Even those who do not like fairy tales are familiar with the plots of "Cinderella", "Rapunzel" and "Thumb Boy". All these and hundreds more fairy tales were written down and processed by two linguist brothers. They are known to the whole world under the names Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
family business
The sons of the lawyer Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, were born a year apart. Jacob was born in early January 1785. The second son in the Grimm family, Wilhelm, appeared a year later, on February 24, 1786.
The youths were orphaned early. Already in 1796, they passed into the care of their aunt, who did her best to support their desire for study and new knowledge.
The university for lawyers, where they entered, did not captivate their inquisitive minds. The Grimm brothers became interested in linguistics, compiling a German dictionary, and from 1807 began to write down fairy tales heard on their travels in Hesse and Westphalia. So much "fabulous" material has accumulated that the Brothers Grimm decided to publish the stories they recorded and revised.
Fairy tales not only made the brothers famous, but also gave one of the linguists family happiness. So, Dorothea Wild, from whose words the stories of Hansel and Gretel, Madame Metelitsa and the story of the magic table are recorded, later became the wife of Wilhelm.
The stories were of interest to a wide range of readers. Only during the lifetime of the brothers, their collections of fairy tales were translated into more than a hundred languages. Success kept Jakob and Wilhelm interested in their work, and they enthusiastically looked for more and more storytellers.
How many fairy tales did the Brothers Grimm collect?
In the initial publication of the material collected by the Brothers Grimm, there were 49 fairy tales. In the second edition, which consisted of two volumes, there were already 170 of them. Another brother Grimm, Ludwig, participated in the printing of the second part. However, he was not a collector of fairy tales, but skillfully illustrated what Jakob and Wilhelm had reworked.
After the first two editions of collections of fairy tales, 5 more editions followed. In the final, 7th edition, the Brothers Grimm chose 210 fairy tales and legends. Today they are called "fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm."
The abundance of illustrations, proximity to the original source made fairy tales a subject for discussion and even controversy. Some critics accused linguists of being too "childish" in the details of published fairy tales.
To satisfy the interest of young readers in their work, the Brothers Grimm in 1825 published 50 edited fairy tales for children. By the middle of the 19th century, this collection of fairy tales was reprinted 10 times.
Recognition of descendants and modern criticism
The legacy of the Grimm linguists was not forgotten years later. They are read to children by parents all over the world, performances are staged for them for young viewers. The popularity of fairy tales for a century and a half has increased so much that in 2005 UNESCO included the work of the Brothers Grimm in the "Memory of the World" list.
Screenwriters play up the plots of Grimm's fairy tales for new cartoons, films and even TV shows.
However, like any grandiose work, the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm are still subject to criticism and various interpretations. So, some religions call only a few fairy tales from the heritage of the brothers "useful for children's souls", and the Nazis once used their plots to promote their inhuman ideas.
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Almost seventy percent of all adults on Earth love to read fairy tales. Reading fairy tales, you seem to be immersed in another magical world, moving away from real realities. Each storyteller had his own style of writing fairy tales: Charles Perrault wrote in a romantic style, Andersen wrote in a vital way about the life of ordinary people, and the Brothers Grimm had a slight mysticism in fairy tales, and some of their fairy tales can be called frightening with confidence. Let's talk today about the Grimm brothers: folklorists, linguists, researchers of German folk culture, and then the storytellers from Germany Jacob and Wilhelm.
Briefly about the life and choice of profession of the Brothers Grimm
The brothers Jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (1786-1859) Grimm were born eight years apart in an ordinary family in the German city of Hanau. The love of folklore among the storytelling brothers manifested itself in childhood, when their mother told them old legends and tales, and in adolescence, their interest grew first into a hobby, and then into the meaning of their life. Strange brothers traveled all over the country in search of surviving witnesses of ancient folklore, gathered eyewitnesses and wrote down valuable information from their words. Throughout their lives and creative activities, Jacob and Wilhelm created and published several collections called "Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm", which very quickly became popular and reached our ears. And now let's remember the most famous, most interesting and most terrible fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm.
