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A fairy tale is a story featuring folkloric characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, witches, giants, and talking animals, and usually enchantments. Fairy tales often involve a far-fetched sequence of events that ultimately progress to a satisfying conclusion while teaching a moral lesson.

Unlike legends and epics, they usually do not contain more than superficial references to religion and actual places, persons, and events; they take place "once upon a time" rather than in actual times.

Fairy tales are found in oral folktale 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. Literary fairy tales are found over the centuries throughout the world, and when folklorists collected them, they found fairy tales in every culture.

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 seventeenth century; 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, and the morphological analysis of Vladimir Propp.

Defining marks

Although the fairy tale is a clearly distinct genre, the definition that marks a work as a fairy tale is a source of considerable dispute. Vladimir Propp, in his Morphology of the Folktale, criticized the common distinction between "fairy tales" and "animal tales" on the grounds that many tales contained both fantastic elements and animals. To select works for his analysis, Propp used all Russian folktales classified as Aarne-Thompson 300-749-in a cataloging system that made such a distinction-to gain a clear set of tales. His own analysis identified fairy tales by their plot elements, but that in itself has been criticized, as the analysis does not lend itself easily to tales that do not involve a quest, and furthermore, the same plot elements are found in non-fairy tale works.

One universally agreed-on factor is that the nature of a tale does not depend on whether fairies appear in it. Many people, including Angela Carter in her introduction to the Virago Book of Fairy Tales, have noted that a great many of so-called fairy tales do not feature fairies at all. This is partly because of the history of the English term "fairy tale" which derives from the French phrase contes de fée, and was first used in the collection of Madame D'Aulnoy in 1697.

As Stith Thompson and Carter herself point out, talking animals and the presence of magic seem to be more common to the fairy tale than fairies themselves. However, the mere presence of animals that talk does not make a tale a fairy tale, especially when the animal is clearly a mask on a human face, as in fables.

J. R. R. Tolkien, in his essay "On Fairy-Stories," agreed with the exclusion of "fairies" from the definition, and defined fairy tales as stories about the adventures of men in Faërie, the land of fairies, dwarves, elves, and not only other magical species but many other marvels. However, in the same essay, by that very definition, he excludes tales that are often considered fairy tales, citing as an example "The Monkey's Heart," which Andrew Lang included in The Lilac Fairy Book. Other tales that include no magic but are often classified as fairy tales include "What Is the Fastest Thing in the World?" and "Catskin."

Some folklorists prefer to use the German term Märchen to refer to the genre, a practice given weight by the definition of Thompson in his 1977 edition of The Folktale: "a tale of some length involving a succession of motifs or episodes. It moves in an unreal world without definite locality or definite creatures and is filled with the marvelous. In this never-never land, humble heroes kill adversaries, succeed to kingdoms and marry princesses." The characters and motifs of fairy tales are simple and archetypal: princesses and goose-girls; youngest sons and gallant princes; ogres, giants, dragons, and trolls; wicked stepmothers and false heroes; fairy godmothers and other magical helpers, often talking horses, or foxes, or birds; glass mountains; and prohibitions and breaking of prohibitions. Italo Calvino cited the fairy tale as a prime example of "quickness" in literature, because of the economy and concision of the tales.

History of the genre

Originally, stories we would now call fairy tales were merely a kind of tale, not marked out as a separate genre. The German term " Märchen" means, literally, "tale" rather than any specific type. The genre itself was first marked out by writers of the Renaissance, who began to define a genre of tales, and became stabilized through the works of many writers, becoming an unquestioned genre in the works of the Brothers Grimm. In this evolution, the name was coined when the précieuses took up writing literary stories; Madame d'Aulnoy invented the term contes de fée, or fairy tale.

Prior to the definition of the genre of fantasy, many works that would now be classified as fantasy were termed "fairy tales," including Tolkien's The Hobbit, George Orwell's Animal Farm, and L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Indeed, Tolkien's "On Fairy-Stories" includes discussions of world-building considered a vital part of fantasy criticism. Although fantasy, particularly in the sub-genre fairytale fantasy, draws heavily on fairy tale motifs, the genres are now regarded as distinct.

Folk and literary

The fairy tale, as told orally, is a sub-class of the folktale. From this form, many writers have written down forms of fairy tales, often with considerable modification. These are the literary fairy tales, or Kunstmärchen. The oldest forms, from Panchatantra to the Pentamerone, show stylistic evidence of considerable reworking from the oral form. The Brothers Grimm were among the first to try to preserve the features of oral tales, and even so, they considerably reworked the fairy tales to fit the written form.

Literary fairy tales and oral fairy tales freely exchanged plots, motifs, and elements with each other and with the tales of foreign lands. Various folklorists of the eighteenth century attempted to recover the "pure" folktale, uncontaminated by literary versions; but while oral fairy tales likely existed for thousands of years prior to their literary forms, no such pure folktales exist-nor do pure literary fairy tales which do not drawing on folk tradition. Once literary forms of the fairy tale existed, forms of transmission can be impossible to trace; oral story-tellers may even seek out readings of literary fairy tales in order to increase the number of stories and motifs they could use in their own tales.

The fairy tale was part of an oral tradition; tales were told or enacted dramatically, rather than written down, and handed down from generation to generation. Because of this, the history of their development is necessarily obscure. Illiterate peoples, in particular, may have long told tales without there being any records of them. The oldest known written fairy tales stem from ancient Egypt, c. 1300 B.C.E., and fairy tales appear, now and again, in written literature throughout literate cultures, as in The Golden Ass, which includes "Cupid and Psyche" (Roman, 100-200 C.E.), or the Panchatantra ( India 200-300 C.E.), but it is unknown to what extent these reflect the actual folk tales even of their own time. The stylistic evidence indicates that these, and many later collections, reworked folk tales into literary forms. What they do show is that the fairy tale has ancient roots, older than the Arabian Nights collection of magical tales (c. 1500 C.E.), such as the Vikram and the Vampire, and Bel and the Dragon. Besides such collections and individual tales, in China, Taoist philosophers such as Liezi and Zhuangzi recounted fairy tales in their philosophical works. In the broader definition of the genre, the first Western famous fairy tales are those of the Greek Aesop (sixth century B.C.E.).

