I absolutely LOVE this series your making, I've always been so passionate about fairy tale origins and meanings and having someone discussing it makes me very happy
the Nordic fairytale 'East of the Sun West of the moon' illustrated by Kay Nielsen is my favourite book of fairy tales I owned as a child. I know you have an appreciation for good illustrations, Kay Neilson is my favourite illustrator of all time, if you've not already seen it check him out, he's beautiful. I love these videos they are so interesting and Hansel and Gretel was the first story I ever learnt to read, (the gingerbread version of course) look forward to the next one thanks 😉
There's an adaptation of Hansel&Gretel in A Wild Swan and Other Tales as well! It doesn't have a whole lot to do with the historical background of the actual fairytale, but I like how it turns the story on its head.
I LOVE these videos. I was completely fascinated by the Black Forest in Germany as a kid, since a lot of the Grimm tales are centered around that. It's still very interesting to me. :) I can't wait for another one of these!
I love this series. And I had no idea that many children actually got lost in forests. That's just.....so strange that it happens. I'll look up all the articles you listed. Looking forward to the next one.
Great video Jen! The time you spend making amazing content is very appreciated. A while ago I was talking to one of my teachers abour fairy tales and he told me about an essay he read on the figure of the wicked step-mother. The essay was making the point that the death of the biological mother and her replacement by the step-mother are an allegory for the growing up of the children and their emancipation. That's why it's usually the "step-mother" who banishes them, just like some animals do to their little ones when they have to learn to survive on their own. I found that very interesting and it deffinitely makes sense.
I think it also has a lot to do with the importance of the family unit, and the sanctity of childhood, too, which was extremely important in Victorian times (well, it's important anyway, but rules and regulations and family hierarchy was a particularly big deal then). That's when it morphed from being the mother banishing children to the stepmother (in Hansel and Gretel and other stories), so it was almost a respectful distance from the 'traditional' family unit. But having a parent, in general, sending them off, definitely is a mark of being thrust out of innocence. It's like Philip Pullman says: "As Jane Austen might have put it: It is a truth universally acknowledged that young protagonists in search of adventure must ditch their parents."
I have the True Story of Hanzel and Gretel too! I haven't read it yet but I find fairy tales fascinating and also World War II. Yay. These fairy tale history videos are amazing. I'm so obsessed.
Hi, Jen. Wonderful as always. My husband, a biologist, also loved this one. I left a comment on your Rapunzel video. And have been thinking about the role of weaving and spinning in fairy tales. Noticed thst the dates for a few Rapunzel stories were the 1600's ...when the Beguine movement was powerful in France and Belgium. An outgrowth of their values was that womwn became financially independent via weaving, embroidery, calligraphy and pastoral support of the sick and dying. My mond goes toward the growing resentment against them as they became competators for the guilds, and were independant of church governance. Just thinking the negative portrayals of independant widows or single women in 1609's versions of fairy tales might be connected to real problems women faced then. Would like to hear from you if possible.
Absolutely fascinating!! I love this series of videos! Looking forward to more! I would be really interested to hear about the history of The Little Mermaid as well.. xx
i really enjoy story time :) The way you tell the fairy tale is so engaging that I actually gasped and said "oh, he's going to eat his daughters!" (as if i'd never read any of those tales when i was a child). Thank you for doing this series!
Such a great video. You are a wonderful storyteller. I've also read that one thing that shaped the story of Hansel and Gretel was Brothers Grimm relationship between each others. Their father died when boys were very young. When they were about 9 their mother sent them away to Kassel to study. Boys had very good relationship with their mom (like you said in your video that is why they changed mother into stepmother). I guess they felt they were abandoned by their family and when this happened they pledged to each others never to leave one's side. So their relationship was very similar to Hansel and Gretel.
Combined with these videos, you remind me so much of my Fairytales/Folklores professor. She was one of the best professors I ever had. Thanks for all your hard work and the amount of research you put into these videos! :)
Absolutely loving this series! I loved fairy tales as a child and insisted that my mum (to her horror) read all the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales to me. Only now as an adult, do I realise how messed up fairy tales are!! - No wonder mum didn't like reading them to me, particularly before bed!
