J. K.

Rowling

THE TALES OF BEEDLE THE

BARD
 TITLE OF THE LITERARY
WORK:
The Tales of Beedle the Bard
WRITER: Joanne Kathleen
Rowling
GENRE: Fantasy
LITERARY FORM: Collection
of Short Stories
Getting to Know the Writer
 Joanne Rowling (born July 31, 1965),
who goes by the pen name J.K.
Rowling, is a British author and
screenwriter best known for her
seven-book Harry Potter children's
book series.
 J.K. Rowling was living in Edinburgh,
Scotland, and struggling to get by as
a single mom before her first
book, Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer's Stone, was published.
 Getting to Know the Writer
The children's fantasy novel
became an international hit and
Rowling became an international
literary sensation in 1999 when the
first three installments of Harry
Potter took over the top three slots
of The New York Times best-seller
list after achieving similar success
in her native United Kingdom.
 Getting to Know the Writer
The series has sold more than
450 million copies and was adapted
into a blockbuster film franchise.
Rowling published the novel The
Casual Vacancy in 2012, followed
by the crime novel Cuckoo
Calling under the pen name Robert
Galbraith in 2013. In 2016, she
released a play, Harry Potter and
the Cursed Child, and a
movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where
to Find Them.
 The Harry Potter
Series
 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (26 June, 1997)
 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2 July, 1998)
 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (8 July, 1999)
 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (8 July, 2000)
 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (21 June, 2003)
 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (16 July, 2005)
 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (21 July, 2007)
 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (31 July, 2016)
The Context of the Literary Work
The book was published for the general public on
December 4, 2008, with the proceeds going to the
Children's High Level Group (renamed Lumos in
2010)
The Context of the Literary Work
Rowling started writing the book soon after
finishing work on the seventh Harry
Potter novel. During an interview with
her fandom she also stated that she used
other books as a source of inspiration for the
tales. More specifically, "The Tale of the
Three Brothers", the only story included
entirely in The Deathly Hallows, was
inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer's "The
Pardoner's Tale" from The Canterbury Tales.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a Wizarding classic,
first came to Muggle readers’ attention in the book
known as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard consists of five short
stories which are, “The Wizard and the Hopping
Pot”, “The Fountain of Fair Fortune”, “The
Warlock's Hairy Heart”, “Babbitty Rabbitty and
her Cackling Stump”, and “The Tale of the Three
Brothers”.
SUMMARY /
PLOT
“No man or woman alive, magical EXCERPT
or not, has ever escaped some S
form of injury, whether physical,
mental, or emotional. To hurt is as
human as to breathe.”
- J.K. Rowling (The Warlock’s
Heart)
This explains that experiencing
pain is a very human
characteristic.
“Clever as I am, I remain just as big a fool as anyone
else.”
 Albus Dumbledore

 (The Tale of the Three Brothers)

This quote was taken from his review on the tale of

the three brothers. He implies that he is more tempted
on the objects given to the first and second brothers
than the third brother. It can also be seen as his
admittance to the temptation of human greed.
 “Death comes for us all in the end.” 
 Albus Dumbledore

 (The Tale of the Three Brothers)

This is very self-explanatory. It is common sense that

every living thing must end given their own time. We
have no escape from death.
 This statement of Rowling makes
this book differ from the other
fairytales. Since the muggle’s
fairytales, like sleeping beauty or
beauty and the beast, makes magic as a
power who only creates unhappiness,
the tales of Beedle the bard are
fairytales that makes justification in
using magic for good or for evil.

“Magic causes as much trouble as it cures.”

― J.K. Rowling, The Tales of Beedle the Bard
 WHAT MAKES THIS WORK “LITERATURE?”
The Tales of Beedle the Bard has the quality which appeals to our
sense of beauty since it provides an original collection of wondrous
and beautiful, cruel and magical tales. The book provides stimulations
in the imagination and makes the readers see views of the magical
world. The book also has the quality of suggestiveness since it
enables the readers to feel different emotions in the five stories.
When the HP series was deemed as most popular, this book has the
quality of universality since it appeals to all. This book would be
considered as a new style of fairytales in contrast to the classic
fairytales like Cinderella and the like.