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.

Kate Bernheimer Interview on "The Complete Tales of Merry Gold"

I came across this interview with Kate Bernheimer last week, discussing fairy tales and her book "The Complete Tales of Merry Gold" and thought I'd share.

Ms. Bernheimer shares some of her thoughts on fairy tales as well as gives some interesting insights to the characters from her 'trilogy' of Gold sister books - things I don't think I've read anywhere else.

Here's an excerpt from her response to the question "Why is Merry [the main character] so sadistic? She seems more like the villain of a fairy tale than the main character [who tends to be innocent]?":

..meanness is a very important trope in many of the fairy tales that fascinate me. It’s true that while American popular culture has canonized female fairy-tale characters with hearts of gold, in fact the “main characters” of fairy tales are extremely varied: as many stupid, clumsy, boring, mean, ugly, plain, deficient, weird, pathetic, and sad characters as there are “good” ones. So actually, the “main characters” of many fairy tales are cruel. One example, easy to find on the shelves, is Hans Christian Andersen’s story “The Girl Who Trod on A Loaf” where the young hero’s hobby is to pull wings off of flies. She suffers in the end, but she is still the story’s beautiful, troubled cold center. She is the bright star in a terrifying and sublime drama. Countless examples of mean girls at the center of story exist in fairy tales from around the world, just as they do in the junior high classroom or [fill in the blank], but in fairy tales they are a lot more interesting to know. I would entreat readers to look at the many, many available translated collections of tales from around the world, to see the existential variety in them.

You can find the whole interview HERE.

As always, Ms. Bernheimer's comments are thought provoking and interesting for anyone who loves fairy tales.

You can find another interview which gives further insight to her style of writing and how and why she prefers to use fairy tales that aren't well known, HERE.

The books mentioned are:
The Complete Tales of Ketzia Gold
The Complete Tales of Merry Gold
The Complete Tales of Lucy Gold (yet to be published)All three make use of German, Yiddish and Russian tales that are not well known but those who read a lot of fairy tales will at least recognize some of the tropes, if not some of the inspirations.

You can see a previous post on Ms. Bernheimer's journal Fairy Tale Review HERE.

I should mention also that the two collections she put together and edited ("Mirror, Mirror On the Wall: Women Writers Explore Their Favorite Fairy Tales" and "Brothers and Beasts: An Anthology of Men On Fairy Tales") remain two books of my favorites. I return to read them often and get something new out of them every time.

NEWSFLASH: Great Fairytales Series from The Guardian - A Must Read!

Note: I came across this series completely at random and was already into doing this blog post when I realized both SurLaLune and The Fairy Tale Cupboard have reported on it so rather than bore you with lots of repetitious information in case you're reading their blogs [which are both excellent sources of fairy tale information and news, so you should be :) ], I'll just point you to their entries and repeat how wonderful a thing this is and that you should avail yourself of the read and lovely pictures either in person or online. :)

For those who haven't yet heard, The (UK) Guardian and Observer, are including seven wonderful supplements over the next week titled "Great Fairytales". The series includes an essay by a notable fairy tale writer on a theme and then a collection of tales on that theme for each part, with special illustrations for each section by wonderful artists.Here's the blurb on the series from The Guardian online:

Starting this weekend in the Guardian and the Observer, Great fairytales brings you the finest stories of morality, justice, triumph and enchantment from around the world, collected in seven themes: Wicked parents, Rags to riches, Love, Quests and riddles, Wisdom and folly, Justice and punishment and Beastly tales.

The stories are all nominated by a panel of critics, writers and experts on children's literature: Anthony Browne, AS Byatt, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Robert Irwin, Alison Lurie, Adam Phillips, Philip Pullman, Salman Rushdie and Marina Warner.

Each collection is beautifully illustrated and includes an afterword from a range of leading writers exploring each theme.

This is such a treat! And I love the discussions on theme, meaning and fairy tales in comparison to history which you don't see often outside of academic works. For those of us unable to go buy the paper (and that includes any readers outside the UK) we can:

1) read the series online for free every day (START HERE - the link should have ALL the Guardian's fairy tale related posts for you to browse - this particular series starts October 10th, 2009 & consists of one essay and approximately three tales with illustrations - in separate posts - per day)

2) buy the booklets online HERE (shown at bottom of post).

