Fairytales: Magic, Mayhem, Murder
If you asked someone for a fairytale, he or she would most likely be able to give one in a heartbeat. Fairytales are so intertwined within one’s childhood that, most of the time, the stories that stick to us impact us for the rest of our lives. However, even though fairytales begin a big part of our childhood, we may not realize that they have their own beginnings as well. This is what this article is for! Sit back, relax, and watch as fairytales walk into your life again.
Here are three popular fairytales and how they adapted over time.
THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES
The first thought that comes to your mind when hearing these four words may be the Barbie movie that has the same name. Full of ballet and magical entrances and a pretty garden wedding… it’s no wonder nearly every girl I’ve talked to likes that movie (and if we’re being honest, still like it now)!
Still, the original story was created by the Grimm brothers. One of over 200 short stories they wrote and compiled, it is not as pastel pink as the movie makes it seem.
The real story goes something like this:
A king who had twelve beautiful daughters was troubled. Every evening, the twelve slept in one huge room, but when the morning came, all their dancing shoes would be worn out as if they had been dancing all night. To solve this mystery, the king announced to the entire kingdom that the man who could discover where the princesses went would become the king’s heir and would get to choose any of the princesses to be his bride. Those who could not succeed, however, would be beheaded. Men from all over the kingdom tried their best. All failed.
One day, an old soldier, wounded from battle, was passing by the country. Hearing the king’s announcement, he decided that he wanted to try this challenge. The soldier met an old woman who gave him two things: first, a cloak that could render him invisible; and second, a word of advice — don’t drink from the cup the princesses give you.
He followed the woman’s instructions and became the first to discover what the princesses were up to. The eldest princess’s bed could transform into a trapdoor that led into groves of trees with leaves of gold and diamonds. The girls walked until they reached a huge castle brought alive by the sound of harmonious music. Twelve danced and drank wine all night, not knowing an old man danced among them invisibly, making them thirteen in total.
When morning came, the old man immediately told the king everything he saw. The twelve sisters had no choice but to confess the truth. On that very same day, the soldier chose the eldest to be his wife, and they got married.
CINDERELLA
“Bippity-boppity-boo!” Isn’t this familiar? The Fairy Godmother flicks her wand and sends forth a flurry of sparks. Suddenly, Cinderella is all dressed up in a sparkly blue gown. It’s an iconic scene in the Disney adaptation of Cinderella, a part I often wanted to reenact as a little kid.
Cinderella isn’t just one character, however. She is one of many girls that have survived throughout centuries, connected through time and people’s love for storytelling.
The first story in history that brings Cinderella’s tale to mind lives in sixth-century BC Greece. The shoe of a mistress named Rhodophis was stolen by an eagle who flies across the Mediterranean and drops the shoe on the lap of an Egyptian king. This king proceeds to embark on a quest to find the mystery shoe owner. The tale ends with marriage.
In the 1600s (more than a millennia later), more than 500 stories from China and all over Europe were found to have Cinderella-like events. One of the most famous (and less bubbly) retellings is that of the Brothers Grimm.
In this version, our main character’s name is not Cinderella but Ashputtel. The beginning starts out in roughly the same way that Disney’s movie does. However, instead of a fairy godmother, we get a tree atop Ashputtel’s mother’s grave that grants her wishes. The two stepsisters are also more desperate to win the Prince’s hand in marriage as they willingly cut off their own toes so their large feet could fit the golden shoe. (Yes, in the Brothers Grimm version, the shoe was not glass but gold!) The tale ends, like always, in a happy marriage — except birds peck the stepsisters’ eyes out while the ceremony goes on.
Cinderella’s story has been told in so many ways throughout the centuries, and it even continues to be retold today. Marissa Meyer’s Cinder, a popular YA book, is a prime example of that. In this book, Cinderella is a cyborg named Cinder who must protect the world. Movies like Ella Enchanted and Ever After also bring their own twist to this familiar tale.
THE LITTLE MERMAID
Out of today’s three, this story is the darkest. Perhaps, as you think of Disney’s red-haired Ariel, you might not agree.
Ariel’s story began in the year 1837 under the pen of Hans Christian Andersen, a famous storyteller. Back then, she didn’t even have a name — only going by “The Little Mermaid”.
The story goes like this:
Like the beginning of the animated film, the Little Mermaid falls in love with a prince and is willing to give up life on the sea for him. However, Andersen’s story takes a dark turn when she visits the Sea Witch and makes a deal with her. The Sea Witch, who makes creepy Ursula seem like a fluffy butterfly, swaps Little Mermaid’s voice and tongue for legs, and in the process, takes the mermaid’s soul away as well.
Little Mermaid can walk on land, but every step feels like being stabbed with knives. Still, she is determined to carry out her mission: to make the Prince fall in love with her.
She doesn’t succeed.
The Prince marries another woman, breaking the mermaid’s heart. The Sea Witch gives Little Mermaid a second chance at survival if she agrees to kill the Prince and to let his blood drip all over her feet. As Little Mermaid approaches the Prince and his wife, both lying down sleeping… she can’t bring herself to do it. She kills herself.
Little Mermaid dissolves into foam. Her spirit swirls around in the sky as she carries out good deeds for 300 years so that she can earn a soul.
Well… Disney’s 1989 movie adaptation most certainly did not tell this story.
Still, there are many more stories we have today that have been inspired by “A Little Mermaid”. One of Hayao Miyazaki’s inspirations for “Ponyo” was actually the Disney film. More YA authors have also taken up the challenge of adding their own twist to this centuries-old tale. Esther Dalseno’s “Drown” includes a color-blind prince and a disease that could kill merfolk. Sarah Ockler’s “The Summer of Chasing Mermaids” is a lighthearted retelling with a talented young girl washing up ashore and a “bad boy”.
These are today’s three fairy tales. Perhaps they aren’t as “fairytale-like” as films portray them to be. Then again, perhaps much of their beauty lies in the fact that they continue to survive after centuries with people still enjoying them.
Maybe we can’t whisper this to children to make them fall asleep. We can, however, read them. We can allow them to stay alive as they have been doing for the past centuries. Who knows — maybe centuries later, little children will read about a Cinderella that traveled through time to rescue a mother stuck in gladiator times or a mermaid who conquered the known world with anger over a dead lover, and who still wants to conquer more.
Let’s keep fairytales alive.
