Famous Fairy Tale Christmas Parties, Balls and Dinners

As we head into the holiday season it is well worth exploring the peculiar parties and curious celebrations of fairy tales, especially as we plan our own festivities. These tales twinkle with fun, so remember their verve as you launch your own dinner party. I think this tale illustrates quite well that the key ingredients of many fairy tale Christmas parties include bread and knives (but not to forget lovers).

The Lover Invited to Dinner

There once lived a woman who earned her living as a tax collector. Secretly this woman had fallen in love with her bookkeeper. She wanted to win his heart through magic and so she had a fresh loaf of bread baked on Holy Christmas Eve. She then stuck two knives into the loaf, cross-wise while murmuring quite a few words of incantation. The bookkeeper came to her from his sleep, completely unclothed, sat down at the table and looked at her severely. She stood up and ran away but the bookkeeper pulled both knives out of the bread and hurled them after her, almost wounding her. Then he returned home. The woman’s aunt, who was present in the chamber, was so violently frightened by the whole ordeal that she lay in bed for several weeks unable to move. The next day the bookkeeper was heard to inquire of the household servants about the identity of the woman who had scared him in the past night. He was so exhausted that he could barely speak, he should have escaped easily but could not help himself. Try as he may, pray as he may, he was instead driven out into the night.

The same old woman, who told this tale, also related the following: On Christmas Eve in Coburg it was the habit of several young noble women to keep a portion of their food from their dinner meal. After going to bed they then got up at midnight and sat down once more at the table. Soon, their dearest one appeared; each suitor brought a knife with him and wanted to sit down beside his girl. But the noble women became frightened and fled. One of the maids in her terror took the knife and flung it back at the swains. Turning around she looked at her lover picking up the knife. Another time, instead of the invited swains, death itself came to the dinner party. He placed an hour glass next to one of the girls, who then died during the year.

In Silesia three ladies of the court sat down at a bedecked table on Christmas Eve and waited for their true loves to arrive. They had set a place for each gallant at the table. Soon the lovers arrived in response to the maids’ invitation, but only two had come and each sat down next to his lady. The third fellow did not appear. The maid who was left out became sad and impatient and finally got up after waiting some time in vain. When she went to the window and looked out, she viewed a coffin across the court. A young woman was lying in it and she looked just like the maid herself. The young lady became ill immediately and died soon thereafter. According to oral tradition, instead of the maid looking through the window, a death chest came into the room, the girl approached it, the boards of the chest fell open and the maid fell dead inside.

The Nose Fairy Tale

Grimm’s Saga No. 253: The Nose Fairy Tale

Grapevines and Noses

There was a fellow living at the farm of a certain gentleman named H., who performed a strange and disgraceful act at a feast. After the guests had all eaten, they desired that the man perform one of his many tricks for their amusement. So he had a vine filled with ripe grapes grow out of the table-top, one vine standing before each guest's place setting . Then he commanded everyone to grab hold of the vine in one hand and with the other, to place a knife at the vine's stem, as if to cut off the fruit. But he told them not to sever the stalk. He then left the room and when he had returned, each person held the knife to his own nose . If they had cut the stem, each would have wounded his own nose.

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The Legend of Fortress Königstein

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The Imposing Fortress Königstein and its Infamous Whortleberries

Grimm’s Saga No. 229: Der Jungferstein / The Maiden Stone

In Meissen, not far from Fortress Königstein, there is a cliff called the Maiden Stone, also the Priest Stone. Once a mother cursed her daughter for going to pick whortleberries instead of going to church. The daughter was turned to stone and around noon on bright-lit days you can still see her image in the rock.
During the Thirty Years’ War the populace fled there to escape the soldiers.

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To read more about the unconquerable fortress and its history hit the following Wiki-link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6nigstein_Fortress

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Losing one's head is only a bit of necromancy in this legend.

Grimm’s Saga No. 94: The Lily

(The abbreviations used in the first line of this legend are probably intended to protect the identities of the innocent, although I'm not quite sure who the innocents are in this tale.)

There once lived a nobleman named A. v. Th. in the country of H. Now this nobleman was able to chop off people’s heads and then reattach them. He decided that he would stop this devilish and dangerous pastime before a misfortune occurred. But then it happened again. During a celebration he allowed himself to be convinced by good fellows that he should demonstrate his delightful skill one last time. But, as you can imagine, no one was eager to have his own head chopped off. Finally a servant consented under the stipulation that his head would be firmly reattached. The nobleman struck off his head but the reattachment was not working. He spoke to the guests: “Is there a person among you, who is preventing me from doing this? I want to warn you and have warned you not to do this.” He tried it again, but it would not work. He spoke his warning once more and threatened once again that his work should not be hindered. But when this did not help and he could not reattach the head a third time, he had a lily grow on the table. He then struck off the head and the flower of the lily. When he had done this, one of the guests fell down from his bench because his head had been chopped off. Only then was the nobleman able to reattach the head of the servant. He then fled from the country until the matter had been forgotten and he had received pardon for the deed.