Heidi of SurLaLune has included a brief excerpt of the first essay as well as other interesting tidbits and you can see some more of the lovely silhouette work by Laura Barrett, all of which you can find HERE.

Claire Massey of The Fairy Tale Cupboard has done a wonderful job of taking us through the first two supplements, complete with excellent links. I highly recommend reading her write-ups this week as she looks at the writers, the tales and the artists involved with each part of the series. To go straight to The Fairy Tale Cupboard click HERE.
NOTE: All silhouette illustrations (2 for Hansel & Gretel and 2 for Snow White) are by the amazing Laura Barrett who's work was commissioned for Part 1 of the series. You can find more of her work at her website HERE or by clicking on the illustrations - I highly recommend checking this link out. Her website is lovely and her work gorgeous!

The Castles That Inspired Perrault's Fairy Tales

I recently came across an ARTICLE that highlighted the "architectural inspirations" for some of Charles Perrault's stories. Apparently there are two castles - that you're still able to see and tour today - that fueled Charles Perrault's inspiration for his versions of two fairy tales: Sleeping Beauty and Puss In Boots.

The Chateau d'Usse is reputedly the castle that inspired "La Belle au Bois Dormant" or "The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods" and even stages scenes throughout the castle from aspects of the story. This castle is also one of the ones that inspired Walt Disney when he was designing the castle for Disneyland.

Here's an excerpt from a glowing review which calls the castle the most beautiful in all of France.:

The most beautiful castle in France is first glimpsed as you approach the Château d'Ussé and an astonishing array of blue-slate roofs, dormer windows, delicate towers, and Gothic turrets greets you against the flank of the Forest of Chinon. Literature describes this château, overlooking the banks of the river Indre, as the original Sleeping Beauty castle; Charles Perrault—author of this beloved 17th-century tale—spent time here as a guest of the Count of Saumur, and legend has it that Ussé inspired him to write the famous story. Though parts of the castle are from the 1400s, most of it was completed two centuries later. By the 17th century, the region was so secure that one fortified wing of the castle was demolished to allow for grand vistas over the valley and the castle gardens, newly designed in the style Le Nôtre had made so fashionable at Versailles. Only Disney could have outdone this white-tufa marvel: the château is a flamboyant mix of Gothic and Renaissance styles—romantic and built for fun, not for fighting. Its history supports this playful image: it endured no bloodbaths—no political conquests or conflicts—while a tablet in the chapel indicates that even the French Revolution passed it by. Inside, a tour leads you through several sumptuous period salons, a 19th-century French fashion exhibit, and the Salle de Roi bedchamber built for a visit by King Louis XV (who never arrived—his loss, as the red-silk, canopied four-poster bed here is the stuff of dreams). At the end of the house tour, you can go up the fun spiral staircases to the chemin de ronde of the lofty towers; there are pleasant views of the Indre River from the battlements, and you can also find rooms filled with waxwork effigies detailing the fable of Sleeping Beauty herself.

You can find the rest of that review HERE and more about the castle in general HERE.

"Le Maistre Chat, ou le Chat Botté" ("The Master Cat, or Puss in Boots") was apparently inspired by the sprawling mansion-like castle estate Chateau d'Oiron and, I must admit, it's the sort of location I usually picture when I hear this story (probably because whichever illustrations I first saw, the artist had done their research!).

This castle/estate, built in the 16th century, now has amazing painted ceilings and numerous rooms dedicated to contemporary art. It seems to be more art museum than historical tourist attraction but still considered stunning on both counts. I couldn't find any pictures that connected it with Puss in Boots but it is well known as the inspiration for the setting of the story.

Here's Puss from Le Monument Ā Charles Perrault in the Jardin des Tuileries, Paris, France.

I have no trouble imagining an ogre living here, or a Marquis - or a fake Marquis for that matter.

You can read more about Chateau d'Oiron HERE.

Guess that's three more locations (Perrault's monument included) to add to my itinerary when I eventually take that fairy tale dream trip!

Award Winning Tanglewood Marionettes Touring With Fairy Tales

The award winning Tanglewood Marionettes company will be traveling to a number of different US states with their fairy tale marionettes over the next few months.

