Fairy Tale Beginnings
Fairy tale sprouts show us how these stories about what is
right, true, and virtuous change over time to fit the needs of the society in
which they are shared. Such flexibility
is how these universal ‘story lessons’ stay alive to be told again and again and again.
Have you ever wondered who and what the inspirations were
for these tales? And how they might have been altered over time to reflect the culture
they exist within?
We know that many of them are rooted in historical events.
For example, the "Pied Piper of Hamelin" is set in the German town of
Hameln
where legend reports that more than 100 children left their homes to follow a
piper.
Experts note that the “piper” may have been a figure who was
able to lure these youth into the Children’s Crusade. This crusade was a European Christian effort to expel Muslims from the Holy Land in the
early 13th century.
Here are few other examples of how
fairytales may be linked to real people, places, and events:
Snow White
Researchers in Bavaria allege that Maria Sophia Von Ertha is
this character. She was the daughter an 18th-century landowner and senior
administrator of the Prince Elector of Mainz. After his wife’s death he
remained a countess said to be quite domineering.
The most fascinating link, of course, is the magic mirror.
According to records, an 18th century mirror had been made for Von
Ertha household by the Mirror Manufacture of the Electorate of Mainz. Its
attributes included acoustical figurines that made noise.
Cinderella
Earlier renditions of this fairy tale have been traced to the
Greek historian Strabo in the first century BC. The story itself centers on the historical
figure of Rhodopis who is referenced in the 6h-century writings of Herodotus.
According
to Herodotus, this slave captured the heart of Sappho’s brother Charaxus. He
bought her freedom and, in the end, she lived as a wealthy courtesan.
Strabo’s retelling is a bit closer to the story most of us
are familiar with.
With her freedom purchased by Sappho’s brother, Rhodopis one
day loses a sandal that is carried off by a bird to Egypt. It lands in the king’s
lap and he sets out on a quest to find the shoe’s wearer. In time he finds her
and takes her for his bride.
These are only a few examples of how stories may have been
altered to suit their geographic and cultural environments.
One can only imagine how future renditions of these fairy tale sprouts.
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