Hey, Jenn (though anybody can answer, really)

[conuly]

When it comes to fairy tales...

Do you want the GOOD kind, where the parents abandon their kids, and the witch eats children and locks Hansel in a cage and is eventually hoisted on her own petard? Or the wussy kind where the kids innocently get lost and the witch turns the kids into gingerbread decorations?

The GOOD kind, where Granma gets eaten and the wolf gets chopped into bits? Or the dull kind, where Granma hides in the cloest and the wolf runs away?

The GOOD kind, where the Queen wants to eat Snow White, and ends up dancing in iron slippers? Or the strange kind, where the girl leaves for some unknown reason?

*waits*

Comments

[conuly]

No, I don't. I remember reading that the Ogress was the second part of Sleeping Beauty somewhere scholarly, but I can't recall where.

[anotheralice.livejournal.com]

I'm reading that for a class now. Apparently, in the old, old versions of Sleeping Beauty, there was a King who came and impregnated her in her sleep, but he was already married. Meanwhile, Sleeping Beauty got pregnant with twins, and I can't remember if breastfeeding or the faeries taking care of her were what sucked the poison out, but anyway. The "ogress" was originally the King's wife, who tried to kill the children he had by his mistress beauty and feed them to him. But they adapted it to be his ogress mother in the later versions. ;)

I actually have a theory about Sleeping Beauty -- apparently all the older versions began with something along the lines of "There was once a Queen and King who wanted a child very much but couldn't have one. Eventually, they had a daughter..." Which is, y'know, an odd way to start a faerie tale. Then Sleeping Beauty pricks her finger and starts "bleeding" as she enters adolescence, and goes into a deep sleep while thousands upon thousand of princes try desperately to break through the difficult, tough brambles that encase her castle. Eventually, one strong robust Prince makes it through, at which point she wakes up, and the entire Castle comes to life. ... Can we say, fertility tale? ;)