Just discovered your videos a couple of weeks ago Jen and I'm already hurtling through them! Have always found fairytales so interesting and am really enjoying this series! Thank you!
This was so interesting! And the story about the Japanese boy who was left in the forest by his parents makes me a shiver a bit... o.o I've been behind on my TH-cam subscriptions, but I've been excited to watch this since it popped up in my inbox a month ago, and I'm glad I finally got around to it. :)
Looooving this series! Keep these videos coming! They are so informative and well researched (and VERY well presented!).Hansel and Gretel was one of my favourite stories as a child. :) And PLEASE do a video about the deformity/evil theme! It's about time someone got this conversation started.
14:57 I can sort of explain this one. In Japan, one common way of disciplining a misbehaving child is making the kid stand facing the front door outside or outside in general (like in a park or a forest) for a long period of time. It's pretty much like a Time Out in western cultures. It might sound harsh, but usually children are taught to say put and the parents watch over the kid or know where they are, so the kid is usually safe. My guess is that the kid wandered off while being punished in a similar fashion. As for the rest of this, it's an interesting video and fascinating as usual.
Yeah. As a Japanese person I could relate. A lot of people think it’s harsh but japan is safer than America. No gun violence and stuff. The kids also knows to stay put and people in America say it’s abuse but it’s not bad.
Some of my friends are doing an extended essay topic at Oxford on fairytales and have recommended this series with multiple exclamation marks for them to watch! Is also pretttyyyyy useful for me but I'm going to do the more general 'Children's Literature' paper rather than 'Fairytales.' FUN AND INFORMATIVE, GO JEN!
I'm loving this series of yours so much I'm even thinking about studying fairy tales in college now! Thank you for such high quality content Jen! Love from Brazil :)
Brilliant video!! So interesting to hear how the tale changed up to present day.....I wonder if it will change again in the next 100 years or so...would be interesting to stick around and find out......lol...X
This video is wonderful! I'm going to have to watch this whole series! I love that you dropped in the short review of the Tale of Tales movie. I have been unsure if I should watch it. One of my professors has focused her career on Basile, and she just published a new translation of The Tale of Tales this year. She's pretty great, so if anyone is looking for more on Basile, I'd suggest looking up Nancy Canepa!
I absolutely LOVE that you researched real life kids wandering off into the woods and disappearing... spooky. Also I just read a Finnish tale similar to the seven daughters getting their heads chopped off- its called The Devil's Hide and I'm reading it in the collection Mighty Mikko: A Book of Finnish Fairy Tales and Folk Tales by Jay Van Everen and Parker Fillmore. These videos are so great because I love learning the history of fairy tales but often don't know how to jump in to researching them. Thank you for making them!
Hey Jen, I absolutely adore your videos, and I hope we can get a video about the witches living in forests really soon as witchcraft literature is a passion of mine :) xx
This was absolutely fascinating, thanks Jen! I'm actually reading The Complete Grimms Fairytales at the moment so this came at the prefect time for me.
Love this, Jen! I understand how a person can have a thought and get lost for hours researching it, finding a connection and then researching that, which leads to... Yes, me too! If there is a job where we can have random thoughts or ask unusual questions and research all of the connecting dots, please let me know and I'll come work with you.
I absolutely love all your videos and books. The latest book I’ve already bought three copies so my friends and I can chat about the wonderful stories. Thank you for all your hard work!!
The rare time I want to watch a film and of course Tale of Tales is not showing anywhere near me. I love your videos but these fairytale ones are my favourite. I read Gretel and the dark a few months ago, same opinion as you.
You're wonderful! Thanks for doing the hard work that obviously went into this video. I've never given a second thought to fairy tales and have even kind of rolled my eyes at them, but THIS was amazing! I think now I realize Disney has spoiled them and that true fairy tales are much more complicated and interesting. Thank you again!! I sssooo appreciate it!
Though Disney, much like the Grimm's, has been quite generous their revisionism of fairy tales, one of the great things about "true fairy tales" is that there is no such thing. This might not be the universal consensus but certainly when I studied fairy tales one of the first things we were told is "if you can identify one author wholly originating the story, it's not a true fairy tale". Fairy tales are made up of their time, their teller, and their audience, and are always changing and adapting. They may not always change for the better, like your example of Disney, but I find some comfort in the knowledge that no one telling is gospel, and soon enough it will change again.