The first offering will be at the Mid-Hudson Children's Museum, where they will be performing their newest production, Hansel and Gretel" on Monday October 12, 2009.

From the Tangelwood Marionettes WEBSITE:

Founded in 1993 by Anne Ware and Peter Schaefer, Tanglewood Marionettes is a nationally touring marionette theater based in New England. Our repertoire consists primarily of classic tales performed by skilled puppeteers who have spent many years perfecting their art.

Each of our productions runs approximately 45 minutes, which may include a lively puppetry demonstration prior to the show and an optional question-and-answer period following the performance. The program is presented with the marionettes in full view, so that the audience can witness firsthand the mechanics of puppet manipulation.

Upcoming public performance details in various states over the next few months can be found HERE. Their current repertoire includes "Hansel and Gretel", "Cinderella", "Sleeping Beauty", "An Arabian Adventure", "The Fairy Circus" and the award winning "The Dragon King".

Here's a movie showing some wonderful excerpts from their production of The Dragon King:


You can see some more of their lovely puppets and get information on their performance set-up HERE.

Red Riding Hood's Shadow Sculpture

I found this sculpture on deviantART by French student artist Noemie (faelle on deviantART) and thought I'd share. Although I've seen the concept tackled in illustration from time to time I haven't seen a lot of sculptures that suggest a dual nature in our girl.I feel I have to acknowledge the design difficulties of working on a shadow as well as a recognizable figure - shall we just say Red is working on her judo skills?

You can find more of Noemie's work HERE.

Interview with Editor of New Fairy Tales Magazine, Claire Massey

Today I'm pleased to present an interview with Claire Massey, Editor of the wonderful UK based New Fairy Tales magazine (available online). I mentioned her wonderful blog in an earlier post today HERE and discussed the magazine a while back HERE.

Let's get right to the questions - Claire has lots of interesting things to say about new fairy tales versus old!

FAIRY TALE NEWS HOUND: Hi Claire! Thank you for agreeing to answer a few questions for Once Upon A Blog. Your magazine focuses on new and original fairy tales as opposed to retellings. Can you explain how 'new fairy tales' are different from writing a piece of fantasy?

CLAIRE: For me, part of it is the form, like the traditional tales a new fairy tale is usually written in short story format (although of course there are fairy tale novels and I think it's in those in particular that the lines can become quite blurred between fairy tale and fantasy) and like a traditional tale events usually follow a certain pattern - for example things happening in threes. A new fairy tale will also draw upon the wealth of motifs that we have inherited from both the oral and literary traditions; new fairy tales can’t exist in isolation, they are created in conversation with the tales that have come before.

When writing fantasy you are free to create any kind of world you’d like for your story but following the traditions of the form new fairy tales usually take place in our world (even if it is a ‘once upon a time’ version of it), or in faerie, or at a meeting point between the two. Also, in fantasy that's based in our world characters may express surprise at the fantastical events they become embroiled in but in a fairy tale nobody ever questions the fantastical, anything can happen and nobody bats an eyelid.

FTNH: You obviously love fairy tales of all kinds. What was the inspiration for the magazine/how did its initial creation come about? Why did you decide to focus on original/new fairy tale only?

CLAIRE: I'd been re-reading Andersen's tales and I was inspired to have a go at writing fairy tales. At the time I didn’t really think about the divide between original tales and retellings, as I got more drawn in to the genre I re-read the Grimms, Oscar Wilde and George MacDonald - again not differentiating, I just loved the stories. It was only as I started to do more research and reading that I began to appreciate that there are two distinct types of literary tale. Although I love both I was particularly intrigued by the new tales and a lot of the online and print magazines that existed seemed to focus mainly on retellings so I decided to create an online space for new tales. The name New Fairy Tales seemed like a good choice and I later discovered that this is the same name Andersen used for several of his collections, Nye Eventyr in the Danish.

