Extra Week Post: Fairy Tales from Around the World*

Hello, Collectors!

This is an extra week post. For more information, click here. (The second paragraph under the first picture explains extra week posts.)

Previously, I have mentioned a few fairy tale collectors, as well as multiple fairy tales. Now, however, let's continue by talking about fairy tales from around the world.

1) Russian Fairy Tales

Famous for Baba Yaga, the witch who is known to eat human flesh, but has also been known to help others. . . You may have heard of her hut, the hut on chicken legs. I haven't read very many Russian fairy tales, which is something I hope to change. :) You may have also heard of the tale "Ivan and the Firebird," and multiple fairy tales are similar to their counterparts from other countries. Russian fairy tales are wonderful, beautiful, and have their own set of tropes.

2) Norwegian Fairy Tales

I've talked about "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" before, and sadly, that's pretty much the only one I've read. Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe are the two most famous fairy tale collectors of Norwegian fairy tales. As always, I can never have enough fairy tales, so I'll have to start reading Norwegian fairy tales soon. . .

3) Irish Fairy Tales

Irish fairy tales, of course, have the most stories about children getting carried off by fairies. The fairies are a big part of Irish fairy tales, sometimes mischievous, and others more sinister. I know Joseph Jacobs, who collected English fairy tales, also collected some Irish ones, but I'm not sure who else collected Irish fairy tales. I've talked about Irish fairy tales somewhat here, and I included links to Irish fairy tales.

4) Tales of the Arabian Nights

Tales of the Arabian Nights are mostly Middle-Eastern and Indian fairy tales. The main story is the story of Scheherazade, who becomes the wife of the sultan to save other women from suffering the wrath of the Sultan: every night, he marries a new wife, and every morning, he cuts her head off. Scheherazade cleverly asks the sultan if she can tell her son one last story before she dies, but she doesn't tell the whole story. The sultan keeps her alive the next morning so he can hear the rest of the story, then the night after to hear the end of the new tale she's started. . . This continues for 1,001 nights, and this is where the fairy tales come from. It is uncertain which of the tales considered to be from the Tales of the Arabian Nights now were in the original volume, or even if the original volume was complete. Many scholars think multiple authors wrote the Tales because of the variety of styles, traditions, and cultures seen throughout Tales of the Arabian Nights. In any case, these are all wonderful fairy tales, from "Aladdin," to "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves." 

What fairy tales from around the world do you enjoy?

Spruce Nogard

*Actually posted on June 1st. See here for details.

Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Thousand-and-One-Nights

Attributions:

https://www.amazon.com/Russian-Fairy-Illustrated-Alexander-Afanasyev/dp/1908478683/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1496436188&sr=1-2&keywords=russian+fairy+tales
https://www.amazon.com/dAulaires-Norwegian-Folktales-Ingri-d-Aulaire/dp/0816699321/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1496436381&sr=1-2&keywords=norwegian+fairy+tales
https://www.amazon.com/Celtic-Tales-Enchantment-Scotland-Brittany/dp/145215175X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1496436559&sr=1-2&keywords=irish+fairy+tales
https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Arabian-Nights-H-Dulcken/dp/089009800X/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1496436754&sr=1-12&keywords=tales+of+the+arabian+nights

My Writing: Folktale: Why a Certain Group of People Play with Fish on their Instruments

Hello, Friends!

This week is an extra week, so here is a folktale. (This folktale is untrue, however was inspired by true events.) By the way, can you tell which fairy tale this one is loosely based on?

Now, I know you wouldn't dream of putting fish on your instruments. That would be awful.

Now, this story was told to me by my great-grandfather almost 20 years ago.

You see, there was a certain group of people that got in the habit of performing some of their music with fish on their instruments. As you can imagine, this was the source of infinite confusion for their diverse audiences. However, no one had the courage to ask why such a renowned group of musicians did something so strange.

One day, a little girl with her parents was watching them perform. Finally, she turned to her mother and said: “Mommy, why do they put fish on their instruments?” The girl was too young realize she was being rude, and, as a result, talked so loudly the musicians heard.

“Well,” said the leader, kneeling down, “I'll tell you why.

“For a long while, all of us only played American music. Eventually, we got sick of that, and decided to play music from as many countries as the human race had created. One day, we came across some French music, and, right at the beginning, someone had written: 'Sardines.' We all thought this was very odd, but we had to do as the music said. I had our violinist buy sardines from the grocery store, and we put them on our instruments.” He smiled at the girl and stood up.

“But that's silly!” the girl cried. “Show me the music!”

“Now, now, honey,” the girl's mother said. “Leave them be.” She turned apologetically to the band. “We should go.”

The leader, however, smiled. “No, no, it's quite all right.” He brought their music to the girl.

“Why, that says sourdines, not sardines! It just means mute in French!” The girl exclaimed. “What's 'mute'?”

For, you see, the girl was bilingual.

And that is how a small girl made fools of some of the most famed musicians in all the land.

Spruce Nogard

Attributions: https://pixabay.com/en/sardines-fish-lunch-healthy-plate-1468422/ 

https://pixabay.com/en/violin-classic-music-opera-156558/

Fairy Tales: Difference Between Fairy Tale, Folktale, Tall Tale, Myth, Fable, and Legend

Hello, Mythical Beings!

Today, I am going to explain the differences between, well, fairy tales, folktales, myths, fables and legends.

This topic is hard to find information on on the internet, so this is kind of iffy. These sound about right to me, but don't base any in-depth essays based on factual evidence on them. :)

Fairy Tales (Google): a children's story about magical and imaginary beings and lands.
Fairy tales are much more than this, though. They weren't all children's tales, as Grimms' Household Tales prove. In order to really know what fairy tales are, you have to read a lot of them. They are full of an indescribable something-something unable to be found in folktales, myths, legends, fables, anything else. Go read them.

Folktales (Google): a story originating in popular culture, typically passed on by word of mouth
Folktales and tall tales are really hard to tell apart. Folktales were originally only spoken, so this is the main difference between folktales and tall tales. Also, they do not have to be overly exaggerated.

Tall Tale (Merriam-Webster): a story that is very difficult to believe, a greatly exaggerated story
An example of this would be Paul Bunyan, or Johnny Appleseed. Paul Bunyan is exaggerated because he wasn't  
actually as enormous as he's made out to be.
 



Fable (Google): a short story, typically with animals as characters, conveying a moral
This definition, at least, makes sense. An example would be Aesop's Fables (obviously).
 














Myth (Google): a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events. 
A myth is usually a story that is religious, or explains something. For example, Greek mythology was actually considered to be true a long, long, time ago (religious). Also, for example, a story that explains something would be like the story of Persephone (look it up), which explains why we have winter as a season.







Legend (Google): a traditional story sometimes popularly regarded as historical but unauthenticated.
This is like the legend of King Arthur. King Arthur could have been real, but no one knows for sure. Also, there are aspects of Arthurian legend that aren't true; for example, Merlin is a wizard, but wizards aren't real.

Now, you may be confused no more over various types of stories!

Spruce Nogard

 Attributions: 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691173222/ref=pd_sbs_14_img_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=17KFX9CXY00DQRBRS5ZR 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1450502954/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=6AQBS8032QX3FKBHPFSS 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/157912867X/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=RFKDVCSCCR88Y6MPEPCD
https://www.amazon.com/Knights-Leatherbound-Classic-Collection-Leather/dp/1435133463/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475704728&sr=1-4&keywords=king+arthur+howard+pyle
https://www.amazon.com/Mary-Osborne-American-Tales-Paperback/dp/B00RWQ48EY/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475704837&sr=1-6&keywords=american+tall+tales