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04-29-2008, 05:43 PM | #1 |
Elf Lady
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: In the lands where mountains are but a fairytale
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Fairytales
I've always had an interest in fairytales and I've read quite a few of them too.
My favourite fairytale is that of the girl with the sulfur-sticks. (Not sure what the English title is though) I can read them while thinking of the moral of the story, but also just for fun. Either way, I love them! Is there someone who shares my interest? What is your favourite fairytale? Was there one that scared you when you were little?
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04-29-2008, 07:00 PM | #2 |
Deus Ex Machina
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Location: Seattle
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I love fairytales! Before I discovered that there was a whole genre full of fantasy books; myths, fairytales, and Arthurian/Robin Hood Legends were the basis of my literary repetoire (as much as an 11 year old can have one).
Strangely, I don't think fairytales ever scared me. As I got older and began to recognize the various prejudices in them I grew disturbed by some, but never really scared. My favorite is 'The White Snake'. I don't think I've come across the girl with the sulfur sticks... how does that one go?
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"5. Plain Rings with RUNES on the inside. Avoid these like the PLAGUE.-Diana Wynne Jones Tough Guide To FantasyLand ...it's not much of a show if somebody doesn't suffer, and preferably at length. Suffering is beautiful in any case, and so is anguish; but as for loathing, and bitterness... I don't think they belong on the stage at all. - Isabella, I Gelosi |
04-29-2008, 07:03 PM | #3 |
Elf Lord
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Fairy tales and Faerie tales.
Hansel und Gretel, I think was my favorite as a child. But as I got older I connected it to the Minotaur so it's a tough call. The Chronicles of Narnia, Hobbit/LOTR, and Harry Potter - now and in that order.
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Inked "Aslan is not a tame lion." CSL/LWW "The new school [acts] as if it required...courage to say a blasphemy. There is only one thing that requires real courage to say, and that is a truism." GK Chesterton "And there is always the danger of allowing people to suppose that our modern times are so wholly unlike any other times that the fundamental facts about man's nature have wholly changed with changing circumstances." Dorothy L. Sayers, 1 Sept. 1941 |
04-29-2008, 07:13 PM | #4 |
Elf Lady
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: In the lands where mountains are but a fairytale
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The girl with the sulfur sticks is about a girl on Christmas eve, who's outside selling sulfur sticks, in a thin shirt without shoes in the snow. She's quite hungry and must sell her sticks before she can buy some food, but everyone ignores her.
She looks through a window and sees a happy family celebrating and decorating the house, when the angel on top of the Christmas tree comes to life and comes to her. The angel allows her to play to her hearts content and the girl is very happy. (I don't remember the specifics anymore, so sorry if I'm going wrong here) The next morning people find her, dead, but with a smile on her face, still playing happily in heaven. This is what I found on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Match_Girl But it's a bit different from what I remember. Perhaps the version I read was Christianified. Oh, I also like the stories with a few brothers. 1 or 2 smart and mean ones versus 1 not so smart, but kind one. Of course the kind one always gets happy.
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Love always, deeply and true ★ Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer. ★ Friendship is sharing openly, laughing often, trusting always, caring deeply.
...The Earth laughs in flowers ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Hamatreya"... |
04-29-2008, 08:36 PM | #5 |
Deus Ex Machina
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Location: Seattle
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Oh! You mean 'The Little Match Girl'. That one is classic, but too sad for me. I do like its cameo in 'Hogfather' though... Death intervening to save her instead of waiting for the snotty angels to show up too late was much more satisfying to my mind.
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"5. Plain Rings with RUNES on the inside. Avoid these like the PLAGUE.-Diana Wynne Jones Tough Guide To FantasyLand ...it's not much of a show if somebody doesn't suffer, and preferably at length. Suffering is beautiful in any case, and so is anguish; but as for loathing, and bitterness... I don't think they belong on the stage at all. - Isabella, I Gelosi |
04-30-2008, 05:48 AM | #6 |
The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator
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I usually shifted between favourites a lot, but I remember I quite liked Rapunzel, the girl in the tower with the massively long hair.
I don't think any of them really scared me, it's amazing what bloodshed you'll happily accept from fairytales, as long as it's all worked out in the end. Eyes gauged out? Oh no worries, a couple of happy tears will clear that up. Having to cut off your finger? Oh, it'll grow back. Sisters cut to pieces? Just put the bits together, sprinkle some magic water and *poof* sisters are alive again. Likewise. The image of a couple of angels milling around in the alley in confusion was quite fun.