"The Tale of the Frog King, or Iron Henry"
This tale is the very first story in the first volume of their collection of fairy tales and legends. A story about an ungrateful princess and a kind frog who took pity on a crying girl and believed her promises of eternal friendship, took her golden ball from the bottom of a deep well. But as soon as the princess got her ball back, she immediately forgot her promise. The frog turned out to be a real enchanted prince, but this will become clear much later.
"White and Rose"
I wanted to put this fairy tale at the very top of our list, as it is my favorite. A fairy tale about two sisters Belyanochka and Rosochka with kind hearts who fell in love with a bear and a falcon, not knowing that these are the prince and his friend enchanted by the formidable bearded forest sorcerer.
One of the most instructive tales of the Brothers Grimm is that pride and arrogance are bad allies and friends. The proud princess could not choose her betrothed and only ridiculed all the applicants. And once a real king came to the palace to ask for her hand, and in response he heard offensive speeches. And then the wise king decided to teach the cruel princess a lesson, pretending to be a poor musician.
The most famous and popular fairy tale of the storytelling brothers who knew how to tell life stories in a fairy-tale manner. The beautiful princess, nicknamed Snow White for her snow-white skin, was born too beautiful, which crossed the path of her evil stepmother and part-time sorceress who wants to be the most beautiful in the whole kingdom. The father king could not kill his daughter, but also leave her in the palace, so he left her in the forest, but even here Snow White's good heart found refuge and joy among the little gnomes - the inhabitants of this wonderful forest.
This fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm can be called the most beloved and popular not only in the post-Soviet space, but throughout the world. Wandering musicians-beasts, going to the city of Bremen, travel around the world, singing songs and performing in the open air for curious spectators and onlookers. But one day a donkey, a rooster, a cat and a dog stumble upon the bandits' hut and with their singing force them to leave their house and go wherever they look, and the cunning musician friends forever remain the owners in their house.
And about the best, read the site on our website by clicking on the link.
A fairy tale about a king and his curious servant who sticks his nose into everything. The king always ordered another dish to be brought after a long meal. What kind of dish no one could know, even the servant. But one day, curiosity overcame the guy so much that he could not resist and slightly opened the lid of the dish. From what he saw, he was very surprised, a white snake lay on a platter. The servant could not resist not to try such a tasty morsel. As soon as he put it in his mouth, he heard outside the window not the usual singing of birds, but a voice as thin as a sunbeam. He realized that snake meat was magical and now he can hear the voices of animals. From that day on, the servant no longer wanted to serve the king, he decided to wander the world in search of a better life. And as happens in fairy tales, after many dangerous (and not so) adventures, he found his princess, married her and became king.
A very instructive tale about the wanderings and dangerous adventures of a brother and sister who were betrayed by their parents, leaving them to die in the forest. What helped two small children to survive in terrible impassable places, where there are many wild animals and evil robbers? This, of course, is friendship and trust. And also the fearlessness of older brother Hansel, whose goal and great desire was to protect his sister Gretel from the terrible hands of the evil sorceress. The fairy tale was created for children, but we, parents, should also read it and rethink a lot and learn a lot from these persistent and not childishly sensible children, and most importantly, understand that there is no greater happiness and wealth than our own children in the world. And no sorrows and misfortunes should force us to leave them in trouble.
By the way, on our website the site has an interesting article about, which should be on the shelf of every child.
From the first lines of the tale, we learn about the difficult fate of the little stepdaughter, about the evil stepmother and the lazy daughter, who was cherished and pitied when the stepdaughter got all the dirty and hard work. Once the stepdaughter dropped a spindle into the well, confessing this to her stepmother, she heard an angry answer: “I dropped it myself and get it.” The poor girl had no choice but to jump into the well. When she touched the bottom with her feet, a magical land appeared before her eyes. Passing by the windows of a beautiful house, the stepdaughter saw Mrs. Metelitsa. She liked the girl so much, and she invited her to serve with her. The stepdaughter remained, she was hardworking and did her job conscientiously. When the time came to return home, Mrs. Metelitsa generously endowed the girl with gifts. Seeing this, the stepmother was filled with anger, envy overcame her heart. She sent her daughter to the well and ordered to bring more gifts. But the lazy and clumsy daughter deserved only a cauldron of resin, which tipped over on her. So the stepmother could not wash her from her daughter. Laziness and envy are bad fellow travelers, it is better to be kind and hardworking - such is the moral of this tale.
