Friday, February 20, 2015

Happy Winter Fairy Tale Enthusiasts: When the Stars Fell From Heaven



When the stars fell from heaven:  Sterntaler


There was once a small girl, whose father and mother were dead. The girl was so poor that she didn’t have a room to live in or a bed to sleep in and finally had no more than the clothes on her back and one little piece of bread in her hand, which a compassionate soul had given her. But the girl was good and pious. And because the child had been abandoned by the entire world, she went out in the fields in faith to meet dear God. The girl met a poor man, who said “Oh, give me something to eat, I am so hungry.” The girl gave him an entire piece of bread and said “God bless you and yours,” and continued walking. The girl came to a child who was crying and said “I am freezing and my head is so cold, give me something to cover it.” The girl took off her cap and gave it to the child. And after the girl had walked a while, it met another child who didn’t have a wrap and was freezing: the girl gave it her wrap; and then a bit further another child asked for the girl’s jacket, she also gave it to him. Finally it reached the forest and it was already dark. A child came and asked for her shirt and the pious girl thought “It is darkest night, no one will see you, you can give him your shirt,” and she took off her shirt and also gave it away. And as it stood there and had nothing left in the world, the stars fell from heaven and they were hard, shiny coins: and although the girl had just given away her little shift, she had a new one and this one was made of the finest linen. She collected the coins and was rich all the days of her life.



Further fairy tale reading: a Brothers Grimm fairy tale about the cosmos:

http://www.fairytalechannel.com/2010/03/grimms-fairy-tale-no-175-moon.html

Further reading for a cold winter's night:

http://www.fairytalechannel.com/2015/02/spring-is-in-air-in-fairy-tale-land-but.html



Read more fairy tales by clicking on link:

FairyTaleChannel.com

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Happy Valentines Day Rapunzel



Rapunzel,  Grimm's Fairy Tale:


The Fairy Tale of Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm

There once lived a man and his wife who yearned for a child of their own. But their longing remained fruitless. At long last, the wife began to entertain hopes that God would fulfill her wish. The couple had a small window in the back of their house from which they could see a splendid garden full of the most beautiful flowers and herbs. But this garden was enclosed by a high wall and no one dared enter because it belonged to a sorceress. She had enormous power and was feared throughout the entire world. One day, the woman stood at the window and looked down into the garden. She saw a vegetable bed planted with the loveliest Rapunzel: it looked so fresh and green that she felt an enormous desire and great craving to eat some Rapunzel. Each day her appetite increased and because she knew that she could not get any, her countenance fell and she became pale and miserable. Her husband became frightened and asked “What is wrong dear wife?” “Oh,” she replied, “if I don’t get any Rapunzel from the garden behind our house, I will die.” The man, who loved her dearly, thought “before I let my wife die, I will fetch her some Rapunzel, cost what it may.” In the evening twilight he climbed over the wall into the garden of the sorceress, quickly cut a handful of Rapunzel and brought it to his wife. She immediately made a salad and ate greedily. But it tasted oh so good that the next day she had three times the yearning. To have any peace at all her husband would have to climb into the garden once again. At dusk he made his way. But when he climbed down the garden wall, he received a terrible shock, for he saw the sorceress standing before him. “How dare you,” she said her face filled with rage, “climb into my garden and like a thief steal my Rapunzel? You shall live to regret it.” “Ach,” he replied “Temper justice with mercy! I only acted out of dire need: my wife saw your Rapunzel from the window and was seized by such a powerful craving that she would perish if she did not get some of it to eat.” The sorceress’s wrath abated somewhat and she replied “If things are as you say, I will allow you to take some Rapunzel, as much as you desire, but under one condition: you must give me the child that your wife shall bear. The child will do well and I will care for it like a mother.” The husband in his terror promised everything and when his wife lay in childbed, the sorceress appeared immediately, named the child Rapunzel and quickly snatched it away.

Rapunzel was the most beautiful child under the sun. When she was twelve years old, the sorceress locked her in a tower in the forest. It had neither stair nor door, only at the top was a very small window. When the sorceress wished entrance, she stood at the bottom and called

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your hair.”

Rapunzel had long, gorgeous hair, as fine as spun gold. When she heard the voice of the sorceress, she untied her plaits, bound them round a window hook and then her hair fell down twenty ell and the sorceress climbed up.

After a few years, the king’s son was riding through the forest and passed the tower. He heard a song so lovely that he stopped and listened. It was Rapunzel who in her solitude passed the time sounding her sweet voice. The prince wanted to climb up to her. He looked for a door to the tower but there was none. He rode home but the song had touched his heart so deeply that he went out to the woods every day and listened. When he was once standing behind a tree he saw the sorceress come and heard how she called

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your hair.”