The Owl Encounter
by Karen Wendy Hurd
(Her work will be featured in the next issue of New Fairy Tales)

FTNH: How is writing a 'new' fairy tale different from writing a retelling? (apart from the lack of story template)

CLAIRE: Apart from the lack of story template I think there's actually a lot of common ground between the two. Whether you're writing a new fairy tale or a retelling you have to start from a love of the old stories, you have to be immersed in the form and motifs and you have to have the desire to create something new; for a retelling this will be a new version- your version of a tale, for a new fairy tale it will come from a different starting point but it will still be influenced by all the other tales you've read.

I suppose one of the main differences I've seen, in terms of what's submitted to the magazine and the retellings I read elsewhere, is that a lot of writers base new fairy tales in the realm of 'once upon a time', whereas writers of retellings often seem to feel freer to use contemporary, or strikingly different settings; they know a reader will recognise the characters and the plot, which they can then follow or subvert, and the story will still be read as a fairy tale. I think new fairy tale writers feel they have to try harder to make something feel like a fairy tale for it to be classed as such and so I get sent a lot of tales which carefully emulate the old tales. I do enjoy these but I would also like to see more new fairy tales in contemporary settings and/or addressing current issues; in the way Andersen used the form to address aspects of 19^th Century society; and Kurt Schwitters, the Weimar and Nazi periods in Germany.

FTNH: Hans Christian Andersen is often considered the father of the literary (or original) fairy tale. Who are some of your favorite original FT writers (historical and/or contemporary)?

The Butterfly Woods
by Karen Wendy Hurd
(Her work will be featured in the next issue of New Fairy Tales)

CLAIRE: Along with Andersen, Wilde and MacDonald I love to read A.S. Byatt – her ‘The Story of the Eldest Princess’ from The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye is one of my all time favourites. I’m also a big fan of the work of our (the UK’s) current poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy. Her fairy tale books are marketed as being for children but true to the form they contain some deliciously dark elements and should be equally savoured by adults. I’ve also recently read and enjoyed Jane Yolen’s Tales of Wonder and I’ve got a long list of other books by her I want to read!

FTNH: Regarding 'old' fairy tales (not just the European classic canon but ones from all over the world throughout the ages) - which ones are your favorites and why?

CLAIRE: It’s always so hard to choose, but two of my favourites were collected in England; the first is ‘Mossycoat’, a gypsy tale that contains similarities to ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Catskin’. It was collected in 1915 from a town in Lancashire called Oswaldtwistle, which is near where I grew up. The tale’s written in dialect and it’s got a brilliant energy to it. A girl’s mother spins her a wishing coat from moss and golden thread and she uses it to get to a big house where she goes to work as a servant and keeps getting whacked on the head with a skimmer. I quite like the fact that Mossycoat isn’t a perfect heroine; on her mother’s advice she takes advantage of a hawker’s affections in order to get fine clothes and shoes. The text isn’t available online but it is contained in The Virago Book of Fairy Tales, edited by Angela Carter (Ed. FTNH: This book is titled the 'The Old Wives' Fairy Tale Book' in the US).

I also love ‘The Buried Moon’, which can be found in Joseph Jacobs’ More English Fairy Tales, it’s slightly mythic and it’s packed with beautiful and eerie images - like the moon being buried in the dirt by bogles and other creeping evil things - it’s a great atmospheric read.

In terms of my reading to this point I do feel I have been guilty of concentrating on European tales - I think part of it is feeling overwhelmed - there are so many tales out there to read, where do you start? For me the answer has been to start with the tales that I grew up with and then to work my way outwards, it might be impossible to read them all but I'm hoping to make a good sized dent!

Thank you so much for chatting with the Fairy Tale News Hound today. We 're looking forward to the next issue!

Writing an original fairy tale is a fun challenge. If you're interested in submitting to New Fairy Tales, please check the submission guidelines HERE. Submissions to New Fairy Tales are open to everyone, though you should be aware the standard is high and inclusion is not guaranteed. The deadline for the Winter issue is looming : OCTOBER 20TH!

Please note: New Fairy Tales is a supporter of Derian House Children's Hospice a center for the care and support of children with life threatening diseases and terminal illnesses and encourage you to show your support for the magazine by sending donations to them. You can read more about the hospice HERE.

J. K. Rowling Announced As Recipient of New H.C. Andersen Literature Prize

Portrait of J.K. Rowling
by Meghan Ballback
(using Rowling's own words)

From The Copenhagen Post online:

The literature prize is to be awarded to someone who can directly or indirectly be compared with Hans Christian Andersen.

