The Do's & Don'ts of Social Distancing Fairy Tales by Erin-Claire

"DO be like Little Red Riding Hood: take essentials to elderly and isolated relatives (but don't bring home any wolves/viruses!)"

Important note: The need for human connection is directly linked to mental health, yet, right now, we need to stay physically apart from each other in order for us all to have our best chance at survival and to protect the most vulnerable. With mental health becoming a serious issue after months of being forced to keep in-person interactions to a bare minimum, and no end to the coronavirus threat yet in sight, it is now being suggested that we replace the term "social distancing" with "physical distancing", to emphasize the importance of maintaining physical precautions while encouraging people to have and create connections in other ways. 

When the pandemic hit and we all went into quarantine in a global effort to slow down the spread of coronavirus, Erin-Claire began making illustrations of fairy tales as both examples and cautionary tales about social distancing. 

It's a very fresh and timely reframing of fairy tales, showing how they can be read and re-read in constantly new ways, helping us to reflect on our current situations, telling tales to remind ourselves of both consequences and possibilities, but above all, that we are all human and struggle with similar things, no matter where we are.

The diversely talented Australian artist, storyteller, and speaker, Erin-Claire Barrow, better known as just Erin-Claire, has been working with fairy tales for quite some time now and is passionate about diversity and representation in stories and empowering people, women especially. Her feminist fairy tales illustration series led to her speaking at #TedXCanberra on this very subject (you can see that HERE) and she has many more stories to tell and feels fairy tales can help us in so many more ways.

The captions below each image are the companions for the illustrations and, in that mysterious and wonderful way of fairy tales, ground us amid a sea of false narratives, and encourage us to get to the heart of issues we're dealing with and face them, head-on.

With "vigilance-fatigue" setting in, sometimes it helps to get the same reminder in a different way to re-energize us into being vigilant and protecting each other again. We think Erin-Claire's #SocialDistancingFairyTales series might help to do just that. 

Enjoy.

DON'T be like the True Sweetheart: Now is not the time to travel the world looking for an ex who forgot about you, attend his wedding ball three nights in a row, win him back then abscond to YOUR castle for yet another wedding party.

DON'T be like the Pied Piper of Hamelin: encouraging large gatherings in public places.

DO be like Rapunzel in her tower: just two visitors and only ever one at a time.

DO be like the witch in Jorinda and Joringel (especially if elderly and vulnerable): if any visitors you don't want come too close, turn them into birds or freeze them in place.

DON'T be like the Twelve Dancing Princesses: sneaking out of your home every night to dance your shoes to pieces with enchanted (or enchanting) princes.

DO be like the Lady from Llan y Fan Fach: if your partner is violent towards you, it is absolutely ok to leave your home to travel somewhere safe or seek help. Also to take all their cows, horses and other livestock.

Fairy Tale Bonus of the Day:

We had to include one of our favorite ink illustrations by Erin-Claire. Though this piece was created for a previous #Inktober (a yearly challenge for artists everywhere), rather than a specific work for her portfolio, it immediately caught our eye and showcases some of the lovely storytelling that comes through in her illustrations. It is titled "Wise Women", and reminded us that though we have to remain socially distant, we can still send magic into the world from where we are and help build a better future.

Thanks, Erin-Claire!

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Fearnot by Erin-Claire

The Six Swans by Erin-Claire

You can find Erin-Claire in these places around the web listed below (click to go to her sites), and continue to follow her #socialdistancingfairytales as she adds any, along with her continuing feminist fairy tales work and possibly even discover some lesser-known tales along the way:

Website - erinclaireillustration.com

Facebook

Tumblr

Instagram

Twitter

Jorinde & Joringel Inspired Short Story

My apologies for the double-up for email subscribers. Computer thought I was finished...

Want a fun, sexy, fairy tale inspired short story to read this weekend? I recommend Dorlana Vann's "Quiet on the Nightingale" posted over at Supernatural Fairy Tales. See if you can figure out why I used this pic for the announcement. ;)

Note: You can learn how to make your own birdcage dress HERE.

Happy National Tell A Fairy Tale Day!

February 26 is National Tell A Fairy Tale Day!
Yep - that's today in the US.

Officially:

This day celebrates Fairy Tales! On this day we are encouraged to have fun reading fairy tales and discussing fairy tale stories!

This is the first time I've heard of it too (if you look at the link you'll see it's a little hard to verify an official source except that a lot of people are celebrating it) but hey, sounds great to me!
There's a nice little article posted today by Hannah Boyd titled "Why Fairy Tales Matter" HERE.

So: if you could pass on ONE fairy tale ONLY to the next generation, which one would that be and why?

I know - impossible question. I have trouble answering that one too.

Let's try this one instead:

What one (or two) little-known fairy tale do enjoy?