Rapunzel lowered her plaited hair and the sorceress climbed up to her. “If that is the ladder which you climb to get in, I will try my luck, too.” And the next day, when it began to get dark, he went to the tower and cried

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your hair.”

Immediately the hair was lowered and the prince climbed up.

At first Rapunzel was violently frightened that a man, such as she had never seen before, had come to her. But the prince began to speak cheerily and said that her song had moved his heart. He had no peace and had to see her for himself. Rapunzel lost her fear and when he asked whether she would take him as husband and she saw that he was young and handsome, she thought “He will love me more than old Mistress Gotel does.” She said yes and placed her hand in his. She replied“I will happily go with you but I don’t know how I can get down. Each time you come, bring a strand of silk and I will weave a ladder. When it is finished, I will climb down and you will take me away on your horse.” They arranged that he would come to her every evening, because the old woman visited during the day. The sorceress noticed nothing until Rapunzel chanced to say “Tell me Mistress Gotel, how is it that you are much harder to pull up than the young king’s son, who will be with me in a moment.” “Ach, you godless child,” the sorceress cried. “What must I hear from your lips. I thought I had kept you separate from the world and still you lied to me!” In her rage she grabbed the beautiful hair of Rapunzel, beat her a few times with her left hand and grabbed scissors in her right. Snip - snap, her hair was cut off and the beautiful plaits lay on the ground. She was so merciless that she cast poor Rapunzel out into the wilderness, where she was forced into a miserable and wretched life.

The same day that she banished Rapunzel, the sorceress tied the severed plaits to the window hooks and when the prince came and called

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your hair”

she lowered the hair. The prince climbed up. But he did not find his dear one, Rapunzel, but rather the sorceress, who greeted him with evil and malice in her gaze. “Aha,” she cried scornfully, “You want to fetch your dear wife, but the pretty bird no longer sits in the nest. She sings no more. The cat caught her and will now catch you and scratch out your eyes. Rapunzel is lost to you, you will never see her again.” The prince was gripped by such pain that in his despair he jumped from the tower: his life was spared, but the thorns into which he fell pierced his eyes. He wandered through the woods blind, ate only roots and berries and did nothing but lament the loss of his dearest wife. Thus he roamed several years in misery until finally reaching the wilderness where Rapunzel lived in wretchedness with the twins she had borne, a boy and a girl. He heard a voice that sounded so sweetly familiar: he went toward it and as he approached, Rapunzel recognized him and flung her arms round his neck and cried. As two tears fell into his eyes, they became clear again and he could see as before. He led them back to his kingdom, where he was received with joy and they lived a long time thereafter cheerful and gay.

For further reading:
http://www.fairytalechannel.com/2008/02/reading-rapunzel_08.html

http://www.fairytalechannel.com/2008/02/fairy-tale-factum.html

http://www.fairytalechannel.com/2008/02/reading-rapunzel_09.html

Read more fairy tales by clicking on link:

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Tuesday, February 3, 2015

My Own Private Fairy Tale

The Puzzling Mystery of the Swan Slayers

Fairy Tale Detectives Heidi and Tom go bird-watching. Lucky for them, they live in an area with lots of birds and little detective work.




"Look at the cranes flying overhead!" remarks Heidi.


"Look at that heron sitting on a log!" replies Tom.

"Look at that family of swans!" Heidi and Tom enthuse.

The next day:
"Heavens to Betsy, Heidi! We have to get to the bottom of this!"


"Goodness gracious, Tom, could the killer be the driver of that yellow Hummer with the swan carcass on its hood?"


"No, that swan carcass is much too old. I would guess that SUV has been driving around for years like that!" Tom replies.


"What about that woman in the red truck? Isn't that hood ornament plastered with swan feathers and blood?" Heidi asks.


"No, I think those feathers and blood are actually from that whooping crane we saw last week. You know, the only whooping crane ever seen in this neck of the woods in the last 50 years."



There's nothing else that can be done except for the two detectives to drive aimlessly around the countryside with their binoculars and spotting scope, hoping the culprit will somehow reveal him- or herself.

Finally after a week:
"Goodness gracious, Tom. This sign says the swan-slayer has turned himself in and got the $5000.00 reward!"
"Our work on this fairy tale mystery is done, Heidi. And we can continue to believe that people, in the end, will do the right thing!"