Rowling will travel to Odense in October 2010 to attend the award ceremony in person. The city is very excited about her coming visit for a special reason:

The city already has a strong link to Rowling’s books and hosts an annual Harry Potter Festival, which transforms the City Hall into Hogwarts School for witches and wizards. The festival is run in conjunction with the public library to encourage children to read.

(The rest of the article can be read HERE.)

This isn't the only HCA award, for instance, there is the Hans Christian Andersen Medal that's often called the "Little Nobel Prize" and is awarded to a writer and an illustrator bi-annually. You can find details on the 2010 nominees for that HERE.

As far as I can tell, the award Rowling will receive is the first of its kind but there's no doubt its a great honor.

First 5 1/2 Minutes of Disney's The Princess and the Frog Now Available To View

I've debated on whether or not to post this (there have been SO many PatF posts recently!) but figure some might be keen to see it.

It's the first five minutes (the opening, without the titles) from Disney's The Princess and the Frog. It isn't all completed animation, which is kind of nice to see actually, but it is continuous, except for the last 30 seconds or so. I think this is now available because it's on the Snow White Blu-ray disc as an 'exclusive preview' which was released on Tuesday.This clip is, unfortunately, heavy on the little-girl-princess aspect and doesn't show how the movie is likely to appeal to more than little girls but it does have an amusing scene with a frog with Tiana as a little girl.


Here's the last 30 seconds or so which seems to be missing from half the review sites - it's the part I like best. Enjoy!

Introducing The Fairy Tale Cupboard

I'd like to draw your attention to a fairly new blog I've linked to called "The Fairy Tale Cupboard". It's run by Claire Massey, the Editor of New Fairy Tales magazine, and is a wonderful treat to read.

(The Fairy Tale News Hound interviewed Claire recently. Watch for it - the post should be up some time today. Very interesting discussion on new fairy tales versus old!)

My favorite feature would have to be the Profiles of Famous Fairy Tale Figures. If you like Sarah Beth Durst's obscure fairy tale commentaries, you'll love these profiles. They're entertaining and educational and a wonderful summary and resource for study.

So far Red (of Riding Hood fame) and Jack (the Beanstalk Jack) have been profiled and we've had information on their names, ages, relationship status, story variations, online appearances and more.Who Has Come To Sing Us Carols?
by Cate Simmons (a.k.a. Steeringfornorth on Flckr)
This is just one of the amazing fairy tale artists Claire Massey has 'discovered' for us.

Here's an excerpt from Jack's rap sheet:

Age: Not as sprightly as he looks; there's no dating the oral story but the first recorded mention of him is in a burlesque version of the tale in an early eighteenth century chapbook...

And from Red's:

Relationship status: Two unlikely love interests, the first is the wolf, as seen in "Little Red-Cap"...

And there are little surprises too, like the recipe for a cake especially for Red's Granny (it has rum in it).

Gathering Together in Silence...
by Cate Simmons (a.k.a. Steeringfornorth on Flckr)

Other regular features include:

Fairy Tales and... : a series of subjects and their relation to fairy tales. Posted so far: Fairy Tales and Shadows, Fairy Tales and Beds. I love this feature too. Fabulous articles!
FoFTs (friends of fairy tales): info about wonderful people who work tirelessly to share and promote fairy tales. These are people we should all be aware of, being fairy tale enthusiasts.
Events/Exhibitions: info and reviews (Especially good for UK readers! Watch for ones in your area.)
Fairy Tale Treats: art, books and other lovely fairy tale related things. Claire has a real knack for finding gorgeous art/illustrations and objects. This is evident in the magazine too.

You can find The Fairy Tale Cupboard HERE.

So there's plenty of fairy tale related work coming from this talented woman, even between issues of New Fairy Tales online magazine.

Speaking of NFT, Claire is hard at working collecting and editing stories and commissioning gorgeous artwork for the next issue. If you'd like to contribute either writing or art, please contact Claire at editor AT newfairytales.co.uk and make sure to read the submissions information HERE too.

Star

by Faye Durston
Her work is featured in the first issue of New Fairy Tales.