I love this series, can't wait till the next one! Have you read Hansel's Eyes? It's a short story in Garth Nix's collection Across the Wall and it was always one of my favourites in the collection - a really creepy urban retelling of Hansel and Gretel where the witch deals children's organs. It's short and easy to read and a really interesting retelling, I think. Love to know what you thought of it too!
I Love this!! I just bought a book you recommended "The Fairy-Tale Princess: Seven Classic Stories from the Enchanted Forest" What a beautiful book. Thank You.
Adore this series Jen! Quick question, has there ever been a version of Hansel and Gretel (or a story similar) where the mother/stepmother ends up doubling as the witch? I remember as a child I always used to think that the evil stepmother was also the witch in the gingerbread house trying to get rid of Hansel and Gretel for good. A lot of the versions when Hansel and Gretel return from the house, the stepmother is gone, so it's always perplexed me.
+Charmedfan2010 yes, that's alluded to a lot, the stepmother often dies at the same time as the witch. It's not explicit but I like to think of it as similar to Mr Darling/Captain Hook - in the stage notes, JM Barrie states that these characters must be played by the same person.
Have you read the novel Kindergarten by Peter Rushforth? It incorporates a very dark Holocaust retelling of Hansel and Gretel. I absolutely love this series!
I love your videos, they are brilliant! the fairytale/history ones are my favourite ones! :D I think you might like book by the German historian Wolfgang Behringer on climate ('A Cultural History of Climate') and it's influence on society (medieval and early modern especially), and 'Landscapes of Fear' book by Vito Fumagalli.
I love love LOVE your videos! I also truly enjoy the bibliography as I am also doing research on these topics! However, I wish you would talk a little bit more slowly! But overall, amazing topic!
"We've all been there," hahaha. Love the sarcasm.
The part of the ogre killing his daughters: jaw dropped ('O')
I absolutely love the interesting facts of Hansel and Gretel history.
I'm totally in love with this series ❤️
x
I absolutely LOVE this series your making, I've always been so passionate about fairy tale origins and meanings and having someone discussing it makes me very happy
the Nordic fairytale 'East of the Sun West of the moon' illustrated by Kay Nielsen is my favourite book of fairy tales I owned as a child. I know you have an appreciation for good illustrations, Kay Neilson is my favourite illustrator of all time, if you've not already seen it check him out, he's beautiful.
I love these videos they are so interesting and Hansel and Gretel was the first story I ever learnt to read, (the gingerbread version of course)
look forward to the next one thanks 😉
There's an adaptation of Hansel&Gretel in A Wild Swan and Other Tales as well! It doesn't have a whole lot to do with the historical background of the actual fairytale, but I like how it turns the story on its head.
This is brilliant. You are brilliant. Thanks Jen!!
I LOVE these videos. I was completely fascinated by the Black Forest in Germany as a kid, since a lot of the Grimm tales are centered around that. It's still very interesting to me. :) I can't wait for another one of these!
I love this series. And I had no idea that many children actually got lost in forests. That's just.....so strange that it happens. I'll look up all the articles you listed. Looking forward to the next one.
Great video Jen! The time you spend making amazing content is very appreciated.
A while ago I was talking to one of my teachers abour fairy tales and he told me about an essay he read on the figure of the wicked step-mother. The essay was making the point that the death of the biological mother and her replacement by the step-mother are an allegory for the growing up of the children and their emancipation. That's why it's usually the "step-mother" who banishes them, just like some animals do to their little ones when they have to learn to survive on their own. I found that very interesting and it deffinitely makes sense.
I think it also has a lot to do with the importance of the family unit, and the sanctity of childhood, too, which was extremely important in Victorian times (well, it's important anyway, but rules and regulations and family hierarchy was a particularly big deal then). That's when it morphed from being the mother banishing children to the stepmother (in Hansel and Gretel and other stories), so it was almost a respectful distance from the 'traditional' family unit. But having a parent, in general, sending them off, definitely is a mark of being thrust out of innocence. It's like Philip Pullman says: "As Jane Austen might have put it: It is a truth universally acknowledged that young protagonists in search of adventure must ditch their parents."