Read more fairy tales by clicking on link:

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Sunday, February 1, 2015

Happy Valentines from the Pied Piper of Hameln


(click on image to enlarge)

To read the story of the Pied Piper of Hameln click on the link:

http://www.fairytalechannel.com/2008/06/grimms-saga-no-245-children-of-hameln.html


Or to read about the magical properties of pipe-playing:


http://www.fairytalechannel.com/2008/07/reading-pied-piper-of-hamelin.html

Read more fairy tales by clicking on link:

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Saturday, January 24, 2015

Ancient Egyptian Fairy Tales


Two melancholic tales for the moody month of January:

The Possessed Princess

Place:   Ancient Egypt, Northeastern Syria and the Land of Bechten (somewhere in Asia. 

Time:  The original papyrus claims the story took place in 1350 B.C. but a more realistic date is closer to around 100 B.C. The story concerns his majesty, King Ramses, residing in his palace in Neharina. Hit the link to read more:

http://www.fairytalechannel.com/2009/01/egyptian-princess-bentrescht-and-demon.html


The Doomed Prince

A manuscript dating to approximately 1000 B.C. bears the designation Papyrus Harris 500, marking it as the property of Mr. Harris at the British Museum in London. It contains two fairy tales in addition to a number of love poems. The first tale is about the Doomed Prince; the second is a story about the capture of the city of Joppa. Click on the link below to read about the incredible life of a doomed prince:

http://www.fairytalechannel.com/2009/01/enchanted-prince-egyptian-fairy-tale.html

Read more fairy tales by clicking on link:

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Saturday, January 17, 2015

Brides Beware of Bearded Bridegrooms: The German Bluebeard


Fairy Tale of Knight Bluebeard by Ludwig Bechtstein


There once lived a powerful knight who had such enormous amounts of money and vast properties, that all his subjects led marvelous and lovely lives inside his castle. Because his beard was blue everyone called him Bluebeard although his true name has been lost in time. This knight had been married more than once. Some folks whispered behind their hands that all his wives had died in quick succession, one after another. But no one ever found out what the actual illness or cause had been. Now Knight Bluebeard went out courting again because there was a noble woman in his neighborhood. She had two beautiful daughters and several chivalrous sons and these siblings loved each other dearly. When Knight Bluebeard wanted to marry one of the daughters, neither one really had any desire. They were afraid of his blue beard and didn’t want to live apart. But the knight invited the mother, the daughters and the brothers to his large and very beautiful castle and provided them with pleasant pastimes and amusements, like hunting, feasting, dancing, playing and other merry festivities. Finally the youngest sister plucked up her courage and decided to become Knight Bluebeard’s wife. Soon thereafter a very splendid wedding ceremony was held.

After some time, Knight Bluebeard said to his young wife: “I must go away and now give you charge of the entire castle, house and court, and everything belonging to it. Here are the keys to all the rooms and chambers. You can enter these rooms at any time. But this small golden key locks the farthest and smallest room at the end of the large hallway filled with rooms. Into this chamber, my dear, I prohibit you from going, as dear as my love is for you and as dear as your life is. If you open this chamber door, the most horrible punishment will await your curiosity. I will have to separate your head from your body with my own hands!”

After hearing this speech the woman didn’t want to take the golden key. but take it she must for safeguarding. And so she took leave from her husband with the promise that she wouldn’t think of opening the chamber door or entering the room.

When the knight had departed, the young wife received a visit from her sister and brothers, who liked to go hunting. Now they enjoyed many pleasantries in each of the numerous castle chambers. Finally, the sisters arrived in the small room.

The wife did not want to open the door even though she was needled by enormous curiosity. Her sisters only laughed at her concern and thought that Knight Bluebeard was keeping the most desirable and valuable treasures locked within because of his own stubbornness. And so with some trepidation, the wife put the key in the lock and the door flung open with a deep thump. In the poorly lit room could be seen – how horrible and shocking – the bloody heads of all the previous wives of Knight Bluebeard. Like the current wife, they had all suffered from their insatiable curiosity, which they could not overcome. The evil man had cut off their heads with his own hands. Shook to the core, the wife and sister now retreated. But in her horror the wife dropped the key and when she stooped over to pick it up she saw drops of blood on it and she could not remove them. It was also impossible to open the door again because the castle was enchanted. Soon the sound of horns announced the arrival of the knight at the castle gate.

The wife breathed a sigh of relief and thought it was her brothers who were returning from the hunt. But it was Knight Bluebeard himself, who had nothing better to do than ask his wife what she had done. When his wife approached him pale, trembling and troubled, he asked for the key. She said she would fetch it and he followed quick on her heels. When he saw the red droplets on the key, his expression was transformed into rage and he screamed “Wife, you must now die by my own hand! I  left all power to you! Everything was yours! Your life was rich and beautiful! Your love to me was so miniscule, you bad maid, that you could not grant my one little request, you could not follow my earnest command. Prepare to die! It’s over for you!”