I'll start:
"The Cat on the Dovrefell" also known as "The Trolls and the Pussycat"
Norwegian fairy tale collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe.
Trolls, a polar bear and a lot of humor. Love it! (Text HERE.)

"The Lame Fox" or "Laughing Eye and Weeping Eye"
Serbian fairy tale collected by A. H. Wratislaw (also in Andrew Lang's Grey Fairy Book)
A very patient (non-trickster) fox helps a boy win a golden horse, a golden tree and a golden girl. (Text HERE.)

And one more (because once you get me going it's hard to stop...):

"The Day Boy and the Night Girl"
by George MacDonald (one of my favorite fairy tale writers)
Opposites attract and help each other overcome their fears and the "witch with the wolf inside". (Text HERE.)
I also enjoy Jorinde & Joringel (Grimm's), The Tinder Box (H. C. Andersen - this is more popular than the others I've mentioned) and The Marsh King's Daughter (also by H.C. Andersen), which you probably know already if you've been reading this blog for a while. :)

Your turn.
Note: All images are of more familiar tales by the amazing Kinuko Y. Craft. SOURCE.

How Fairy Tales Can Nourish Children's Bodies (Article)

This article by Nancy Mellon discusses both the power of storytelling and how the imagery in fairy tales can be used to promote healthy thinking toward our own heart, lungs, liver and more. The suggestion is that we can promote healthy body thinking in children by telling them such stories and fairy tales.I found the stories discussed particularly interesting as most of them aren't well known. The writer concentrates on Grimm tales so those who've read them all will find them familiar.Here are a couple of excerpts:

How do stories nourish children's organs as they grow?... We can look with wonder and fascination at the fundamental archetypes of our organs to find characters and plot structures that express them.

Editors note (from the end): Stories have many levels of meaning and many possible interpretations... Contemplation and meditation about the images in these stories and how they may describe organ functions can reveal to connections.

The fairy tales discussed are:

• The Twelve Huntsman (a true bride tale)
  

• Jorinde and Joringel

• The Juniper Tree

• Little Brother and Little Sister

• Two Brothers

• The Queen Bee (another Simpleton who-is-kind-of-heart wins story)

• Gutta Percha (by George MacDonald)

• The Prince Who Feared Nothing

• The Frog King

A few other stories are mentioned too (eg Great Expectations) but the emphasis is on fairy tales throughout.Here's the article:

How-Do-Stories-Nourish-Childrens-Organs-As-They-Grow -

It's one way of using stories I haven't heard of before and although I admit I'm skeptical about children picking up this information subconsciously, I'm all for promoting health of mind and body through fairy tales.
You can download the article if you'd like to keep a copy HERE.

* All images are from the excellent fairy tale series "The Storyteller" by Jim Henson & Co. There's an overview of the epiosdes/tales with summary and images HERE and you can get your own copy of the DVD set which includes the Greek Myth series too, HERE.

Jorinde & Joringel Stamps

This is a completely random find (found HERE) and I just had to share as it's so rare to find anything to do with this fairy tale. Germany has great love and respect for the Grimm tales though so I'm not surprised this is where the stamps originate from.

These stamps have scenes from the story and tell most of it comprehensively in only six panels.

If you don't know the story you can read it HERE at SurLaLune or read my steampunk retelling by downloading a FREE PDF from HERE. You can also hear a complete recording/podcast of my story with music and sound effects. :) The links to the parts are HERE.

Fairy Tale Witches Good and Bad

"Hansel and Gretel and the Witch "
Rough drawing (study for figurine) by Scott Gustafson

A quickie post to point you to an excellent list of witches from fairy tales and other classic literature by Kate Coombs, also known online as "The Book Aunt".

Strega Nona
Written & Illustrated by Tomie dePaola

Her list includes Baba Yaga and Strega Nona, as well as some books for both I also recommend. She even includes the awesome story/book called The Talking Eggs that I found only a few years ago. Please note the actual books she recommends for the fairy tales. I can vouch for the illustrations being as lovely as she says.

Here's the fairy tales she includes:

Hansel and Gretel (with the Gingerbread House architect)
Snow White (with her stepmother - or mother, if you prefer)
Jorinda and Joringel (with The Witch of the Wood that gturns into an Owl...)
The Tinderbox or The Blue Light (with an unnamed witch that gets killed)
Rapunzel (with Mother Gothel)
Vasilissa the Brave (with Baba Yaga)
The Fearsome Inn (Jewish folktale)
Strega Nona - she's a good one!
The Talking Eggs (Grimm's Mother Hulda)

Also mentioned is Heckedy Peg (which is an original fairy tale by Audrey & Don Woods)

Bony Legs
Written by Joanna Cole
Illustrated by Dirk Zimmer

You can find Kate's blog and timely list of fairy tale witches HERE.