Goose
A fairy tale about a beautiful princess who, by the will of fate, had to herd geese. Through the deceit and slander of the evil maid who took her place, the princess was left in pity in the castle and allowed to help the goose-herd. Over time, they began to call her that - the Goose. But the girl was so beautiful, refined and aristocratic that everyone who saw her did not believe that she was a commoner. The princess had a talking horse named Falada. The maid, who pretended to be a queen, was very afraid that Falada would expose her and ordered her horse to be slaughtered.
The princess was very upset, but there was nowhere to go, she asked the flayer to nail the horse's head under the gate leading from the castle. So he did, and every morning the princess spoke with the horse's head as she drove the geese to pasture. Time passed, and the princess would have grazed her geese for a long time, but the old king found out about this, and everything became clear to him. He took the real princess by the hand and led her to the prince, and ordered the maid to be executed. Good always triumphs over evil, if not in life, but at least in a fairy tale.
The scariest fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm
One day, Lucifer himself came to the miller and demanded for all the wealth that he once gave him, now to give him what he has behind the mill, and at that time the miller's daughter was sitting there and spinning yarn. When the miller's daughter refused to go with Satan, he ordered her father to cut off her hands and drive her out of the house. So, the poor girl wandered through the forest for a long time until the king met her and fell in love, despite her injuries.
The shortest fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm
"Three spins"
The plot of this tale is really quite concise and short. One day, while passing by a village, the queen heard a girl crying and stopped to ask about the reasons. The girl's mother could not tell the queen that her daughter did not know how to spin and lied that she could not tear her daughter away from the spinning wheel, she spins so much, and since she cannot do what she loves, she cries bitterly. Then the queen wished to take the girl with her, because she had enough yarn for the whole kingdom, and if she spun all the flax in a short time, then the queen would marry her to her son. Three spinners came to the aid of a girl who did not know how to spin...
Finally
Each storyteller has his own style and manner of writing fairy tales. For some reason, Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm from old Germany turned out all their stories and retellings rather gloomy, mystical, and in some places even scary, but no less intriguing and interesting. Today we recalled the most beloved and famous fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, each of their fairy tales, as you have noticed, has its own morality and science.
The first collection of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm was published in 1812 and it was called "Children's and Family Tales". All the works were collected in German lands and processed to give literary and some wonderful magic that children liked. It makes no sense to read all the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm at the same age. Their list is long, but not all are good, besides, not every one will be useful to young children.
The publication of the first book by the Brothers Grimm
In order to publish their book, the Grimm brothers had to go through a lot of adversity, events unfolded from a completely unimaginable side. Having printed the manuscript for the first time, they gave it to their friend. However, it turned out that Clemens Brentano was not their friend at all. Having considered a gold mine in the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, he simply simply disappeared from sight of his friends and, as they later began to suspect, decided to publish fairy tales in his own name. The manuscript was found after many years, after the death of the authors. It contained 49 fairy tales, unique in their kind, heard from the storyteller Gessen.
Having survived the betrayal of their best friend, the Brothers Grimm realized it and decided to publish a book without any frills and expenses: illustrations and decorations. So on December 20, 1812, the first book of the authors was published, the first volume already contained 86 works - this is how ordinary people read the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm for the first time. The list of fairy tales has already increased after 2 years by another 70 fairy tales for children.
Everyone began to read fairy tales!
Absolutely everyone began to read the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, stories were passed from mouth to mouth, and gradually the storytellers became well-known people, respect and love for which grew by leaps and bounds. People came to them, helped in any way they could, and thanked for a piece of joy that they bring to their beloved children. Inspired by the idea of collecting as many folk works as possible, adding a little magic and educational nuances useful to children, the brothers worked tirelessly until the end of their lives. So for another 20 plus years, the brothers released no less than 7 editions, and already with abundant illustrations and high-quality cover for those times.