Filled with mortal terror, the wife ran to her sister and asked her to quickly run up to the tower and look out for her brothers. As soon she saw them, the sister should give the sign of dire distress, while the maid threw herself on the floor and pleaded for her life. And as the maid waited she called out “Sister! Do you see anyone?” --- “No one,” came the hopeless reply. – “Wife! Come down here!” Knight Bluebeard screamed. “Your time is up!”

“Sister, do you see anyone?” the maid cried. “A cloud of dust – but that is only sheep!” the sister replied. “Wife! Come down here!” Knight Bluebeard screamed.

“Have mercy! I will come at once! Sister! Do you see anyone?”
“Two knights are coming mounted on steeds, they see my sign, they are riding like the wind!”

“Wife! Now I will come for you myself!” Knight Bluebeard thundered as he ran up the steps. But his wife gathered her courage, threw shut the door and held it fast. She and her sister cried out with all their might for help. Their brothers hastened like lightening, stormed up the stairs and were just arriving as Knight Bluebeard broke open the doors and entered the room with raised sword. After a brief fight, Knight Bluebeard lay dead on the floor. The wife was redeemed but did not overcome the pangs of her curiosity for a very long time.






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Sunday, October 20, 2013

The Ghost in the Glass


Grimm’s Fairy Tale No. 99: The Ghost in the Glass (Also known as The Spirit in the Bottle or The Genie in the Bottle)


There once lived a poor woodcutter, who worked from morning until late at night. When he had finally saved some money, he said to his son “You are my only child. I want to use the money I have earned with the sour sweat of my brow for your education. You should learn something honest and decent so you can support me in my old age. The time will come when my limbs become stiff and I will have to sit at home and cannot work.”

The youth went to a school of higher learning and studied so diligently that all his teachers praised him. There he stayed for some time. But when he had learned his way through quite a number of subjects he realized he still had not mastered everything there was to know. The little bit that his father in poverty had put aside was all spent, so he returned home. “Ach,” the father said distressed “I cannot give you any more money. In these lean times I cannot even earn my daily bread.”

“Dear father,” the son replied. "Don’t worry about it. If it is God’s will, things will go well for me. I will make the best of it.”

When the father went out into the forest to earn something, his son said “I will go with you and help you.” 

“Yes, my son,” the father replied, “but it will be difficult for you, you are not used to hard work, you won’t be able to manage. I only have one axe and not enough money left  to buy another.” 

"Then go to the neighbor,” the son replied. “He will loan you his axe until I have earned enough to buy my own.”

The father borrowed an axe from his neighbor and the next morning at the break of day, they went out together into the forest. The son helped his father and was happy and joyful. When the sun stood high overhead in the sky, the father said “We shall rest now and have lunch. Afterward, we will continue.” 

The son took his bread in his hand and said “You rest, father. I am not tired. I will walk a bit in the forest and look for bird’s nests.” 

“Oh, you fool,” the father replied. “Why would you want to run around idly in the forest? Afterward you will only be tired and won’t be able to lift your arms; stay here and sit with me.”

But the son went out into the forest, ate his bread, was very happy and looked behind the green branches to see if he could find a nest. He went back and forth until finally he came to a large, menacing oak tree, which must have been many hundreds of years old for it would have taken more than five men holding hands to circle it’s girth. He stopped and gazed at the tree thinking “Many a bird must have built its nest in such a tree.” 

Suddenly he thought he heard a voice. He listened and finally could hear a low, muffled sound “Let me out, let me out!” He looked around but could find nothing. Finally he thought the voice was coming from below the earth. He called out “Where are you?” The voice replied “I am stuck here under the roots of the oak tree. Let me out, let me out!” 

The student began to dig below the tree and search around the tree roots until he finally found a small hollow in which there was a glass bottle. He raised it in the air and held it up against the light. There he saw a little thing, it had the shape of a frog. It jumped back and forth in the glass. “Let me out, let me out!” it cried again. 

The student, who didn’t think any harm would come by it, removed the cork from the bottle. Immediately a spirit emerged and began to grow. It grew so quickly that it soon became a frightful fellow, as big as half the tree where the student stood. “Do you know what your reward shall be for letting me out?” “No,” replied the student without fear, “How should I know that?” “I will tell you,” the spirit called out, “I will have to break your neck!” “You should have told me beforehand,” the student replied. “I would have let you stay stuck where you were. My head might be able to withstand you, but more people will have to be asked about this matter.”

