Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic » in reply to re: Ah, the fairy tale expert speaks!

I was surprised you knew about Andrew Lang.
Mary Anne — (archived)

He wrote a shorter series of true stories for children as well, which he hoped would catch on. Instead people kept clammoring for more of the fairy books. He became quite distressed and later annoyed about that. By the time he got to the Yellow Fairy Book, his introductions became peevish and scolding. He retold fewer and fewer of the stories, leaving that instead to his gifted wife, while he edited the collections.

He grew up in the shadow of Sir Walter Scott, who died before Lang was born but who may have know Lang's father. He and his brothers used to pretend that they were descended from Gypsies. He and Robert Louis Stevenson were great friends, after having met on the Riviera and taken an instant dislike to each other.

The roots of folktales run much deeper than Lang plumbed, though he was an eminent anthropologist. Many of the original themes occur across cultures, going back into pre-Christian times. These are very very old stories indeed.

Another, modern telling of the child who had a virtue thrust upon her was written by Gail Carson Levine. It's called Ella Enchanted, and is absolutely nothing like the hideous movie made with some of the same characters in it. Based on the Cinderella stories (which have been traced back to Pharonic Egypt), Ella is given the gift of Obedience as an infant by a powerful and thoughtless fairy. Unlike Prince Darling, who is merely injured by his gift, Ella is hobbled by her gift. No matter what she's told, if it's phrased as a command, she must do it. She is exiled and robbed and nearly killed before she runs away to try to break the spell.

It's dangerous to take orders from other people, especially from those who think they know just the gift you must accept.

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