Naked Derrieres, Infanticide and Mother Goose: A Lighthearted Look At Fairy Tales

Fairy Tales. Ah, the stuff of childhood. At least they used to be; children were read to at bedtime by their parents, or nannies, or whomever, and the stories of choice involved castles, magic spells, kindly animals, evil people who lived in forests, and brave young men who rescued beautiful young women. That is to say, the abbreviated 'disney-fied' versions did - and it's a good thing, because reading original Hans Christian Anderson, the Brothers Grimm, or Charles Perrault to a flock of grade-schoolers would send them shrieking out of bed in a bloody heartbeat.

Have you ever read any original stories by the above-mentioned authors? If not, let me warn you that they, more often than not, are morality tales of suffering, death, cruelty, heartbreak and loss. 'Happily Ever After' ? Not bloody likely. But then, in defense of Anderson and Grimm, they wrote what they knew. Life is hard and then you die - certainly true in 18th and 19th-century Germany and Denmark.

Next Week: How history shapes folklore, and reality bleeds - literally - into literature.