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We are not things. |
04-30-2008, 08:12 AM | #7 | |
Entmoot Minister of Foreign Affairs
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Quote:
My favorite 'fairytale' if you will is a Norwegian fairytale about Askeladden, an intelligent guy from the Norwegian countryside. Actually many of the stories about Askeladden are set in countrysides, forests, and with characters that resemble Tolkien's fairytale characteristics. Kinda neat My favorite is called Ashlad and his Good Helpers. So basically the the King has promised that whoever can make a boat that goes as fast on land as on water would get the Princess and Half the Kingdom So he goes on a quest, through the forests, to get the help he needs, without cheating mind you, as his brothers Per and Pål are older (and dumb&mean) It's written about 1850, and is one of many tales collected by Peter Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. They rule at fairytales! Here's a translated version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dMbxrspfoU
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"Well, thief! I smell you and I feel your air. I hear your breath. Come along! Help yourself again, there is plenty and to spare." Last edited by Coffeehouse : 04-30-2008 at 08:13 AM. |
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04-30-2008, 11:53 AM | #8 |
The Lady of Laughter
Join Date: Nov 2007
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i always liked the snow queen and the little tin man. I still read fairytales and im in my 20's! long live being about to read childrens storys!
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can you imagine what it would be like if we have walked all the way? ya, one of us could have died! Cause its extremely far! |
04-30-2008, 12:40 PM | #9 |
Elf Lady
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My teacher always told us that fairytales weren't for children. Originally they were written for adults and always had a moral or a local wisdom to tell. If you read the original Cinderella you'll find that it's quite bloody and the stepmother and sisters are punished quite severely in the end. It was Disney that made all those old tales into sappy goody good stories. (Not that I mind, I love them either way)
When I was young, I had the little tin man as a picture book. I still remember the expression of the soldier when he thinks he isn't good enough for the beautiful princess. In the picture book it was a ballerina, but I think in the original story it was a shepherdess, right? Coffeehouse, that story reminded me of another fairytale in which a sloppy soldier comes across several extraordinary people who can hear very well, eat everything, is always cold, etc. and in order to marry the princess he has to overcome a few trials. In the end he finds a ship of ice that can fly. I'm not sure if you know that story? And thanks for the link!
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Love always, deeply and true ★ Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer. ★ Friendship is sharing openly, laughing often, trusting always, caring deeply.
...The Earth laughs in flowers ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Hamatreya"... |
04-30-2008, 12:55 PM | #10 |
Deus Ex Machina
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Seattle
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Many of the morals were added later on. The oldest versions never have an explicit moral, just bloody examples of what happens if you aren't good, kind, polite, clever, etc.
I know I've read the one about the soldier before, but I can't remember which version. I don't recall an ice ship in any of them... Favorite soldier gets the girl story has to be the Twelve Dancing Princesses. I always appreciated the version in which the soldier ends up with the oldest sister. Oldest sisters get a really bad rap in most fairy tales.
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"5. Plain Rings with RUNES on the inside. Avoid these like the PLAGUE.-Diana Wynne Jones Tough Guide To FantasyLand ...it's not much of a show if somebody doesn't suffer, and preferably at length. Suffering is beautiful in any case, and so is anguish; but as for loathing, and bitterness... I don't think they belong on the stage at all. - Isabella, I Gelosi |
04-30-2008, 01:01 PM | #11 | |
Elf Lady
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Quote:
Kind of funny how there are so many versions of the same fairytales and so many fairytales that appear the same, but are different anyhow.
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Love always, deeply and true ★ Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer. ★ Friendship is sharing openly, laughing often, trusting always, caring deeply.
...The Earth laughs in flowers ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Hamatreya"... |
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04-30-2008, 01:29 PM | #12 | |
the Shrike
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My favourite is East of the Sun, West of the Moon (translated text).
From wiki: Quote:
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04-30-2008, 06:34 PM | #13 | ||
The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator
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Quote:
Quote:
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We are not things. |
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04-30-2008, 01:42 PM | #14 |
Elf Lady
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Oh, I loved it!
Funny it had distinct Christians in it though.
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Love always, deeply and true ★ Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer. ★ Friendship is sharing openly, laughing often, trusting always, caring deeply.
