Finding hundreds of new fairy tales is an awesome way to start the week:
“A whole new world of magic animals, brave young princes and evil witches has come to light with the discovery of 500 new fairytales, which were locked away in an archive in Regensburg, Germany for over 150 years. The tales are part of a collection of myths, legends and fairytales, gathered by the local historian Franz Xaver von Schönwerth (1810–1886) in the Bavarian region of Oberpfalz at about the same time as the Grimm brothers were collecting the fairytales that have since charmed adults and children around the world.”
I am so into this kind of thing. When I was in high school I wrote a paper on the Grimm brothers and their connection to German nationalism. (And kind of had fun writing it.) Now we have more folk tales and verbal history/culture to talk about*? So cool!
*ie, to inspire more YA novels. (via bookshelves of doom) (image: Gustave Dore, via SurLaLune)
I’m excited too! Are they going to publish a collection or something?
It looks like there was a selection of the tales published in Germany: http://www.amazon.de/M%C3%A4rchen-Oberpfalz-Herausgegeben-Eichenseer-Sch%C3%B6nwerth-Gesellschaft/dp/3936721351/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330679409&sr=8-1
Not sure if there’s a planned English translation. But if you can read German and get a copy, let us know how it is!
Unfortunately, I have absolutely zero language skills. I’ll have to cross my fingers some other translating talent is as enthusiastic as us!
I am so excited to read this. I hope they publish an english version. That would be amazing.
I hope so too! Even a selection would be great.
This is really neat. I think mostly what I love about fairy tales and mythology stories is how they reflect the cultures that told them. New material for fairy tale rewrites is a bonus, too. 😛
Definitely agree on the cultural aspect; it adds so many layers to the stories.