Fairy Tale Names

Rumpelstiltskin by Jiri Trnka

In the land of Faery names are very important - to know a person or creatures name is to have power over it and so true names are closely guarded. This sensibility is reflected to varying degrees in many cultures too and so we end up with nicknames, honorifics, and even substitute names for infants to mislead mischievous gnomes, fairies or demons from stealing their souls.

But what about fairy tales? Names aren't usually given to all the characters in a fairy tale. Sometimes only one name is used and sometimes that name is really a representation of the character in focus and not their real name at all. Names still have a certain importance in fairy tales, though not having quite the same weight as the concept does in faery myths and legends but the choosing of an infants name is often given great weight and one tale in particular makes it clear that one's name is very important indeed.

Rumpelstiltskin by Kay Nielsen

I'm talking of Rumpelstiltskin of course. This is the tale with the most names mentioned in any fairy tale ever (that I'm aware of) and is part of the whole point of the story. What I find interesting is that in many of the versions I've read, the Queen (who is unnamed in most versions), when trying to guess the little man's name, starts with exotic sounding names, moves to whimsical/nonsensical names then ends up listing common ones before announcing the true name - which is completely unique - and getting herself, and her firstborn, out of a sticky situation. (You can read the story and the names the Queen recites at the awesome SurLaLune site HERE.)

Rumpelstiltskin by Anne Anderson

Rumpelstiltskin is one of those names that, once you know it, sticks in your memory but it's interesting to see the other fairy tale names that have also 'stuck' through the ages and across cultural boundaries.

This page HERE has an interesting list of names - male and female - in fairy tales for people to consider for their children. While a good portion of them are, unsurprisingly, from Disney retellings, there are quite a few unexpected ones too. (Rumpelstiltskin isn't on the list, presumably because no parent would ever inflict such a curse on their child.. here's hoping that assumption is correct!)

Here's a sampling of some unusual ones on that page:

BABETTE — Beauty and the Beast

FINETTE — Finette Cendron

JORINDE — Jorinde and Joringel

TALIA — Sun, Moon and Talia

WINNIFRED — The Princess and the Pea

It's by no means a comprehensive list but it does get the gray matter working a little! It's certainly a baby name category you don't very often, though I think it would be a very interesting little volume to put together - especially if it were multi-cultural.

Fairy Story (Rumpelstiltskin) by Jesus Blasco

Many of the names for the heroes and heroines are 'everyman' names. For example Ivan is extremely common in Russia, just like Jack is in English. The same goes for Hansel and Gretel which, to English speaking countries sounds exotic but to Germanic people is essentially Jack and Jill. When I was researching Jorinde and Joringel for my recent retelling I found reference to the fact that their names were the equivalent of 'George', in both the feminine and the masculine (which makes you think of the tale a whole different way again).

Sometimes, though, the names are special and unique. I'd be very interested to see a collection put together. Anyone up for the job? ;)

NOTE: I should point out that fairy tale character names were discussed on the SurLaLune discussion board quite a few years ago HERE. It mainly discusses the issue of lead character names but has other interesting points too.

CAGES PDF Just Released - FREE Download

It's here!

The whole story of

"Cages
A Steampunk Retelling of Grimm's Jorinde & Joringel
In V parts with Epilogue"

is now available for
FREE download & distribution

HERE
at the Supernatural Fairy Tales website.

Please note: if, when you click on the cover image at Supernatural Fairy Tales, a blank page opens and no document appears or downloads, try returning to the site and 'right-clicking' (or holding down the CNTRL button, then clicking) on the cover image and selecting 'SAVE LINK AS'. It should bring up a box with 'cages.pdf' already typed in the SAVE AS area. Click SAVE and it will download automatically after that. If you're still having problems accessing it, email me at fairytalenews AT gmail DOT com and I'll send it directly to you as soon as I see your mail.

Please feel free to download, copy and distribute the PDF to anyone you think will enjoy it.

[If you have any questions about the story, the short series podcast or the PDF, please don't hesitate to email me at fairytalenews AT gmail DOT com]

5th & Final Podcast Episode of "CAGES: A Steampunk Retelling of Grimm's Jorinde & Joringel" is up

The final episode, 'Part V with Epilogue', of my steampunk fairy tale retelling is up at Supernatural Fairy Tales!

You can read the text and/or listen to the podcast
(me reading with music by Abney Park and sound effects added)
HERE.

There is a small button labeled PLAY below the header for the audio.

Part I can be found HERE.
Part II can be found HERE.
Part III can be found HERE.
Part IV can be found HERE.

There will also be a PDF of the whole story available for FREE download and distribution coming in the next few days, so watch for that (I will announce that here too).

