Reading Notes - Grimm Fairytales (Ashliman, Reading A)

I read the Grimm Fairytales (Ashliman) and, while they were obviously familiar there were definitely some differences in tone that I noticed. For example, they either don't end happily ever after or they do, but either way there's a certain about of gore. In two separate stories a wolf's stomach was cut open with scissors, and living characters escape his belly then fill his stomach with rocks and sew him back up just in time for the wolf to meet his demise. 2 different stories with that exact same trope! That's wild.

There were also stories that I'd never heard of, like The 7 Ravens. I'd never read that story before but it was very trippy. A brief synopsis: 
Seven sons, accidentally cursed to turn into ravens by their father, are eventually rescued by their once-sickly sister, who was indirectly responsible for their curse. She frees them from the glass mountain with the help of their dwarf-butler, despite the fact that she lost the magic chicken bone given to her by the stars--the only non-carnivorous heavenly bodies.
Like what? But also, I would totally watch this if it was like a Tim Burton movie. 

Then there are the morals that are in the stories, both overt and subtle. In Little Red Cap (Little Red Riding Hood), the moral is "Listen to your mother or you and your grandmother will be eaten by a wolf." In "Old Sultan," the moral is basically "Don't count out the underdog." I thought "Old Sultan" was weird though, because the wolf helps a dog avoid being killed by his master for being old but then the dog refuses to help the wolf steal just one sheep in return because he's loyal to his master. The same master that wanted him dead just for being old. It's such a turn around from Native American stories, because obviously one would expect reciprocity in friendship, and I don't think that loyalty to a cruel master would be the focus just because one is a dog and one is a human. But whatever. 

The Grimm Fairytales are very well-known, and for good reason. You could make them much darker with hardly any work, or you can make them much cleaner and lighter--like the story of The Elves (and the Shoe-maker) or Red Riding Hood or Rumplestiltskin. 

"Rumplestiltskin" by Helena via Flickr