Hansel & Gretel was one of my most favourite fairytales when I was a child! Thank you so much for sharing this video with us ^-^
You're welcome! x
I always look forward to these videos. I haven't been in to Fairy Tales until listening to you talk about them.
I love this series so much! You are so brilliant! Thank you so much for these videos!
I love this series! Thank you!
That intro with the 'bloody malicious bitch' is just plain bloody hilarious! Thanks for the morning giggle, Jen :-)
I love these!!! Please don't stop making them. They are amazing!
I have the True Story of Hanzel and Gretel too! I haven't read it yet but I find fairy tales fascinating and also World War II. Yay. These fairy tale history videos are amazing. I'm so obsessed.
This series is awesome. I love learning about all of the origins and social reasoning behind fairy tales! Thanks for making them!
Hi, Jen. Wonderful as always. My husband, a biologist, also loved this one. I left a comment on your Rapunzel video. And have been thinking about the role of weaving and spinning in fairy tales. Noticed thst the dates for a few Rapunzel stories were the 1600's ...when the Beguine movement was powerful in France and Belgium. An outgrowth of their values was that womwn became financially independent via weaving, embroidery, calligraphy and pastoral support of the sick and dying. My mond goes toward the growing resentment against them as they became competators for the guilds, and were independant of church governance. Just thinking the negative portrayals of independant widows or single women in 1609's versions of fairy tales might be connected to real problems women faced then. Would like to hear from you if possible.
I find so much joy from watching these videos.
I'm glad ^_^
Absolutely fascinating!! I love this series of videos! Looking forward to more! I would be really interested to hear about the history of The Little Mermaid as well.. xx
Super excited to see the discussion video about witches in the woods. Love learning new things!
I feel so smart, learning about the background of all these fairytales we think we know. Nicely done, Jen :)
i really enjoy story time :) The way you tell the fairy tale is so engaging that I actually gasped and said "oh, he's going to eat his daughters!" (as if i'd never read any of those tales when i was a child). Thank you for doing this series!
I absolutely love these videos!
thank you x
Such a great video. You are a wonderful storyteller. I've also read that one thing that shaped the story of Hansel and Gretel was Brothers Grimm relationship between each others. Their father died when boys were very young. When they were about 9 their mother sent them away to Kassel to study. Boys had very good relationship with their mom (like you said in your video that is why they changed mother into stepmother). I guess they felt they were abandoned by their family and when this happened they pledged to each others never to leave one's side. So their relationship was very similar to Hansel and Gretel.
Combined with these videos, you remind me so much of my Fairytales/Folklores professor. She was one of the best professors I ever had. Thanks for all your hard work and the amount of research you put into these videos! :)
This series is so wonderful!
Absolutely loving this series! I loved fairy tales as a child and insisted that my mum (to her horror) read all the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales to me. Only now as an adult, do I realise how messed up fairy tales are!! - No wonder mum didn't like reading them to me, particularly before bed!
Love this. Really interested in forest and witches in the woods!
Just discovered your videos a couple of weeks ago Jen and I'm already hurtling through them! Have always found fairytales so interesting and am really enjoying this series! Thank you!
Absolutely love this series!
This was so interesting! And the story about the Japanese boy who was left in the forest by his parents makes me a shiver a bit... o.o I've been behind on my TH-cam subscriptions, but I've been excited to watch this since it popped up in my inbox a month ago, and I'm glad I finally got around to it. :)
I was looking forward to this, thank you and as always you do not disappoint.
Looooving this series! Keep these videos coming! They are so informative and well researched (and VERY well presented!).Hansel and Gretel was one of my favourite stories as a child. :)
And PLEASE do a video about the deformity/evil theme! It's about time someone got this conversation started.
I really love all of your videos but this series in particular is so interesting. Thank you for putting the time in because these are most excellent!
FABBBBBBBBULOUS VIDEO! So fun and interesting. Thanks soooooo much!
14:57 I can sort of explain this one. In Japan, one common way of disciplining a misbehaving child is making the kid stand facing the front door outside or outside in general (like in a park or a forest) for a long period of time. It's pretty much like a Time Out in western cultures. It might sound harsh, but usually children are taught to say put and the parents watch over the kid or know where they are, so the kid is usually safe. My guess is that the kid wandered off while being punished in a similar fashion.
