Fairy Tales, Fables, and Folklore

As we prepare for our annual Halloween event at Troy Historic Village, I thought it might be interesting to explore the theme of “Fairy Tales, Fables and Folklore”.  Where did fairy tales originate?   What legends or myths came to be folklore passed on down through the ages? Is that where the fairies came from? When and how were fables created?  These are the questions that I kept asking.

Ever since man learned to speak and develop vocabulary, tribal stories were told around campfires.  They evolved into bedtime stories for the little ones.  Heroic deeds of tribal leaders were told over and over again – each time probably more fantastic and thrilling than prior versions.  And while significant acts of kindness and compassion by heroes/heroines varied from culture to culture, the same basic elements were found within them. 

Some of the oldest tales appeared as story bits from the Sumerians, roughly dating at 3000 B.C. Some have fairy tale elements such as goddesses, fairies, or magical beasts. For example, a Sumerian Dragon named Kur has the wings of a bird, while having the body of an animal.  He was a prominent figure in their mythology.  

Then there is Aesop, who is believed to have lived from 620-594 B.C. Several ancient Greek cities claimed to be

his birthplace – Thrace, Phrygia, Aethiopia, Samos, Athens, and Sardis. He had been a slave, but it is said that he was freed due to his literacy and ability as a storyteller. It is also said that he had many deformities and a speech impediment – one that had been healed by a deity. Aesop escaped punishment many times by standing up to his accusers and often telling a story with a moral showing the traits of those punishing him. 

His death is not without controversy. Several versions state that Aesop had made insulting remarks; another that he embezzled money entrusted to him; or that he stole a silver cup. His death was a violent one and he was thrown off a cliff. Was Aesop a real person? Herodotus and Aristotle mentioned him in their writings, including how he died, but Aesop’s existence still can’t be proven. Nevertheless, he is credited with over 600 fables – short stories with a lesson (moral) for children. The stories are amusing and usually about animals that act and speak like people, while doing animal things. The Fables were an oral tradition and not written down until three centuries after his death. 

Surprisingly, there have been papyrus scrolls found in Egypt with the same stories dating 800-1000 years before Aesop was born! Whether or not Aesop made up the Fables, or reiterated what he had learned from others including the Egyptians, they are treasured today. The lessons imply “The moral of the story is…”. 

Madame d'Aulnoy

It was Madame Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy, a French Countess and writer who invented the term “conte de fée”, or fairy tale, in the late 17th century. Unlike other writers of the time, her fairy tales were written for adults, not children. She was a strong and independent woman despite being forced into an arranged marriage to a gambler, who had been imprisoned for treason. She and her husband separated, and she had numerous affairs resulting in three children. Her social status at stake, she wrote her fairy tales in order to be accepted once more into French society. Her stories enabled her to overcome past discretions and made people think about conventional beliefs of the time. Her messages are powerful even today.

Studies from various parts of the world revealed that distant lands also told similar fairy tales. In Vietnam, for example there is The Story of Tấm and Cám which begins with:

Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful girl named Tấm. She was very young when her mother died. But despite her mother’s absence, Tấm was a very happy girl since her father, who loved her dearly, devoted his days raising her and looking after her. But things changed when Tấm’s father fell in love with a wicked lady, whom he married and later gave birth to a daughter named Cám.

If this sounds familiar, it is because there are Cinderella-type stories found all over the world.  There is a Chinese

Tale of Yeh Xian

version, Tale of Yeh Xian with striking resemblance to the European version. In an African version Cinderella is a young girl from Ghana being raised in a stepparent’s family.  She is treated harshly but preserves her honesty and dignity.  She demands the same of all whom she meets even if it might be an Ashanti prince.  


Another tale from northern Nigeria called The Maiden, the Frog and the Chief’s Son has similar parallels to the Cinderella of the Grimm Brothers:

A man lived with two wives, each who had a daughter.  One he favored.  The wife he didn’t love as much died, and he allowed his favorite wife to mistreat her stepdaughter.  She did all the hard work but was not allowed to eat the food she made, so she often ate at her brother’s house.

