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The Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm and their Medieval Background
Author(s) -
Classen Albrecht
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the german quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.11
H-Index - 10
eISSN - 1756-1183
pISSN - 0016-8831
DOI - 10.1111/gequ.12173
Subject(s) - folklore , aside , middle ages , literature , creatures , politics , monarchy , history , trace (psycholinguistics) , medieval literature , art , philosophy , ancient history , natural (archaeology) , law , linguistics , archaeology , political science
It has long been accepted that fairy tales somehow trace their roots in pre‐modern culture and folklore. But we are rather unclear about what would constitute the historical dimension in those tales. Leaving psychological or gender‐oriented methodologies aside, this article takes a fresh look at the fairy tales by the Grimms and examines critically to what extent they contain more or less authentic material connecting them specifically with the Middle Ages and our understanding of that age today. There are many elements in the tales predicated on medieval culture and social‐political conditions, such as kingship, castles, princesses and princes, knights, etc. But then there are also many mysterious and magical creatures and objects that have appealed to audiences young and old, whether they are direct borrowings from the pre‐modern world or not. Some of those, along with many motifs, were obviously directly borrowed from medieval literature.