At all times, the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm were loved by both children and adults, although some people did not consider them suitable for young children. Too adult plots and sometimes deep reasoning frightened parents. Therefore, the Grimm brothers were not too lazy and edited some fairy tales, reorienting them to the youngest children. This is how they came to us. On our site, we have tried to add fairy tales in the original children's version only in the best translations into Russian.
And it also happens...
The fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm seriously influenced the attitude towards fairy-tale creativity, if before them fairy tales were often too simple, then the stories of the brothers can be called a literary innovation, a breakthrough. Subsequently, many people were inspired by the search for wonderful folk tales and their publication. Including the authors of the site decided to contribute to the development and entertainment of modern children.
Among other things, let's not forget that the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm appear no less than in the international UNESCO fund in the section devoted to memorable, great works. And such a confession says a lot and a lot of things cost the two good storytellers Grimm.
Information sheet:
The gripping fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm stand apart in the fairy tale world of creativity. Their content is so exciting that it will impress any child.
Where did your favorite fairy tales come from?
They came from German lands. Folk tales collected and processed by experts in language and folklore - brothers. For several years, writing down the best oral stories, the authors were able to improve them so interestingly and beautifully that today we perceive these fairy tales as written directly by them.
The heroes of the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm are kinder and better than they were in oral folk art, and this is the wonderful meaning of the work that linguists have done. In each work they put the thought of the unconditional victory of good over evil, the superiority of courage and love of life, which is taught by all plots.
How they were published
Tales tried to steal a man whom the brothers considered a friend, but did not have time. In 1812, the collectors were able to carry out their first edition. Not immediately the works were recognized as children's. But after professional editing, they spread throughout the country in large numbers. Reprinted 7 times in 20 years. The list of works has grown. Tales from the category of simple folk art have turned into a new literary genre.
The Brothers Grimm made a real breakthrough, which was appreciated all over the world. Today, their work is included in the international list of the great heritage of the past, created by UNESCO.
What is the modernity of the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm?
Adults remember the names of many fairy tales from childhood. Because the works of the Brothers Grimm, with their magical style of narration, variety of plots, preaching of love of life and perseverance in any life situations, delight and attract extraordinarily.
And today we are happy to read them together with children, remembering which fairy tales we liked more, comparing with interest with those that are popular today.
But not everyone knows that the Grimms did not at all resemble those folklore hunters who go in search of grandmothers from village to village, drowning in the mud of washed-out roads. Our heroes preferred not to wander, but to find experts in folklore in the surrounding area.
Among such connoisseurs was the family of the pharmacist Wild from Kassel, who lived next door to the brothers, whose daughters and the housekeeper Maria turned out to be a real storehouse of folk tales. Other familiar families turned out to be the same well - Hassenpflug, Haxthausen, Droste-Hulshoff.
Interestingly, not only friendly, but also personal relations were established between the families of storytellers and the Grimm family. So the daughter of the Wilds - Dorothea - became the wife of Wilhelm, and the son of the Hassenpflugs married the sister of the Grimms - Lotta.
But not only wealthy families became the source of the collection of the Brothers Grimm. So several tales were told by the former dragoon sergeant major - Johann Friedrich Krause - so impoverished that he "bartered" his tales from the brothers for old clothes.
But the Grimm's most vivid memory was of a poor old woman named Dorothea Fiman, who was one of the best storytellers with an amazing memory.
Wilhelm Grimm:
“This woman, by the name of Fiman, is still strong, she is a little over fifty, she has a pleasant face, a sharp look in her bright eyes; she must have been beautiful when she was young.
She tenaciously keeps all the old legends in her memory. Tells calmly, confidently and unusually lively, with great pleasure; the first time she talks quite freely, then, if asked, she slowly repeats it again, so that with some training you can write down her. With this method, much can be recorded literally, so that the recorded does not raise doubts about its authenticity. Anyone who believes that slight distortions in the transmission of fairy tales are inevitable, that they are carelessly stored in memory by the narrator, and that therefore, as a rule, their long life is impossible, he should have heard how accurate she is in repeating what is told, how carefully she monitors the fidelity of the narration; when repeated, she does not change anything and, if she notices a mistake, she immediately interrupts the story herself and corrects it.