As for the rest of this, it's an interesting video and fascinating as usual.
Yeah. As a Japanese person I could relate. A lot of people think it’s harsh but japan is safer than America. No gun violence and stuff. The kids also knows to stay put and people in America say it’s abuse but it’s not bad.
I absolutely adore these videos! So informative, magical and somewhat disturbing? Thanks so much jen!! 💕
Some of my friends are doing an extended essay topic at Oxford on fairytales and have recommended this series with multiple exclamation marks for them to watch! Is also pretttyyyyy useful for me but I'm going to do the more general 'Children's Literature' paper rather than 'Fairytales.' FUN AND INFORMATIVE, GO JEN!
Haha, thank you :) x
Such an interesting video. Thanks Jen!
I'm loving this series of yours so much I'm even thinking about studying fairy tales in college now! Thank you for such high quality content Jen! Love from Brazil :)
Thank you very much :) x
Brilliant video!! So interesting to hear how the tale changed up to present day.....I wonder if it will change again in the next 100 years or so...would be interesting to stick around and find out......lol...X
Such crazy wit, Jenn! I knew those fairytales before but it's so fun to hear you retell them. Please make more. I love all the research you did.
This video is wonderful! I'm going to have to watch this whole series! I love that you dropped in the short review of the Tale of Tales movie. I have been unsure if I should watch it. One of my professors has focused her career on Basile, and she just published a new translation of The Tale of Tales this year. She's pretty great, so if anyone is looking for more on Basile, I'd suggest looking up Nancy Canepa!
Yes, finally another fairy tale history video!
best series ever
Love love love this series, thanks Jen!!
Thank you :)
I absolutely LOVE that you researched real life kids wandering off into the woods and disappearing... spooky. Also I just read a Finnish tale similar to the seven daughters getting their heads chopped off- its called The Devil's Hide and I'm reading it in the collection Mighty Mikko: A Book of Finnish Fairy Tales and Folk Tales by Jay Van Everen and Parker Fillmore. These videos are so great because I love learning the history of fairy tales but often don't know how to jump in to researching them. Thank you for making them!
Hey Jen, I absolutely adore your videos, and I hope we can get a video about the witches living in forests really soon as witchcraft literature is a passion of mine :) xx
it's not something that I have planned for the near future, but will get to it at some point. :)
This was absolutely fascinating, thanks Jen! I'm actually reading The Complete Grimms Fairytales at the moment so this came at the prefect time for me.
I love love love this series!!!!
This is an amazing series! So interesting and well researched. I can't wait for the rest :D
thank you x
Love this, Jen! I understand how a person can have a thought and get lost for hours researching it, finding a connection and then researching that, which leads to... Yes, me too! If there is a job where we can have random thoughts or ask unusual questions and research all of the connecting dots, please let me know and I'll come work with you.
Sounds like you might want to go do a fully funded PhD in folklore ;) x
"Fairy Tales With Jen" is LIFE!! Loving this series
I adore you. That is all.
Me too Jen I love you too 💕😍
I absolutely love all your videos and books. The latest book I’ve already bought three copies so my friends and I can chat about the wonderful stories. Thank you for all your hard work!!
Thanks, Kat x
I slowly became a bookworm. i love it. Thanks Jen love your vids X
This was so good! Thank you for all your hard work.
Thank you so much for these videos! I am learning so much.
Fantastic, I'm loving this series so much! You're such an entertaining speaker and I'm thoroughly enjoying learning more about fairy tales :)
I love your content so much Jen!
The rare time I want to watch a film and of course Tale of Tales is not showing anywhere near me. I love your videos but these fairytale ones are my favourite. I read Gretel and the dark a few months ago, same opinion as you.
Love, love this series...binge watching in 2020. As you do :)
I love these videos! They're fascinating!
You are great! Thank you for all your research!
Thank you so much for doing this! :')
I live for these videos
This was super interesting! Thank you for doing it :)
There's a hill where my grandma lives in Amersham called Gore Hill, and it's one they used to push people down inside barrels with nails hammered in!
Very cool videos.
