could not possibly be true. Legends are perceived as real within their culture; fairy tales may merge into legends, where
22862-511: The term to servant spirit-animals which are described as a part of the witch's own soul. Necromancy is the practice of conjuring the spirits of the dead for divination or prophecy , although the term has also been applied to raising the dead for other purposes. The biblical Witch of Endor performed it (1 Samuel 28th chapter), and it is among the witchcraft practices condemned by Ælfric of Eynsham : "Witches still go to cross-roads and to heathen burials with their delusive magic and call to
23023-536: The term when speaking in English. Belief in witchcraft as malevolent magic is attested from ancient Mesopotamia , and in Europe , belief in witches traces back to classical antiquity . In medieval and early modern Europe , accused witches were usually women who were believed to have secretly used black magic ( maleficium ) against their own community. Usually, accusations of witchcraft were made by their neighbors and followed from social tensions. Witches were sometimes said to have communed with demons or with
23184-520: The tradition of literary fairy tales. Andersen's work sometimes drew on old folktales, but more often deployed fairytale motifs and plots in new tales. MacDonald incorporated fairytale motifs both in new literary fairy tales, such as The Light Princess , and in works of the genre that would become fantasy, as in The Princess and the Goblin or Lilith . Two theories of origins have attempted to explain
23345-455: The windows or even all gaps in the house wall. When they are still spinning during evening and night, then there will be slight or even severe punishments. When spinsters are not finished with their spinning, then the Satzemsuse will sit in their lap during spinning or even give them igneous spindles instead of normal ones. The Spillaholle takes the lazy spinsters away. Frau Holle beats them with
23506-482: The witch archetype. In some parts of the world, it is believed witches can shapeshift into animals, or that the witch's spirit travels apart from their body and takes an animal form, an activity often associated with shamanism . Another widespread belief is that witches have an animal helper. In English these are often called " familiars ", and meant an evil spirit or demon that had taken an animal form. As researchers examined traditions in other regions, they widened
23667-417: The witch deduce that she was pregnant, but in subsequent editions carelessly revealed that it was easier to pull up the prince than the witch. On the other hand, in many respects, violence—particularly when punishing villains—was increased. Other, later, revisions cut out violence; J. R. R. Tolkien noted that The Juniper Tree often had its cannibalistic stew cut out in
23828-459: The witch who practiced maleficium —that is, magic used for harmful ends". In the early years of the European witch hunts "the cunning folk were widely tolerated by church, state and general populace". Some of the more hostile churchmen and secular authorities tried to smear folk-healers and magic-workers by falsely branding them 'witches' and associating them with harmful 'witchcraft', but generally
23989-404: The word. In fact, Anglo-American senses of it now take at least four different forms, although the one discussed above seems still to be the most widespread and frequent. The others define the witch figure as any person who uses magic ... or as the practitioner of nature-based Pagan religion; or as a symbol of independent female authority and resistance to male domination. All have validity in
24150-497: The world, accusations of witchcraft are often linked to social and economic tensions. Females are most often accused, but in some cultures it is mostly males. In many societies, accusations are directed mainly against the elderly, but in others age is not a factor, and in some cultures it is mainly adolescents who are accused. Éva Pócs writes that reasons for accusations of witchcraft fall into four general categories. The first three of which were proposed by Richard Kieckhefer , and
24311-547: The world, finding similar tales in Africa, the Americas, and Australia; Andrew Lang was able to draw on not only the written tales of Europe and Asia, but those collected by ethnographers, to fill his "coloured" fairy books series . They also encouraged other collectors of fairy tales, as when Yei Theodora Ozaki created a collection, Japanese Fairy Tales (1908), after encouragement from Lang. Simultaneously, writers such as Hans Christian Andersen and George MacDonald continued
24472-550: The world, such as parts of Africa, are also vulnerable to violence stemming from witchcraft accusations. Such incidents have also occurred in immigrant communities in Britain, including the much publicized case of the murder of Victoria Climbié . Magic was an important part of ancient Mesopotamian religion and society, which distinguished between 'good' (helpful) and 'bad' (harmful) rites. In ancient Mesopotamia , they mainly used counter-magic against witchcraft ( kišpū ), but
