Folktales from Europe/ The brothers Grimm

Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Tom Thumb and many other children's tales that are linked in our mind to Walt Disney are originally German. They first appeared in a collection of German folk tales published in 1812 as Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children and household tales), now known as Grimm's Fairy Tales. The tales come from a legacy of German folk tales that were transferred by word of mouth through generations, the collection represent the first work to collect them in a book. And soon it was translated to English The Brothers Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Karl (1786–1859), were born in Hanau in Germany, the inseparable brothers attended school in Kassel, and studied law at the University of Marburg. They were both fascinated with the German legacy of traditions and folk tales as well as the German language. They had received their stories from peasants and villagers, where Jacob did the research, while Wilhelm put it into literary form in childlike style. Their fascination with their own language was the main cause behind their huge work, the first dictionary of German language, Deutsches Wörterbuch that was completed years after their death and now is compared to the Oxford dictionary of English language. But what is the reason behind their passion for the German history and language that made such university professors work on collecting fairy tales for children. This can be explained if we notice their life in this era when Napoleon invaded Europe and was re-organizing Germany. At that time, the nation of Germany did not exist and the only thing that could unite the Germans into one nation was a common language, so the brothers Grimm used the German language and its legacy and history to create and keep a German identity. In 1937 Walt Disney produced the Disney's version of snow white as Snow White and the seven Dwarfs, without any notification that the story is originally from German folktales and specifically from the Grimm's collection. That was just the start for many of these tales to be taken by Disney and produced under his name, even the castle that Disney uses as its logo is originally a German Castle in Munich…. America, what else can we expect….. Below is a link that takes you into the magical world of Grimm's fairy tales, so hit it and enjoy… http://www.familymanagement.com/literacy/grimms/grimms-toc.html