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Folklorists Iona and Peter Opie indicate in The Classic Fairy Tales (1974) that
"Hansel and Gretel" belongs to a group of European tales especially popular in t
he Baltic regions, about children outwitting ogres into whose hands they have in
voluntarily fallen. The tale bears resemblances to the first half of Charles Per
rault's "Hop-o'-My-Thumb" (1697) and Madame d'Aulnoy's "Finette Cendron" (1721).
In both tales, the Opies note, abandoned children find their way home by follow
ing a trail. In "Clever Cinders", the Opies observe that the heroine incinerates
a giant by shoving him into an oven in a manner similar to Gretel's dispatch of
the witch and they point out that a ruse involving a twig in a Swedish tale res
embles Hansel's trick of the dry bone. Linguist and folklorist Edward Vajda has
proposed that these stories represent the remnant of a coming-of-age rite-of-pas
sage tale extant in Proto-Indo-European society.[5][6] A house made of confectio
nery is found in a 14th-century manuscript about the Land of Cockayne.[1]
The fact that the mother or stepmother dies when the children have killed the wi
tch has suggested to many commentators that the mother or stepmother and the wit
ch are metaphorically the same woman.[7] A Russian folk tale exists in which the
evil stepmother (also the wife of a poor woodcutter) asks her hated stepdaughte
r to go into the forest to borrow a light from her sister, who turns out to be B
aba Yaga, who is also a cannibalistic witch. Besides highlighting the endangerme
nt of children (as well as their own cleverness), the tales have in common a pre
occupation with food and with hurting children: the mother or stepmother wants t
o avoid hunger, while the witch lures children to eat her house of candy so that
she can then eat them.[8] Another tale of this type is the French fairy tale Th
e Lost Children.[9] The Brothers Grimm also identified the French Finette Cendro
n and Hop o' My Thumb as parallel stories.[10]
In Grimm's Fairy Tales this story is called Roland and May-Bird.[11][non-primary
source needed] The Brothers Grimm story called Hansel and Gretel tells a quite
different tale: Since their mother died and their father remarried, Hansel and h
is sister Gretel decided to run away to try their fortune in the world. As they
enter a wood their cruel step-mother (who is also an evil fairy) enchants stream
s in the forest to turn Hansel and Gretel into animals. At Gretel's warning Hans
el avoids the first and second streams (which would have turned him into a wolf
or tiger respectively), but is too thirsty to resist the third, which turns him
into a fawn. They both wander on until they find an abandoned cottage, where the
y move in and make a life for themselves. One day a king and his men are hunting
in the forest and see Hansel. They give chase to him and eventually track him d
own to the cottage. The king enters and falls in love with Gretel, they get marr
ied and Hansel moves in with them. Gretel then tells the king of what has happen
ed and he punishes the fairy step-mother, which turns Hansel back into a human.[
12]
Cultural significance[edit]
Staatsoper Wien 2015
Hansel and Gretel's trail of breadcrumbs inspired the name of the navigation ele
ment "breadcrumbs" that allows users to keep track of their locations within pro
grams or documents.[13] The opera Hnsel und Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck is on
e of the most renowned operas, and is considered one of the most important Germa
n operas.[14]
See also[edit]
Children's literature portal
"Brother and Sister"
"Molly Whuppie"
References[edit]
Notes[edit]
Jump up ^ In German, the names are diminutives of Johannes ("John") and Margaret
e ("Margaret"), respectively
Citations[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b Opie & Opie 1974, p. 237
Jump up ^ Tatar (2002), p. 44
Jump up ^ Tatar (2002), p. 45
Jump up ^ Raedisch (2013), p. 180
Jump up ^ Vajda (2010)
Jump up ^ Vajda (2011)
Jump up ^ Lthi 1970, p. 64
Jump up ^ Tatar 2002, p. 54
Jump up ^ Delarue 1956, p. 365
Jump up ^ Tatar 2002, p. 72
Jump up ^ Brothers Grimm (1930), Grimm's Fairy Tales: Roland and May-Bird, Georg
e H. Doran Company
Jump up ^ Brothers Grimm (1930), Grimm's Fairy Tales: Hansel and Grettel, George
H. Doran Company
Jump up ^ Mark Levene (18 October 2010). An Introduction to Search Engines and W
eb Navigation (2nd ed.). Wiley. p. 221. ISBN 978-0470526842. Retrieved June 24,
2016.
Jump up ^ Upton, George Putnam (1897). The Standard Operas (Google book) (12th e
d.). Chicago: McClurg. pp. 125 129. ISBN 1-60303-367-X. Retrieved 15 October 2007.
Bibliography[edit]
Delarue, Paul (1956). The Borzoi Book of French Folk-Tales. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc
.
Lthi, Max (1970). Once Upon A Time: On the Nature of Fairy Tales. Frederick Ungar
Publishing Co.
Opie, Iona; Opie, Peter (1974). The Classic Fairy Tales. Oxford University Press
. ISBN 978-0-19-211559-1.
Raedisch, Linda (2013). The Old Magic of Christmas: Yuletide Traditions for the
Darkest Days of the Year. Llewellyn Worldwide.
Tatar, Maria (2002). The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales. BCA. ISBN 978-0-393-0516
3-6.
Vajda, Edward (26 May 2010). The Classic Russian Fairy Tale: More Than a Bedtime
Story (Speech). The World's Classics. Western Washington University.
Vajda, Edward (1 February 2011). The Russian Fairy Tale: Ancient Culture in a Mo
dern Context (Speech). Center for International Studies International Lecture Se
ries. Western Washington University.
External links[edit]
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Hansel and Gretel
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hansel and Gretel.
Project Gutenberg e-text
SurLaLune Fairy Tale Pages: The Annotated Hansel and Gretel
Original versions and psychological analysis of classic fairy tales, including H
ansel and Gretel
The Story of Hansel and Gretel
Collaboratively illustrated story on Project Bookses
A translation of the Grimm's Fairy Tale Hansel and Gretel
[show] v t e
The Brothers Grimm
[show] v t e
Hansel and Gretel
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GND: 4193296-1
Categories: Brothers GrimmCannibalism in fictionEuropean fairy talesLiterary duo
sChild characters in literatureFictional German peopleWitchcraft in fairy talesE
uropean folklore charactersHansel and Gretel
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