24633-401: The world, witches have been thought to gather at night, when normal humans are inactive, and also at their most vulnerable in sleep". In most cultures, witches at these gatherings are thought to transgress social norms by engaging in cannibalism, incest and open nudity. Witches around the world commonly have associations with animals. Rodney Needham identified this as a defining feature of
24794-655: Was wicca ('male sorcerer'). According to the Oxford English Dictionary , wicce and wicca were probably derived from the Old English verb wiccian , meaning 'to practice witchcraft'. Wiccian has a cognate in Middle Low German wicken (attested from the 13th century). The further etymology of this word is problematic. It has no clear cognates in other Germanic languages outside of English and Low German, and there are numerous possibilities for
24955-529: Was E. E. Evans-Pritchard 's Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande , a study of Azande witchcraft beliefs published in 1937. This provided definitions for witchcraft which became a convention in anthropology. However, some researchers argue that the general adoption of Evans-Pritchard's definitions constrained discussion of witchcraft beliefs, and even broader discussion of magic and religion , in ways that his work does not support. Evans-Pritchard reserved
25116-560: Was Wilhelm Grimm 's friend and future wife Dortchen Wild. Some details were added in the second edition (1819), most notably rooster's greetings, based upon the account of Georg August Friedrich Goldmann from Hanover . It is still a common expression in Hesse, Southern parts of the Netherlands and beyond to say "Hulda is making her bed" when it is snowing, that is, she shakes her bed and out comes snow from heaven. Like many other tales collected by
25277-507: Was first ascribed to them by Madame d'Aulnoy in the late 17th century. Many of today's fairy tales have evolved from centuries-old stories that have appeared, with variations, in multiple cultures around the world. The history of the fairy tale is particularly difficult to trace because only the literary forms can survive. Still, according to researchers at universities in Durham and Lisbon , such stories may date back thousands of years, some to
25438-1026: Was initially a pre-Christian female legendary figure who survived in popular belief well into the 19th century. The name may be cognate of the Scandinavian creature known as the Hulder . Jacob Grimm made an attempt to establish her as a Germanic goddess . The name is thought to originate from German huld ("gracious, friendly, sympathetic, grateful" found in hold sein , huldigen ), Middle High German hulde , Old High German huldī ("friendliness"). Cognate with Danish and Swedish huld ("fair, kindly, gracious") or 'hyld' ("secret, hidden"), Icelandic hollur ("faithful, dedicated, loyal"), Middle English hold , holde , Old English hold ("gracious, friendly, kind, favorable, true, faithful, loyal, devout, acceptable, pleasant"), from Proto-Germanic hulþaz ("favourable, gracious, loyal"), from Proto-Indo-European *kel- ("to tend, incline, bend, tip"). The name Hludana
25599-549: Was particularly likely to be suspected when a disease came on unusually swiftly, lingered unusually long, could not be diagnosed clearly, or presented some other unusual symptoms". A common belief in cultures worldwide is that witches tend to use something from their target's body to work magic against them; for example hair, nail clippings, clothing, or bodily waste. Such beliefs are found in Europe, Africa, South Asia, Polynesia, Melanesia, and North America. Another widespread belief among Indigenous peoples in Africa and North America
25760-663: Was suggested by Richard Horsley that 'diviner-healers' ( devins-guerisseurs ) made up a significant proportion of those tried for witchcraft in France and Switzerland, but more recent surveys conclude that they made up less than 2% of the accused. However, Éva Pócs says that half the accused witches in Hungary seem to have been healers, and Kathleen Stokker says the "vast majority" of Norway's accused witches were folk healers. Societies that believe (or believed) in witchcraft also believe that it can be thwarted in various ways. One common way
25921-414: Was thus rejected, and the tale of Little Briar Rose , clearly related to Perrault's " Sleeping Beauty ", was included only because Jacob Grimm convinced his brother that the figure of Brynhildr , from much earlier Norse mythology , proved that the sleeping princess was authentically Germanic folklore. This consideration of whether to keep Sleeping Beauty reflected a belief common among folklorists of
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