“More people, ha!” the spirit cried out “You shall get what you deserve!” Do you think I stayed locked in there for so long out of charity? No it was my punishment. I am the powerful Mercurius. I must break the neck of whoever releases me.” 

“Wait,” replied the student. “Slow down, haste makes waste! First I must know that you really were sitting in that small bottle and that you are a true spirit. If you can go inside again, then I’ll believe it. Then you can do with me as you will.” 

The spirit replied scornfully “That is not much to ask and easier to do,” he said as he pulled himself together becoming as thin and small as he was before. He went through the same opening and crept through the neck of the bottle. He was barely inside when the student popped the cork back on the top and threw the bottle under the oak roots back to its prior place. The spirit had been deceived.

Now the student wanted to return to his father but the spirit called out mournfully “Ach, let me out, let me out.”
“No,” answered the student. “I won’t do it a second time. I won’t release the thing that threatened my life once before.”
“If you release me,” the spirit cried, “I will give you so much that you have plenty all the days of your life!” “No,”replied the student. “You are lying to fool me as you did the first time.”

“Don’t throw away your luck,” the spirit replied. “I won’t do anything to you, but will reward you richly.”

The student mulled it over, “I’ll take up the wager. Perhaps he will really keep his word and I don’t think he can harm me.” He removed the cork and the ghost emerged again, grew in size and ballooned into a large giant. “Now you shall reap your reward,” the ghost said and he gave the student a small cloth, the size of a small bandage. “When you rub a wound with the tip of this cloth, it will be healed. If, on the other hand, you touch steel or iron with the other end, it will become pure silver.”

“I’ll have to try that,” the student said. He went to a tree, cut the bark with his axe and rubbed it with the end of the bandage. Immediately the wood closed, grew together and was healed. “I see the things you said are correct,” the student said to the spirit. “We can now part ways.” The ghost thanked him for redeeming him and the student thanked the ghost for his gift and returned to his father.

“Where have you been?” the father asked “Why did you forget your work? I always told you that you would never amount to anything."
“Be of good cheer, father, I will make it up to you.”
“Yes, make it up,” the father replied angrily. “How do you propose doing that?”

“Watch, father. I will chop down the tree, so that it crashes to the ground.” He then took the bandage, rubbed his axe with it and struck a mighty blow. But because the iron had turned to silver, the blade bent upward. “Oh father. You have given me a bad axe, it is now bent.” The father became frightened and said “What have you done! Now I will have to pay for the axe and I don’t know where I shall get the money! That’s some benefit I have reaped from your labors!”

“Don’t be angry,” the son replied. “I will pay for the axe.”
“Oh you blockhead!” the father cried. “How will you pay for the axe. You have nothing but what I give you; the only thing in your head are student schemes! You don’t understand a thing about chopping wood.”

After a while the student spoke: “Father, I can’t work anymore. Let’s call it quits.”
“What is the matter with you,” the father replied. “Do you think I want to go home and twiddle my thumbs? I still have to work, but you can leave.”
“Father, I am in these woods for the first time. I don’t know the way back alone, please come with me.” Because his anger had subsided, the father finally relented and went home.

“Go and sell the ruined axe and see what you get for it. The remainder I will have to earn to pay the neighbor.” The son took the axe and went to the city to a goldsmith. The goldsmith tested it, placed it on a scale and said “It is worth four-hundred talers but I don’t have so much cash with me.” The student spoke “Give me what you have, the rest I shall loan you.” The goldsmith gave him three-hundred talers and owed him one-hundred. The student went home and said “Father I have the money. Go and ask the neighbor how much he wants for his axe.”
“I already know the answer” the old man replied. “He wants one-taler and six groschen.”

“So give him two talers and twelve groschen, that is twice as much and plenty enough. You see, I have the money,” and he gave his father one-hundred talers.  “You shall never lack anything again and shall live your life in comfort.”
“My God,” the old man replied. “How did you acquire such riches?” The son told him everything that had happened and how he had entrusted himself to luck to snag such riches. With the remaining money he returned to school and continued learning. And because he could heal every wound with his bandage, he became the most famous doctor in the world.


Reading the Fairy Tale The Ghost in the Glass


However far-fetched it might seem, the claim that this fairy tale has been thousands of years in the making is probably not an overstatement. We find clues to bolster this notion in three rather puzzling words: Mercurius, the name of the spirit in the glass, and the words dangerous oak describing the enormous and forbidding tree, which is the scene of enchantment in this tale.

