The Science Of Fairy Tales

Fairy tale is an English language term for a type of short narrative corresponding to the French phrase conte de f'ee, the German term M"archen, the Italian fiaba, the Polish ba's'n or the Swedish saga. Only a small number of the stories thus designated explicitly refer to fairies. Nonetheless, the stories may be distinguished from other folk narratives such as legends and traditions (which generally involve belief in the veracity of the events described) and explicitly moral tales, including beast fables. Fairy tales typically feature such folkloric characters as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. Often the story will involve a far-fetched sequence of events. In less technical contexts, the term is also used to describe something blessed with unusual happiness, as in "fairy tale ending" or "fairy tale romance" (though not all fairy tales end happily). Colloquially, a "fairy tale" or "fairy story" can also mean any far-fetched story or tall tale. In cultures where demons and witches are perceived as real, fairy tales may merge into legends, where the narrative is perceived both by teller and hearers as being grounded in historical truth. However, unlike legends and epics, they usually do not contain more than superficial references to religion and actual places, people, and events they take place once upon a time rather than in actual times. Fairy tales are found in oral and in literary form. The history of the fairy tale is particularly difficult to trace, because only the literary forms can survive. Still, the evidence of literary works at least indicates that fairy tales have existed for thousands of years, although not perhaps recognized as a genre the name "fairy tale" was first ascribed to them by Madame d'Aulnoy. Many of today's fairy tales have evolved from centuries-old stories that have appeared, with variations, in multiple cultures around the world. Fairy tales, and works derived from fairy tales, are still written today. The older fairy tales were intended for an audience of adults as well as children, but they were associated with children as early as the writings of the pr'ecieuses the Brothers Grimm titled their collection Children's and Household Tales, and the link with children has only grown stronger with time. Folklorists have classified fairy tales in various ways. Among the most notable are the Aarne-Thompson classification system and the morphological analysis of Vladimir Propp. Other folklorists have interpreted the tales' significance, but no school has been definitively established for the meaning of the tales.

About the author

Edwin Sidney Hartland (1848-1927) was an author of works on folklore.

Edwin Sidney Hartland's works include anthologies of tales, and theories on anthropology and mythology with an ethnological perspective. He believed that the assembling and study of persistent and widespread folklore provided a scientific insight into custom and belief. Hartland was president of the Folklore Society, 1899-1901, and contributed to its journal Folk-Lore; his earlier contributions included a dispute with Andrew Lang.

Hartland was born in Islington, eventually making his career as a solicitor in Swansea. His father, E. J. Hartland, was a congregational minister. Throughout his life he served in many judicial positions and on public committees in Swansea and at Gloucester, and took a particular interest in education.

Edwin Sidney Hartland's partial Bibliography:

- Ritual and Belief; Studies in the History of Religion
- Mythology and folktales; their relation and interpretation
- Primitive paternity; the myth of supernatural birth in relation to the history of the family
- The Science of Fairy Tales An Inquiry into Fairy Mythology
- Primitive society, the beginnings of the family & the reckoning of descent
- The science of fairy tales; an inquiry into fairy mythology
- The legend of Perseus; a study of tradition in story, custom and belief
- English fairy and other folk tales
- The evolution of kinship; an African study
- The legend of St. Kenelm
- The archaeology of tradition : an address to a meeting of the members of the Society held at Gloucester, 9th March, 1904
- Primitive Society
- The Matrilineate Again
- County Folk-lore
- Popular Studies in Mythology, Romance & Folklore

Source: wikipedia.org, archive.org