I got the complete Grimm's Fairy Tales. l💖ving it and this series 💗 Thank Jen.
Nice video. Thanks for sharing!
Fascinating stuff! I'd never really considered the time that goes into producing a TH-cam video, I take my hat off to you! :)
these stories are fascinating........
You're wonderful! Thanks for doing the hard work that obviously went into this video. I've never given a second thought to fairy tales and have even kind of rolled my eyes at them, but THIS was amazing! I think now I realize Disney has spoiled them and that true fairy tales are much more complicated and interesting. Thank you again!! I sssooo appreciate it!
Though Disney, much like the Grimm's, has been quite generous their revisionism of fairy tales, one of the great things about "true fairy tales" is that there is no such thing. This might not be the universal consensus but certainly when I studied fairy tales one of the first things we were told is "if you can identify one author wholly originating the story, it's not a true fairy tale". Fairy tales are made up of their time, their teller, and their audience, and are always changing and adapting. They may not always change for the better, like your example of Disney, but I find some comfort in the knowledge that no one telling is gospel, and soon enough it will change again.
Yes - I discussed this in the first episode :) x
wonderful .interesting .
Brilliant video, thank you for your hard work
Loved this - Such Fun.
I love this!
I love this series, can't wait till the next one! Have you read Hansel's Eyes? It's a short story in Garth Nix's collection Across the Wall and it was always one of my favourites in the collection - a really creepy urban retelling of Hansel and Gretel where the witch deals children's organs. It's short and easy to read and a really interesting retelling, I think. Love to know what you thought of it too!
Interesting! I haven't read that one; thanks for the heads up :)
Awesome series. Loved it 😊
So cool! I love this series. One of my favorite (trashy) film adaptations is Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters with Gemma Arterton and Jeremy Renner!
Interesting content. Exploring fairytale themes is quite a compelling topic.
All of your fairy tale videos are among my absolute favorites on You Tube.
Love the section on the gingerbread guilds especially, that's fascinating!
I am absolutely loving this series! Thank you so much for making them :)
Wonderful video Jen!!
Great video, very interesting. Really enjoying this series.
+amy quinn thanks :) x
I Love this!! I just bought a book you recommended "The Fairy-Tale Princess: Seven Classic Stories from the Enchanted Forest" What a beautiful book. Thank You.
Su Blackwell’s work is STUNNING ♥️
Adore this series Jen! Quick question, has there ever been a version of Hansel and Gretel (or a story similar) where the mother/stepmother ends up doubling as the witch? I remember as a child I always used to think that the evil stepmother was also the witch in the gingerbread house trying to get rid of Hansel and Gretel for good. A lot of the versions when Hansel and Gretel return from the house, the stepmother is gone, so it's always perplexed me.
+Charmedfan2010 yes, that's alluded to a lot, the stepmother often dies at the same time as the witch. It's not explicit but I like to think of it as similar to Mr Darling/Captain Hook - in the stage notes, JM Barrie states that these characters must be played by the same person.
I was wondering if you would mention the case in Japan! Loved all the stories, was really interesting to hear how much it has changed! x
I laughed aloud at this one lol.
Love these videos. Looking through your playlist, are the videos about fairytales and forest and witches uploaded?
No, not yet.
6:46
Oh I remember having different fairy tale books and that was one of them! I think mine was called "Tom Thumb" tho
I loved this video! So very interesting!!! Makes me want to go do some research. Haha! Thank you for all your hard work!!!
Have you read the novel Kindergarten by Peter Rushforth? It incorporates a very dark Holocaust retelling of Hansel and Gretel.
I absolutely love this series!
Your history YT videos are captivating! :)
i love these series! very fascinating! could u please do rapunzel and little red hood?
I love your videos, they are brilliant! the fairytale/history ones are my favourite ones! :D I think you might like book by the German historian Wolfgang Behringer on climate ('A Cultural History of Climate') and it's influence on society (medieval and early modern especially), and 'Landscapes of Fear' book by Vito Fumagalli.
I love love LOVE your videos! I also truly enjoy the bibliography as I am also doing research on these topics! However, I wish you would talk a little bit more slowly! But overall, amazing topic!
I think I talk slower in my more recent videos; this one is from years ago.