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November Fairy Tale: a Mysterious Lady of the Moor and Sunken Cities

Grimm’s Saga No. 114

November Fairy Tale: Maidens of the Moor Bathe in the Shadows of Sunken Cities

In the Rhone Valley there is a swamp called the Red Moor. According to folk tradition a village once stood there in ancient times. It was called Poppenrode but sank into oblivion long, long ago. Small specks of illumination appear on the surface of the moor at night. These are the ghostly moor maidens who may also appear at another spot not far away, the Black Moor. The name is ancient and can be found in the very oldest church records. The legend tells of a sunken village but all that remains is one brick from its stone bridge.

Fairy Tale of the Little Swineherd

From the shores of Lake Geneva: Fairy Tale of the Little Swineherd

(This fairy tale takes place on Lake Leman in Switzerland, which is more widely known as Lake Geneva.)

At the mouth of the beautiful and enormous Lake Leman, the snow-capped ridges of the Savoy mountain range are reflected. Here lies the city of Geneva, today often referred to as the Republic of Geneva by proud citizens. In ancient times the Dukes of Savoy wanted to conquer the populace of Geneva. Under the cover of darkness they scaled the city walls only to be discovered in the nick of time. Although they had already penetrated the city, they were driven out and soundly defeated. At Fortress Escalade, the youths of Geneva still sing a song about this siege. They sing: “A la belle escalade, Savoyard, garde, garde!”

In those ancient times a phantom ship was often seen from the beautiful terraces of the city and the small villages dotting the strand. Villagers reported that the ship glimmered brightly under a full moon and the soft strumming of a harp could often be heard floating gently across the waters. When the vessel approached shore you could see a beautiful woman in white surrounded by numerous small children; more like angels or gentle butterflies they danced a roundelay. The maiden was so beautiful that the townspeople could only think her beauty was conjured up by witches or devilry. Wherever the ship touched land, the most wonderful flowers sprouted up and you could not find these flowers anywhere else. Whoever saw the ship of fortune, for that is what the people called it, that person’s last wish was fulfilled. Many a stingy or depraved person strolled the shoreline by night and day … searching for a glimpse of the ship, but all in vain. It never revealed itself to them. It only brought luck to persons like the small maid, who stared longingly out of her window and had a secret wish deep in her heart.

Once an orphan by the name of Johann from Brogny tended his herd of pigs in a small village outside Geneva. He spent the entire day with them in the field but at night he drove them back to the village. One day it seemed to him that darkness fell much earlier. The moon soon rose over Mount Saleff and formed a golden path down to the lake and the city of Geneva. Johann could see the dome of the cathedral outlined in the eerie glow. Suddenly he heard the sound of horses galloping in his direction. A troop of soldiers rode by and frightened his pigs so they ran off into every direction. Behind the soldiers, the Bishop of Geneva could be seen riding in pomp and circumstance.

Soon the sound of the horses’ hooves echoed in the distance and only the little wavelets could be heard beating the sand. The boy said “If only I could be such a fine gentleman!” In that moment he was startled by the wonderful playing of a harp and when he looked around he saw the phantom ship illuminated as it sailed by. A woman in white stood in the ship surrounded by the children dancing their roundelay, singing and laughing. His heart pounded and he was blinded by the intensity of the ship’s glow. He covered his eyes with his hands but when he took them away, the phantom ship had vanished. He thought it had all been a dream, gathered his spooked piglets and drove them back to the village.

As he entered the village he saw a light burning in the shop of the shoemaker. He had ordered a pair of fine shoes but didn’t have the money to pay for them. He stammered out his apologies to the man, but the shoemaker pulled out a fine pair of leather shoes from under his three-legged stool. He held them up and said laughingly “Take them, they are finished. You can pay me when you become a rich man!”

Small Johann from Brogny beamed with joy and took the fine pair of shoes gratefully. He thought to himself how his wish had been fulfilled because the woman in white had heard his yearning and answered his prayers. He had long forgotten his other wish of becoming a fine gentleman.

But God did not forget and his ways are perhaps strange to men. When Johann put on his new pair of shoes, they glimmered and shone in the bright sunlight. This drew the attention of a wealthy nobleman in the city, who noticed Johann’s diligence and honesty. He soon adopted the orphan boy and when he grew to manhood, Johann married the duke’s beautiful daughter. It is said that a pair golden shoes still figure prominently in the crest of an ancient Geneva family. Their shield and coat of arms are engraved over a doorway in a castle near Lake Leman. Below the shoes the words can be read “A la belle escalade, Savoyard, garde, garde!”


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