In people who lead an unchanging way of life from generation to generation, the commitment to accuracy in the transmission of fairy tales and traditions is much stronger than we, people who are prone to variability, can imagine it. That is why, as has been repeatedly verified, these legends are impeccable in their construction and are close to us in their content.
Of all the storytellers, it is the portrait of Dorothea Fiman, as the embodiment of the "folk storyteller", that the brothers will place in their second collection. True, Dorothea herself will not live to see its release for only a few months.
It is worth saying that the brothers did not shy away from using fairy tales gleaned from books in the collection, provided that their style met the strict principles of “natural folk”.
In January 1812, a friend of the Grimms - Arnim - discovered that the brothers had already accumulated an impressive collection of fairy tales, and insisted on the early publication of the collection.
Wilhelm Grimm:
“It was he, Arnim, who, having spent several weeks with us in Kassel, prompted us to publish the book! He felt that we should not linger too long on this, as in the pursuit of completeness the matter might drag on too long. “After all, everything is written so cleanly and so beautifully,” he said with good-natured irony.
The publication process was also accelerated by an unpleasant incident involving another friend of the Grimms - Clemens Brentano. In 1810, the brothers sent him their first handwritten collection of 49 tales for review, but the manuscript was never returned. Grimm feared that Brentano was using the material for his own purposes, so they hurried to publish their collection. The fears were never justified, although the manuscript itself was found after the death of the brothers and received the nickname "Elenberg".
But through the efforts of Arnim, who found a publisher for Grimm - Georg Reimer - the first book of fairy tales was published just before Christmas - December 20, 1812. Since the undertaking was risky and hasty, the collection was published without illustrations on cheap paper, with a circulation of only 900 copies.
It included 86 tales, but the material continued to accumulate, and in 1815 the second volume was released, which included 70 more tales. Another Grimm brother, Ludwig, had a hand in it, drawing the engraving “Brother and Sister” on the title page (the portrait of Dorothea Fiman was included in the same collection).
But even after the second volume, the brothers did not wake up famous. A third of the circulation was not sold out at all, and the books were destroyed. Criticism was also very impartial.
To take at least an excerpt from a review by August Wilhelm Schlegel: “If someone cleans out a closet filled with all sorts of nonsense, and at the same time expresses his respect to every junk in the name of“ ancient legends ”, then for reasonable people this is already too much. "
The brothers were not embarrassed by such claims, and they objected to them briefly: “The very fact of their (fairy tales - S.K.) folk existence is already sufficient to prove their value”.
The accusations of immorality in fairy tales seemed much more serious to the brothers. Here it is worth recalling one story that precedes the release of the first collection and is associated with the namesake of the brothers - Albert Ludwig Grimm. This Grimm released his collection of fairy tales back in 1809 - as expected, literary processed and cleaned for children's perception. The collection turned out to be quite successful, so the brothers in the preface to their book decided to disown the namesake - they called his collection unsuccessful, and his tales were not at all as authentic as theirs. Albert was offended and, in turn, criticized the brothers' book, accusing them of being too authentic.
A. L. Grimm:
“... for the literary fixation of fairy tales, an ideal narrator is needed, and not the first nanny that comes across, and if there is none, then a poet should take his place ...
... Every time I saw this book (collection of the Brothers Grimm - S.K.) in children's hands - it always aroused an inner protest in me. Without going into details, I want to point out at least "Rapunzel"; fathers and teachers will find here, as in many other places, enough reasons not to call these fairy tales for children.
At first, the brothers tried to justify themselves.
Wilhelm Grimm, preface to the 2nd volume of fairy tales (1805):
“With our collection, we not only want to render a service to the history of poetry, we intend to make the poetry itself, living in the book, influence the reader - please whom it can please, in addition to turning it into a real educational book. Against the latter, some objected, saying that in it one or the other conflicts with this goal, is not suitable or indecent for children - for example, when it comes to certain circumstances or relationships, and even about the devil - and therefore parents didn't want to give them this book. Perhaps in some cases such concern is justified, but it is very easy to choose another fairy tale to read; on the whole, however, this concern is unnecessary.