First let’s take a look at the dangerous oak tree in the narrative. The ancient forests of Germany purportedly produced many incredible oaks and some of them were true giants. Thomas Pakenham in his book “Remarkable Trees of the World” cites an historical description of such a tree, quoting a 16th century writer who says of its enormity that it was “130 feet from the ground to the nearest bow” and another German tree had “a girth of over 90 feet”. Sadly, no trees of this stature have survived to this day, but we do have fragmented references in folklore and oral tradition attesting to the ancient notoriety of such trees. They are still described as “menacing, eerie, sinister” because they allegedly mark the spot where, according to Pakenham, pagan shrines once stood and “the dark rites of Woton” were performed. Pakenham goes on to explain that the so-called Feme-Eiche (Feme-Oak), which can still be seen today at Erle/Germany, was made a secret court of justice in the 13th century to try opponents of the king, but by the 19th century the practice had lapsed. One can only imagine the verdicts pronounced in the shadows of this oak!

A 17th century reference to a “deity-locked-inside-a-tree” can be found in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”. In the following lines Prospero explains how the witch Sycorax imprisoned the spirit Ariel within the confines of a pine tree:

”And for thou wast a spirit too delicate 
To act her earthy and abhorr’d commands,
Refusing her grand hests, she did confine thee,
By help of her more potent ministers,
And in her most unmitigable rage,
A dozen years; within which space she died,


Into a cloven pine, within which rift
Imprison’d, thou didst painfully remain 
And left thee there, where thou didst vent thy groans…” 

And in Goethe’s famous poem The Erlkoenig, the child-grabbing hobgoblin is probably a reference to a spirit inhabiting an Erle or Alder Tree, most likely another reference to popular folk tradition (although disputed, I think the claim is ludicrous that the word  Erlkoenig entered German literature as a result of a translation error, see the Wiki page on Erlking to read more). Jacob Grimm suggests as much by placing the origin of the word in the French aulne, aune, and German Erle and daemon).

These are all trees with strong personality (per Pakenham). Likewise the oak tree in our fairy tale, The Spirit in the Bottle, also conceals a forceful presence, nothing less than the God Mercurius. So who is this Mercurius and how does he get into a German fairy tale?

In short, the Romans brought their gods with them when they conquered Europe. Statues of the god Mercury dating from the 2nd and 4rd centuries have been found in present-day Switzerland (one such statue can be seen in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, CA), but these statutes still bear the Gallic name for the god (Cobannus, Deo Cobanno, or a variation Gobannus) . Gradually Latin displaced native languages in conquered regions, and Cobannus became Mercury (these two gods presumably merged into one because the Gallic deity was very similar in temperament or function to the Roman god Mercury). Over time the Gallic term disappeared altogether. As god of commerce and business, Mercury was a very popular figure. Edith Hamilton in Mythology describes Mercury as “the most entertaining of all the gods, the shrewdest and most resourceful.” He was Jupiter’s favorite companion. Graceful and swift, this god wore winged sandals and a winged hat. He was the gods’ cunning messenger and protector of traders and business people. He understood that speed was often a prerequisite for business success and the essence of his character seems to be he could be everywhere and anywhere at once (like the Internet?). In short, he was a god that any MBA could appreciate and all those who aspired to entrepreneurial verve revered him. How fitting that he should appear in a fairy tale about a parent’s concern for his child and musings about whether all the book-learning in the world can translate into practical business sense. Some themes, it appears, are timeless.

Photo of bronze statue of the God Cobannus, private collection S. While/L. Levy, New York, Height 17.2 cm. Inscription on the shield: To the King and the God Cobannus dedicated by Marcus Tutus Cassio. Late 2nd century B.C., from Helvetia Archaeologica, No. 37/2006 - 145

Mercurial = of or pertaining to the god or planet Mercury. Characteristics include: eloquence, ingenuity, aptitude for commerce. Present day usage especially:  lively, sprightly, ready-witted, but also volatile. Grimm notes that this god was among those who accepted (possibly demanded) human sacrifice, where many of the other gods were appeased with animal or vegetable offerings.

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The god Cobannus



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Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Enchanted Maidens and the Changing Seasons of Our Lives


 A Lithuanian Fairy Tale of a King’s Son and an Enchanted Maiden

 (James Abbott McNeill Whistler, La Princesse du Pays de la Porcelaine, 1863-64)

And:
My favorite enchanted maiden:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl3iaTUQQvY


The Lithuanian Fairy Tale of a King’s Son and an Enchanted Maiden

There once lived a king,  who had three sons. He decided that they should all marry at once so he said to them “Children, you have come of age. You shall all marry at once! As soon as you ride out to your intended ones, I shall shoot off my blunderbuss.  Wherever the bullet flies, ride in that direction. The person who catches my bullet shall be your bride. That is maiden you shall bring home.”


