History of Fairytales

In order to best appreciate fairytales, it it is important for the modern reader to know the origin and history of the genre. The origin of fairy tales seems to have two beginnings: one beginning is credited to writers from the Renaissance like Giovanni Francesco Straparola and later printed in collections by men like Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, but the other beginning, and arguably the correct origin cannot accurately be traced, because while it has been “inferred that these stories were collected verbatim from oral story tellers, simple local peasants, particularly old women, we know now that their [the Brothers Grimm] sources were more often second hand, the stories gleaned from their middle-class social circle, although usually with a claim that they first heard them from a servant or old nurse,” (Maitland, 2012, p. 13-14.) So fairy tales did not begin with these writers and collectors; the origin of fairy tales cannot be tracked because the stories told generation after generation have an oral tradition that dates back farther than written record. Even knowing the fairy tale is it was originally told is now impossible, as most fairy tale writers, specifically the Brothers Grimm, “edited the stories heavily, shifting their focus and making them more Christian, more family oriented, less explicitly sexual, more nationalistic and more sexist,” (Maitland, 2007, p. 14.)  So, since, the origin cannot properly be traced, the modern reader must suffice to know only the history as it has been written. Bottigheimer (2010) discusses studying the origins of fairytales and claims, succinctly, “Identifying a point at which rise fairy tales appeared implies that there was a previous time in which they did not exist,” (p. 448.)

Scholars of the genre widely consider the first known written fairytale to be Cupid and Psyche, published by Apuleius as part of his collection Metamorphoses (The Golden Ass.) This collection was introduced somewhere between 100-200 A.D.in Greece and it comes as no great surprise that the claim of “first fairytale” goes back to the earliest cultures. Another major contribution during this time is Panchatantra, from the Hindu culture, which is seen by some scholars as the precedent to many of the famous European fairytales to come in later centuries.

As with many other cultural contributions, Eastern cultures also have their own versions of fairytales that predate their Western counterparts. Somewhere between 850 and 860, the first known version of Cinderella is published in China. This history of the written fairytale skips many centuries at this point in time, with few acknowledgements of the works published during Medieval times. The one key exception is the 1300 Latin collection Gesta Romanorum, which is thought not only to influence later fairytales, but also the work of William Shakespeare.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, fairytales begin to reemerge in Italy. Authors like Gianfrancesco Straparola and Giambattista Basile publish collections of tales that would later become some of the most recognizable stories of the genre. Basile’s collection, however, was initially published in Napoleonic dialect, so translations into Italian, German, and English didn’t come until almost 200 years later. The major theme of the Italians is that Straparola’s work was immediately entered into the lexicon, and Basile’s stories were not influential until centuries later.

The late 1600s brought the Salon era to France. This era is is particular importance because it is the first recorded history of women being primary storytellers after the oral tradition of fairytales had been replaced by the written word. Women at this time were not granted formal education, so some chose to gather in their living rooms, their salons, to discuss important matters of the day, including politics and the arts. One woman who frequented the salon talks was Marie-Catherine D’Aulnoy, who eventually went on to publish four volumes of stories. Another major contributor from France is Charles Perrault, who is credited with the invention of the Little Red Riding Hood tale. More about Perrault can be found in the Storyteller Spotlight section. Perhaps the most famous fairytale to come out of France is Beauty and the Beast, which was originally published in 1740 and written by Madame Gabriella Villeneuve. This version of the tale is novella length, and contains subject matter not appropriate for children. In 1756, a shortened version of the tale was written by Madame Le Prince de Beaumont. De Beaumont’s version of the story is the one that has lasted generations and became the basis for later interpretations. Her rendition of Beauty and the Beast is much simpler, and is the first example of a fairytale being adapted specifically for children.

The next major contribution to the genre takes place in the 19th century when brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm begin to publish their collections. Together known as the Brothers Grimm, their name has become synonymous with the genre and the two are often credited outside of scholarly work as the authors of many of the most famous fairytales, even though it is now widely accepted in literature that the brothers were adaptors and publishers rather than original authors.

In what is considered the last great push of fairytale publishing, the 19th century saw Hans Christian Andersen out of Denmark and Aleksandr Afanasev out of Russia publishing their own collections. Andersen has been celebrated as an original fairytale author, while Afanasev is credited as the pioneer of Russian folklore.

The history of fairytales is much like the history of any other subject; its origins go back to the earliest cultures and, like other subjects, there is a wide span of time where fairytales were being told but not written down, so tracking the history of any particular tale has become virtually impossible. The versions of fairytales that have been used over the course of generations and adapted into visual art, movies, and songs, are based on the works of the artists mentioned in this section. Researcher Heidi Anne Heiner created a blog entitled SurLaLune, which has helped shape this section of the blog. Please visit her page for a wonderfully detailed history, a fairytale timeline, a breakdown of contributions by country, and annotated tales. Please note that her wonderful blog is continuously updated, so be sure to check back often.