Heroes and Villains
Grimms' fairy tales are read by children throughout the world. Clare Bowerman takes a look at their history.

Cinderella, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood; these fairy tale stars feel so familiar it is hard to imagine a time when they didn't exist. But it wasn't until the early nineteenth century that these tales were first collected together. In 1812 the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published the first of seven German editions of their full story collection, Children's and Household Tales. Gleaned mostly from oral narrations, the Grimms gathered and wrote 211 fairy tales, fables and farces. Since then, the Grimms' work has been translated into more than 160 languages, and has become one of the greatest publishing phenomena of all time. The Brothers Grimm would doubtless have been astonished to see the huge popularity of their work. Throughout the world, theme parks, films, books and plays are dedicated to them. For most of us, the Grimm fairy tales are intimately tied up with childhood, with our first Christmas pantomime or trip to the cinema. So it is strange to learn that the first edition of their book (the Grosse Ausgabe or Large Edition) was aimed principally at adults rather than children. It contained no illustrations and was accompanied by scholarly footnotes. This was quite deliberate, for the brothers saw themselves as patriotic folklorists, saving oral storytelling from oblivion in Germany. The scholarly edition sold badly, as academic textbooks are wont to do. But fortunately for sales, their folk story collecting coincided with the burgeoning of children's literature in Europe. Soon, versions of the tales were being translated into illustrated books for children to satisfy a newly literate audience. The stories were particularly popular in England, and a glossy translation called German Popular Stories was produced in 1823, with illustrations by George Cruickshank. To meet the demand for a bestseller for children, the brothers published the Kleine Ausgabe or Small Edition, a collection of 50 of their stories with illustrations by their brother Ludwig. Most of the magic fairy tales were represented in the volume, which ran to ten editions between 1825 and 1858. The tales follow a fairly standard formula; most are about three to five pages long, with a happy ending for the hero or heroine. Notoriously, the demise of the fairytale villain is often brutal, giving nightmares to many a small child. Many of the stories first came into being in medieval times, when women were burned at the stake as witches and dark German forests were full of wolves and robbers. Baking a witch in her own oven (Hansel and Gretel) or dragging a servant girl to death in a barrel spiked with nails (The Goose Girl) seems harsh - but is only a reflection of the harsh practices of the time when they arose. Yet although the fairy stories retain many features of their folk tale originals, the Grimms weren't just collectors - they were meticulous editors and polishers, with a mission to accomplish. They thought of their work as an Erziehungsbuch (or educational manual) and to ensure that the tales were suitable for young minds, they made numerous revisions of the originals; you can even track a 'cleaning-up' process through the subsequent editions. Sexual content and bawdy passages were gradually weeded out by Wilhelm Grimm, who took principal charge of the editing in later editions (ready for a new challenge, his brother Jacob had turned his attentions to compiling the German Dictionary by then). In the edited versions, cruel mothers become nasty stepmothers, and unmarried lovers become chaste companions. The premarital couplings of Rapunzel and her prince were edited out. The Frog King wants the princess with the golden ball to be a playmate in later versions of the story, while in the original it is clear that he wants to be taken home for sex. Other bourgeois morals of the nineteenth century were added to the stories, too. Christian motifs were included, and gender roles were emphasized. Keep your promises, don't talk to strangers, work hard, stay chaste, and someday your prince will come, the tales tell us. Yet at the same time as Wilhelm Grimm imbued the fairy stories of the Small Edition with contemporary morals and values, he also pared the tales down to free them from any particular place or time ('es war einmal....'). The crystalline structure that resulted from his labours has influenced the writing of fairy tales to this day, and the Grimm tales themselves have been absorbed effortlessly into many different cultures - they feel like anywhere's folklore. Indeed, according to Frau Dr. Barbara Gobrecht, chairwoman of the Swiss Fairytale Association, the culture of fairytales in Switzerland today is based mostly on the 'Grimmsche Märchen.' The tales are adapted to fit their local contexts, and are told in regional Swiss dialects. Famous Swiss storytellers include Silvia Studer-Frangi, who tells her stories in 'Zürich-Deutsch' and Paul Strahl, who represents 'Basel-Deutsch'. The stories have also lent themselves to numerous critical readings and re-writings. The dreamlike quality of the fairy tales has made them a happy hunting ground for Freudian critics, while American critic and fairy tale translator Professor Jack Zipes sees the fairy story as a space where we can express our 'utopian longings.' Some critics have found feminist potential in the stories, although many more have highlighted their patriarchal nature. From the nineteenth century onwards, parodies of the fairy tales in the Small Edition have abounded. The tales have been revised from socialist and feminist standpoints. These rewrites have ranged from serious satire to joyous farce (remember Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes?). The Weimar Republic in particular saw the Grimm legacy being pulled in many different ideological directions. Socialist writers such as Robert Grötzsch, Oskar Maria Graf and Bruno Schönlank politicised the fairy tale, drawing on its utopian potential to create tales of hope, where suffering paved the way to a more egalitarian society. But increasingly, fairy stories by the Grimms (and by Hauff, Bechstein and Andersen) were appropriated to support the national-socialist ideology. By the Nazi period, progressive versions of fairy tales were outlawed, and the utopian tendencies of the fairy tale were harnessed to glorify the Third Reich. (Jack Zipes gives an interesting account of this era in his Fairy Tales and Fables from Weimar Days, which includes translations of many of the stories.) The Nazi appropriation of the Grimm tales even led to their publication being banned by the Allies for a brief period after the war. But it would be unfair to link these glittering little crystals with any one ideology or perspective. Like the wicked stepmother in Snow White who craves reassurance from her mirror, we come to the Grimm fairy tales to have our own desires reflected. Beguiling, charming, and certainly not artless, who knows what the tales will cast back at us? Clare Bowerman is a freelance writer and editor who lives in London. In Autumn 2004 Carl Hanser Verlag will be publishing a new version of the Grimm fairy tales, Zaubermärchen. The book includes all of the above stories, telling of Cinderella and her little glass slipper, Jack and his magic beans, the three musicians of Bremen and many other well-known characters. The stories are illustrated with charming full-page pictures by the German illustrator, Henriette Sauvant. Each new story is introduced with a miniature picture, and the sketches of hard-working dwarfs, cunning frogs and shimmering crowns bring the details of the tales to life. With their beautiful colours and flowing lines, Sauvant's pictures capture the magic of the Grimms' stories. For rights enquiries please contact Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich (brans@hanser.de).