BRIDGET WHELAN writer

for writers and readers….

The Horror of Fairytales – A Halloween Quote for Writers

Every fairytale had a bloody lining. Every one had teeth and claws.
Alice Hoffman, The Ice Queen

Picture Credit: Illustrations by Ivan Bilibin for an 1899 edition of the Russian fairytale Vasilisa the Beautiful. I discovered it on https://publicdomainreview.org/

10 comments on “The Horror of Fairytales – A Halloween Quote for Writers”

  1. Sarah Waldock
    October 30, 2022
    Sarah Waldock's avatar

    the early forms of fairytales are not suitable for children or those without strong stomachs. Sleeping beauty, for example, in the medieval ‘Perceforest’ tale involves rape. Even the Grimm versions of those tales found in Germany are pretty…. well, grim! and they are not as violent as some of the originals. It’s interesting to read the different versions in different languages, and figure out that the more names the heroine has, the older the story. Rapunzel for example, written down in Germany in 1790, is Persinette in 1698 in France, Petroinella in 1634 in Italy, and was already Rudába in Turky, Angrola in Sicily, Anthousa in Greece and Roszpunka in Poland.

    Reply
  2. Sarah Waldock
    October 30, 2022
    Sarah Waldock's avatar

    … uh, sorry, folklore is one of my things. Slap me down if I hold forth too much.

    Reply
    • bridget whelan
      November 1, 2022
      bridget whelan's avatar

      This is a folklore welcoming space – no slapping allowed.

      Reply
      • Sarah Waldock
        November 1, 2022
        Sarah Waldock's avatar

        my thanks for your kind indulgence!

  3. Rae Longest
    October 30, 2022
    Rae Longest's avatar

    SOMEHOW I am going to share this…your post won’t let me reblog.

    Reply
    • bridget whelan
      November 1, 2022
      bridget whelan's avatar

      Not sure why you have a problem. Can you see the reblog button? It seems to be working fine this end.

      Reply
      • Rae Longest
        November 5, 2022
        Rae Longest's avatar

        I can see the reblog button, but even when I comment, it won’t reblog. It must be on my end. Maybe it is because I am using the free version of WordPress?

  4. beth
    October 30, 2022
    beth's avatar

    eek! love the quote –

    Reply

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