The oldest son decided to ride out to his maiden. His father went out and shot his blunderbuss. The bullet sailed slowly through the air and the son rode after it. He arrived at a kingdom. There at the king’s court a princess stood on a flight of stairs. She caught the bullet in mid-air. This daughter was not particularly beautiful because she had pock marks. The son led her home. He now had a wife. And so the second son wanted to ride out. The father went outside again and shot his blunderbuss. The son rode out and arrived in a kingdom. Here the king’s daughter held the bullet in her hand. She was slightly more beautiful and the king’s son led her home. Now the second son also had a wife.


The third son also wanted to ride out. The father went outside and shot his blunderbuss. The son rode after the bullet and arrived in another kingdom and king’s court. There stood a green frog on the stairs and held the bullet in its mouth. The king’s son was frightened. But what could he do? His father had commanded that he bring back the one who caught the bullet. He took home the frog and placed it under his bed. There it hopped around and croaked. Shortly before the wedding the brides opened their windows. All manner of royal presents flew inside. When the frog opened its window, gifts of even rarer beauty arrived.


During the day, the frog was a frog. But at night, it slipped out of its skin and became a beautiful woman. There was no one more beautiful in all the world. And every night the little frog lay down in the bed and how happy the son was when it became a beautiful woman! But when daylight came, the son was sad, because he knew what he had to do. 

Finally he thought of a way out of his dilemma. He must burn the frog skin so he fetched coal to do it. In the evening when his wife had removed the frog skin, the king’s son threw it onto the fire and it burned. The wife noticed the smell and jumped up immediately. “Now you have destroyed me.” She sat down and wrote a letter to her oldest sister and said to him: “Go to the smithy and have him forge iron shoes and a sack. He shall give you a piece of iron that is as large as a slice of bread! Place this in the sack and take this letter to my sister! You will find a bed made there for you. As soon as you are there, lay down immediately and place the letter on your neck! If you do exactly as I say, you and I can be together again. Otherwise I will not be yours and you shall not be mine. You have caused the greatest torment for me.” And she flew out of the window.


The king’s son immediately went to the smithy. He made him iron shoes, a sack and a piece of iron as large as a slice of bread. Then he took the letter and went out. He wandered and wandered and finally reached a court. There was nothing there, not even a dog. He went into the house and found a bed made. He lay down immediately and placed the letter on his neck. It wasn’t long before the sister flew inside with the sound of thunder crashing all around.  She was spitting and sputtering and screamed: “Who smells like man flesh here? O, brother-in-law, it is you! You are good bird for me to rip to shreds!” But she took the letter from his neck and read it. “So,” she said. “Get up! Come over here. I will give you something to eat! You have come a long distance and are tired.”

He stood up immediately and said: “Here is your iron bread.”


She cut it into little pieces and he ate it. Then she said: “Go into the garden back and forth!” He did this and soon saw that his shoes had become tattered to bits. He went back inside the room. Immediately the thunder roared again as someone approached. She said “Where shall I hide you?” She hid him behind the oven. Then someone entered the room and said mournfully “What did the evil one do? What torment I have suffered!” The sister replied: “If you saw your husband, what would you do with him?” “I would cut him into little pieces.” Then she flew away.


He crept out from behind the oven and the sister said: “Now go to the smithy and have another pair of iron shoes and sack forged. I will give you another letter for my other sister. When you arrive there, you shall find another bed made. Lay down, cover yourself to your chin, and place the letter under your chin. He did everything as commanded, took the letter and departed. He wandered and wandered. Finally he reached a court. Again he found nothing. Then he went into the house, saw a bed made, lay down inside and placed the letter under his chin. It wasn’t long before someone approached amidst great roaring of thunder, entered the house, spit and sputtered and screamed “Who smells here like man flesh? Oh brother-in-law, I would like to tear you to bits! But then she took the letter, read it and said: “Get up, come here and eat! Do you have your bread? He gave her the sack. As soon as she touched it with her knife, the iron turned into bread. She cut it and ate it. Then she said: “Go out into the garden and walk back and forth!” He did this too. Then he saw how his shoes had become tattered to bits. He went back into the house and listened how someone approached. “Where shall I hide you?”” the sister asked. “Creep behind the bed!” He crept behind it. Someone entered the room and said: “If you only knew how I suffer!” But the sister said: “If you saw your husband, what would you do with him?” She answered “I would tear him into four pieces.” After uttering these words, she flew away and he crept from behind the bed.