...The Earth laughs in flowers ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Hamatreya"... |
05-05-2008, 01:45 PM | #15 |
Half-Elven Princess of Rabbit Trails and Harp-Wielding Administrator (beware the Rubber Chicken of Doom!)
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The kids and I really like fairy tales - I read them out loud quite often. The "colored" fairy books (The Red Fairy book; The Orange Fairy book, the Green Fairy book, etc.) edited by Andrew Lang are a great place to start, and are in libraries in the US. The pictures are wonderful black-and-white illustrations.
The Enchanted Pig - I adore that story! I love the line "Now the King was astonished to hear so fine a speech from a Pig, and at once it occurred to him that something strange was the matter." 12 Dancing Princesses - yeah, it's the younger in my version. Anyone heard of Soria Moria Castle? I just love the name of it.
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. I should be doing the laundry, but this is MUCH more fun! Ñá ë?* óú éä ïöü Öñ É Þ ð ß ® ç å ™ æ ♪ ?* "How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! ... For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside." (from Psalm 84) * * * God rocks! Entmoot : Veni, vidi, velcro - I came, I saw, I got hooked! Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium, sed ego sum homo indomitus! Run the earth and watch the sky ... Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva! Last edited by Rían : 05-05-2008 at 01:52 PM. |
05-05-2008, 01:52 PM | #16 |
Elf Lady
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Do those contain the normal fairy tales, or are they specifically about faeries?
I had a faerie tale book (in English) which was only about faeries...
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Love always, deeply and true ★ Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer. ★ Friendship is sharing openly, laughing often, trusting always, caring deeply.
...The Earth laughs in flowers ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Hamatreya"... |
05-05-2008, 01:53 PM | #17 |
Half-Elven Princess of Rabbit Trails and Harp-Wielding Administrator (beware the Rubber Chicken of Doom!)
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They're collections of fairy tales from around the world. It really should be "The Red Fairy TALE Book", I suppose, because it's not about a red fairy - it's just a collection of fairy tales. There's quite a few of them - pink, olive, blue, etc.
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. I should be doing the laundry, but this is MUCH more fun! Ñá ë?* óú éä ïöü Öñ É Þ ð ß ® ç å ™ æ ♪ ?* "How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! ... For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside." (from Psalm 84) * * * God rocks! Entmoot : Veni, vidi, velcro - I came, I saw, I got hooked! Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium, sed ego sum homo indomitus! Run the earth and watch the sky ... Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva! |
07-23-2008, 08:44 PM | #18 |
Halfelven Daughter of the Dunedain, President of Entmoot
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The Ice Queen is one of my faves. along with Rapunzel.
There is a story about a prince that fell in love with a woman walking on the beach and asked her to marry him. She agreed on two conditions: he build her a castle on the beach and that he not bother or see her one day a week. He agreed. But one day, after listening to court gossip snuck into the castle to see what she did one that day to herself. He discovered she was a mermaid and she caught him there and, iirc, died. I forget how long after she croaked. After she died he's walking on the beach and he hears women singing "Come away. Come away," and he follows the women into the ocean and they drown him for breaking his promise to his wife. I think it was either English or French. Rumpelstiltskin was another fave
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09-14-2008, 08:01 AM | #19 |
Elf Lord
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Of course, I've been somewhat obsessed with fairy tales my whole life... I remember having these two anthologies of "The World's Best Fairy Tales" in them when I was growing up and then when I got to college I purchased the complete fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and the complete Hans Christian Andersen.... Made me very happy
I even wrote a research paper on gender stereotypes in fairy tales for one of my classes... I can't think of any stand out favorites at the moment, but I'm also a big fan of fairy tale revisions.... Gregory Maguire stuff and Robin McKinley... Good stuff ^^ |
09-14-2008, 04:20 PM | #20 | |
Princess of the Noldor (and Administrative Empress of the Lone Islands)
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She rewrites the fairytales as novels, going further into the development of the characters and the plots. (She has also written her own fantasy books - The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword are the ones I know about.) One of her books is just called Beauty, if I remember rightly - about Beauty and the Beast. One episode that I remember, is when she goes into Beast's library and finds a section of books that haven't been written yet - I think the Narnia books were one of the titles that were mentioned.
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Signature picture art - Bard the Bowman - by vigshane Avatar art - Footsteps of Spring (a young Luthien) - by Henning Janssen Last edited by Varnafindë : 09-14-2008 at 04:22 PM. |
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