Fairy Tale Lore from Around the World

Fairy Tale Lore from Around the World - Hansel and Gretel

Fairy tales are wonderful things, aren't they? Adorable stories of children learning valuable life lessons while encountering cute critters who sing and evil women offering tempting treats to innocent souls. But fairy tales weren't always so movie-like with bright songs and happily never afters. They really were rather grim, even before the brothers stepped in.

This year for Halloween, I'm looking at fairy tales from around the world and attempting to see where their tales originally spun themselves into the local lore. For my third and final bit of lore, I decided on the favorite of a few readers - Hansel and Gretel.

Hansel and Gretel

Possible Origins

Hansel and Gretel is a bit different than the other fairy tales we've looked at so far. Instead of having a single oral story, this one appears to a more of a patchwork of fairy tale tropes all rolled into one beautiful tale. The Grimms didn't even maintain the same story across printed editions. They shaped the story with each new edition to morph morals and add additional details. The Grimms did identify "Hop-o'-My-Thumb" by Charles Perrault "as a parallel story." Hansel and Gretel is also known as "Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister."

Similar Tales

As mentioned above, the Grimms considered "Hop-o'-My-Thumb" as a parallel story. Other versions include "Vasilisa the Beautiful" from Russian folklore (and includes the infamous Baba Yaga), "La Cabane au Toit de Fromage" ("The Hut with the Roof made of Cheese" and yes, please) from French fairy tales, and "The Orphaned Children" from Puerto Rican folklore.

I wish I could say which one is my favorite, but we are choosing between baked goods, Baba Yaga, CHEESE, and a version I can't find outside of one book that I do not own and therefore cannot read. I might never have a favorite...

The (Folk) Lore

That being said, I've linked the stories available below so you can explore them and pick your favorite. Tell me in the comments, on Twitter, Discord, or any of my socials (links also below), even if it's a version not listed here because I might just read that version next.

Hop-o'-My-Thumb by Charles Perrault
Hansel and Gretel by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Vasilisa the Beautiful
La Cabane au Toit de Fromage (You will need to translate the page unless you can read French. I cannot.)

Lily's Thoughts

As someone who loves food and has more than a slight oral fixation, Hansel and Gretel was always a story that hit a bit close to my stomach. Not to mention, I'm not entirely sure the OG Lily isn't secretly a bruja... So, this was one that I always paid a bit more attention to. I never wanted to take a bite out of the wrong person's house, even though I gave up on my siding addiction while still Gretel-sized.

As excited as I was over the older-than-trades origins of Jack and his beans, I do love how this story weaves its own path through and connects all the (previous) old tropes. The beauty of fairy tales is their ability to shift, morph, grow, and just evolve as we as a species evolves as we continue to live. The fairy tales we tell our children today are both the same stories told for generations and something entirely new and one day, they will serve as the basis for the stories our children and our children's children tell their children, and that is just beautiful to me. The telling of human needs, wants, and desires, and what we are willing to do for them, all in words that touch everyone to their core. And while the stories that most resonate with me might not be the stories that resonate in you, everyone, young and old, everyone, has a story that resonates somewhere deep inside them, because everyone is a fairy tale that is being played out.

Lily's Lore and Legends

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