Then the sister said to him: “Go to the smithy and have iron shoes and a sack made. I will give you a letter for my youngest sister. When you arrive at court, you shall find a bed made. Lay down to sleep and cover yourself. Place the letter on your breast!” He went to the smithy, who made him the iron shoes and sack and he departed. He wandered and wandered until he came to a court and found nothing there, not a single living being. He went inside the house. There he found a bed made. He lay down, covered himself and placed the letter on his breast. It wasn’t long until someone rushed inside the house, removed the letter from his breast, read it and said: “Get up and eat!” Once again she took his sack. As soon as placed her knife on the iron, it became bread. She cut it into pieces and he ate. “Now go into the garden and walk back and forth!” He went into the garden and wandered back and forth. There he saw that his shoes had become tattered to bits. He went back inside the house and while they spoke, someone again approached in a roaring buzz. She said “Where shall I hide you? Creep behind my skirt!”


Immediately he crept behind it. His wife came happily into the room and the sister said: “If you saw your husband now, what would you do with him? “I would do nothing with him, nothing at all.” She immediately lifted her skirts and said “See, here is your husband.”
She welcomed and thanked him for redeeming her. They both returned to their homeland. When they reached the kingdom, they prepared the wedding feast. All three sons married at once and the father gave the youngest son the kingdom. His bride, the princess, had been enchanted before she was born. It was her fate to remain in frog form until her wedding day. If he had not burned her frog skin, she would have become a woman when she married.



Blondie: Maria/catches bullet


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoOG7LEyUJ0&feature=related


Additional fairy tales can be accessed by clicking on the link:
FairyTaleChannel.com

Monday, July 1, 2013

Fairy Tale of Farmer Dilly and his Beautiful Garden



Farmer Dilly’s Garden


Farmer Dilly had a fair meadow, it was so lovely that farmers from far and wide admired it. Every spring his cherry trees were the first to burst into bloom and by mid-summer the boughs hung heavily with ripe fruits. And he had peach trees and nectarines, and all manner of flowers. But the prettiest part of the field held his vegetable garden, full of crisp little peas, turnips all in a row and clusters of vegetables hanging from the vine. 

Matron Melke liked to linger near Farmer Dilly’s garden fence, and peer across the wooden rails. “Oh, how I would like to taste just one of Farmer Dilly’s green peas,” she sighed. They are much greener and plumper than mine!”
And so one fair summer night she crept out across the meadow and traversed the wooden fence. She wriggled like a snake across the dark, moist ground of the garden and when she arrived at the peas she thought to herself “Now that I’m here, it would be a shame to try just one of these luscious little peas. And immediately she snapped off an entire branch, opened the first pod and gobbled up the succulent green peas. Then she wiggled back across the earth, climbed the fence and returned to her cottage. The next day she cooked the peas and made a hearty porridge. And the porridge was so succulent that her mouth watered the days after whenever she thought of it.  

But that night three sheep appeared in a dream. Each held up a hoof and admonished her:

“Pea-thief beware,
There is danger lurking there!”

After a fitful night, she woke the next morning and comforted herself, “Farmer Dilly hasn’t even missed his peas. Surely he won’t notice if I snitch a few of the other vegetables!”

And so that evening she slithered under the fence and headed directly for the turnip greens. After collecting enough for a meal, she slunk back home. The next day she prepared another scrumptious meal and when she had eaten her fill, she leaned back in her kitchen chair and murmured “I am content!” before dozing off.

Once again the three sheep appeared in a dream and holding their hooves in the air, warned her:

“Turnip-thief beware,
There is danger lurking there!”

When she awoke she scoffed at the sheep’s warning. “Perhaps I ate a bit too much last night and the hearty meal caused me to have such a strange dream! But surely there is no harm in it!”

But after a few days her desire for another delectable meal overpowered her better sense. She smacked her lips as she thought about the beautiful fruits she had seen in the garden. “Those apples, so red, so crisp, so perfectly shaped! Not a blemish on them!” And so that night she set out again to the corner of the garden where the fruit trees stood. She had no sooner twisted off the first fruit when Farmer Dilly himself appeared. He seemed much taller than she had remembered him. He stood menacingly while she squirmed under his gaze:

“Apple-thief beware,” he admonished,
“There is penance there!”

And punishment came swiftly. “Because you have loved this garden so well, you shall live in it always. You shall now guard my little plot and devour all those who threaten it. The mice you shall eat and the rat you shall bother. And you shall threaten all and be a belly-wriggler to the end of your days!”
And with that poor Matron Melke became a slinking snake who guarded Farmer Dilly’s garden till she finally found her rest under a stone, in the corner of the garden she loved so well.





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