I got a very nice review by "Diamonds & Toads", which you can read HERE. (Thank you Kate!)

As this is the final episode I have a short, but important, list of people to thank for their role in this process:

• Steampunk band "Abney Park" and 'Captain Robert', for generously giving me permission to play their music throughout the podcast. You guys have the BEST music for this genre! Thank you for allowing me to use your music to help tell my story.
  
• Dorlana Vann of Supernatural Fairy Tales for hosting the story and audio and for being patient with me on the technical details as I figure out my first podcast. Thank you for your generosity with the different blog format and for helping put my story out there. You really are 'a good fairy'.
  
• My husband Tom, for being my cheerleader, my extra eyes (and ears) on the story and for making sure I had chunks of uninterrupted time to focus on the work needed to get it all done. I couldn't have done it without your support.
  
• My son 'Jackzilla', who inspires me daily and gives me the best reason to write: these stories are for you little guy!
  

Thank you!

I hope you've enjoyed this different version of Jorinde & Joringel. Discovering my Muse had decided on steampunk was quite a challenge but now I'm completely hooked! Maybe there will be more steampunk fairy tales coming your way in the future... ;)

4th Podcast Episode of "CAGES: A Steampunk Retelling of Grimm's Jorinde & Joringel" is up

Part IV of V of my steampunk fairy tale retelling is up at Supernatural Fairy Tales!

You can read the text and/or listen to the podcast
(me reading with a little music added)
HERE.

There is a small button labeled PLAY below the header for the audio.

Part I can be found HERE.
Part II can be found HERE.
Part III can be found HERE.

If you'd like to read the fairy tale that inspired it, you can find it HERE, at the amazing fairy tale resource site of SurLaLune.

The next and final episode - V - will drop on August 28th, along with a PDF of the whole story that will be available for FREE download and distribution.

Dorlana Vann has been wonderful for hosting this short story podcast series and very patient with me as I figure out the technical details of recording a podcast for the first time. :D

Thank you Dorlana! You are awesome!

Enjoy Part IV!

3rd Podcast Episode of "CAGES: A Steampunk Retelling of Grimm's Jorinde & Joringel" is up

Part III of V of my steampunk fairy tale retelling is up at Supernatural Fairy Tales!

You can read the text and/or listen to the podcast
(me reading with a little music added)
HERE.

There is a small button labeled PLAY below the header for the audio.

Part I can be found HERE.
Part II can be found HERE.

If you'd like to read the fairy tale that inspired it, you can find it HERE, at the amazing fairy tale resource site of SurLaLune.

The next episode - IV - will drop on August 21st...

Thank you, once again, to Dorlana Vann for hosting this short story podcast series.

Enjoy!

2nd Podcast Episode of "CAGES: A Steampunk Retelling of Grimm's Jorinde & Joringel" is up

This is the second episode of five coming your way, of my new short story "CAGES".

Click on the image to go to Supernatural Fairy Tales and listen to the podcast (with me reading and wonderful music by steampunk band Abney Park) and/or read the text (with some related pics).

Enjoy!Thanks again to Dorlana Vann for this opportunity. You can follow her on Twitter and get all the latest Supernatural Fairy Tale updates HERE.

Steampunk Retelling of Grimm's Jorinde & Joringel - short series podcast

There's a new special short series podcast dropping today - August 1st - at "Supernatural Fairy Tales" - and it's a Steampunk retelling of a Grimm's fairy tale - by me!

Dorlana Vann was kind enough to invite me to write a short story for her site and it's turned into an exciting mini-production, being presented in five weekly parts during the month of August in both text and as a podcast.

The title of the story is:

"Cages: A Steampunk Retelling of Grimm's Jorinde & Joringel in V Parts with Epilogue"

(gotta love those old-fashioned lengthy titles!)

and has a definite Neo-Victorian feel.

You can go listen (and/or read)
HERE.

In case you're not familiar with the fairy tale you can read it HERE (and thank you to Heidi at SurLaLune for making this a readily available online reference for me to check when I didn't have my complete Grimm's handy!)

I also managed to secure permission from Steampunk band Abney Park to use some of their music in the podcast, one song in particular being perfect thematically. Many thanks to them for their generosity in sharing their fabulous music. You can check out their website HERE.I'll also be making a PDF of the complete story available for free download and distribution at the end of the series, so watch out for that.

Lots of steampunk fairy tale goodness coming your way!

Enjoy.

Old-Style Digital Fairy Tale Collages

I recently found these sweet little digital collages on flickr, by Rowan Tree Design.

The theme for this set is myth and fairy tales and uses some lovely old illustrations as the base on which to design the rest. Here's a small selection for you:
You can find the rest HERE. You can see a lots of her other collage HERE with links to a limited selection at her Etsy shop under the profile tab.

Enjoy!