These are just a few examples, but the list doesn't stop there. While many versions of Cinderella exist, each illustrates the symbolism and customs of the country of their origin. The common denominator is that people everywhere embrace stories in which truth triumphs over dishonesty, good prevails over evil, hard work overcomes even the insurmountable obstacles.  And yes, true love, mercy and kindness to others are the greatest powers and treasures of all.

The Monkey and the Crocodile

As in Aesop’s fables, African folklore is characterized by the predominance of animals, especially the monkey, elephant, lion, and giraffe.  In these stories, animals often have human characteristics. Some of the African folk tales don’t have happy endings, but instead communicate a lesson. The Heart of the Monkey, a Swahili folktale, tells of a shark who tried to persuade a monkey to come with him to visit the ailing king of the sharks.  The king would need a monkey heart to live.  This monkey though was very clever and tricked the shark into letting him return to his tree safe and sound from being eaten by the shark.  A similar story came from India but instead of a shark, the monkey met a crocodile.

Would you believe that some our classic fairy tales, including "Little Red Riding Hood," are more than 2,600 years old? It was Jamie Tehrani, an anthropologist who made that discovery. He found 35 versions of the tale of the girl lost in the woods.  In China, for example, a tiger, not a wolf, tricks the young girl. In Iran, it is a little boy not a little girl found in the forest. People brought the stories with them as they moved across continents and oceans, thus changing the details to make them applicable to the new locations.

From the Asian folktales, there are fourteen books with 353 stories: the 55 Arabic folktales, including One Thousand and One Nights (The Arabian Nights), are a compilation of Middle East and Indian stories. The  authors are unknown as well as the dates they were written.  Some of the most famous characters are Aladdin, Ali Baba, and Sinbad the Sailor.  

Ali Baba

Besides this it isn’t widely known that there are 69 Indian, 69 Japanese, and 61 Filipino folktales among the Asian fairy tales.  Of the 104 Chinese folktales, Why Dog and Cat Are Enemies, The Dragon-Princess, and The Frog Princess are some of the favorites. 

Regarding Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, few people know they were not the creators of these beloved fairy tales.  As scholars, the Grimm Brothers sought to preserve them for future generations.  In 1812 they published the stories as part of a collection, Nursery and Household Tales which have evolved into Grimm’s Fairy Tales.  Unlike the Aesop's fables, the Grimm stories were intended for adults, not children.  They were not illustrated and were more like tales from the dark side.  The Brothers did fall on hard times, most likely due to the fact that they refused to sign an oath of allegiance to King Ernest Augustus of Hanover, who wished to abolish the liberal constitution of the government at the time.  Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were among seven university professors who lost their positions, branded as political rebels, and made to leave their city of Gottingen.  In order to work on their collection, they had to borrow money from friends just to survive.  Little did they suspect that their stories would become so popular.  Wilhelm died in 1859; Jacob, who had lived with Wilhelm and his wife, died in 1863.  The collection had now numbered 211 stories and had detailed illustrations.  

Another beloved writer was Hans Christian Andersen, whose 160 fairy tales are among the most popular.  Born in Denmark, he used to listen to his father relate Danish legends and tales from The Arabian Nights.  Such stories as “The Ugly Duckling”, “The Princess and the Pea” and “The Little Match Girl” have become beloved tales.  Even the Disney Corporation found that millions fell in love with “The Little Mermaid” and Frozen, their version of “The Snow Queen”.  Andersen’s stories, much like the ancient stories told by Aesop have a lesson to be learned such as the consequence of being proud in “The Emperor’s New Clothes, or how to overcome life’s problems in “Thumbelina”.  Hans Christian Andersen, by the end of his life had become a national Danish treasure.  His fairy tales are among the most beloved that we are privileged to protect.  

You may ask why we hold fairy tales in the highest regard.  One of the wisest men stated this so succinctly:  "If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."  - Albert Einstein 

All these stories encourage children to use their imagination, to explore the world of make believe, and to dream.  Since many of them contain lessons on life and how to deal with people, both good and bad, they make children think about their behavior.  They are a reminder to adults for the same things.  Ever notice how many of the animated films appeal to the child within adults? 

Recall films like A Bug’s Life, How To Train Your Dragon, Ratatouille, Wall-E, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., Shrek, and the Despicable Me trilogy.  Is it any wonder then that other film producers have followed the lead by the Disney franchise?

And they live happily ever after.