Allusions to fairy tales appear plentifully in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, and the plays of William Shakespeare. can be considered a literary variant of fairy tales such as "Water and Salt" and "Cap O' Rushes." The tale itself resurfaced in Western literature in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with The Facetious Nights of Straparola by Giovanni Francesco Straparola (Italy, 1550 and 1553), which contains many fairy tales in its inset tales, and the Neapolitan tales of Giambattista Basile (Naples, 1634-1636), which are all fairy tales. Carlo Gozzi made use of many fairy tale motifs among his Commedia dell'Arte scenarios, including among them one based on The Love For Three Oranges (1761). Simultaneously, Pu Songling, in China, included many fairy tales in his collection, Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (published posthumously, 1766). The fairy tale itself became popular among the précieuses of upper-class France (1690-1710), and among the tales told in that time were the ones of Jean de La Fontaine and the Contes of Charles Perrault (1697), who fixed the forms of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. Although Straparola's, Basile's and Perrault's collections contain the oldest known forms of various fairy tales, on the stylistic evidence, all the writers rewrote the tales for literary effect.

The first collectors to attempt to preserve not only the plot and characters of the tale, but also the style in which they were preserved, were the Brothers Grimm, who began by collecting German fairy tales; ironically enough, while their first edition (1812 & 1815) remains a treasure for folklorists, they rewrote the tales in later editions to make them more acceptable, ensuring their sales and the later popularity of their work even as they strayed from their original intention.

Such literary forms did not merely draw from the folktale, but also influenced folktales in turn. The Brothers Grimm rejected several tales for their collection, though told orally to them by Germans, because the tales derived from Perrault, and they concluded they were thereby French and not German tales; an oral version of "Bluebeard" was thus rejected, and the tale of "Briar Rose," clearly related to Perrault's "Sleeping Beauty," was included only because Jacob Grimm convinced his brother that the figure of Brynhild proved that the sleeping princess was authentically German folklore.

The discussion on the origin of "Sleeping Beauty" reflected a belief common among folklorists of the nineteenth century that the folk tradition preserved fairy tales in forms from pre-history except when "contaminated" by such literary forms, leading people to tell inauthentic tales. The rural, illiterate, and uneducated peasants, if suitably isolated, were the folk and would tell pure folk tales. Sometimes they regarded fairy tales as a form of fossil, the remnants of a once-perfect tale. However, further research has concluded that fairy tales never had a fixed form, and regardless of literary influence, the tellers constantly altered them for their own purposes.

The work of the Brothers Grimm helped influence the rise of Romanticism, fueled by a strong sense of nationalism. Their view that the fairy tales of a country were particularly representative of its own national spirit would serve to influence other collectors in Europe, inspiring them to collect tales and seek those tales that would reflect their own national spirit, neglecting cross-cultural influence. Among those influenced by the Brothers Grimm were the Russian Alexander Afanasyev (first published in 1866), the Norwegians Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe ( first published in 1845), the Romanian Petre Ispirescu (first published in 1874), the English Joseph Jacobs (first published in 1890), and Jeremiah Curtin, an American who collected Irish tales (first published in 1890). Ethnographers collected fairy tales over the world, finding similar tales in Africa, the Americas, and Australia; Andrew Lang was able to draw on not only the written tales of Europe and Asia, but those collected by ethnographers, to fill his "colored" fairy books series. They also encouraged other collectors of fairy tales, as when Yei Theodora Ozaki created a collection, Japanese Fairy Tales (1908), after encouragement from Lang. Simultaneously, writers such as Hans Christian Andersen and George MacDonald continued the tradition of literary fairy tales. Andersen's work sometimes drew on old folktales, but more often deployed fairytale motifs and plots in new tales. George MacDonald incorporated fairytale motifs both in new literary fairy tales, such as The Light Princess, and in works of the genre that would become fantasy, as in The Princess and the Goblin or Lilith.

Cross-cultural transmission

Two theories of origins have attempted to explain the common elements in fairy tales found spread over continents. One is that a single point of origin generated any given tale, which then spread over the centuries; the other is that such fairy tales stem from common human experience and therefore can appear separately in many different origins.

Fairy tales with very similar plots, characters, and motifs are found spread across many different cultures. Many researchers hold this to be caused by the spread of such tales, as people repeat tales they have heard in foreign lands, although the oral nature makes it impossible to trace the route except by inference. Folklorists have attempted to determine the origin by internal evidence, which can not always be clear; Joseph Jacobs, comparing the Scottish tale The Ridere of Riddles with the version collected by the Brothers Grimm, The Riddle, noted that in The Ridere of Riddles one hero ends up polygamously married, which might point to an ancient custom, but in The Riddle, the simpler riddle might argue greater antiquity.

Folklorists of the "Finnish" (or historical-geographical) school attempted to place fairy tales to their origin, with less than conclusive results. Sometimes influence, especially within a limited area and time, is clearer, as when considering the influence of Perrault's tales on those collected by the Brothers Grimm. Little Briar-Rose appears to stem from Perrault's Sleeping Beauty, as the Grimms' tale appears to be the only independent German variant. Similarly, the close agreement between the opening of Grimms' version of Little Red Riding Hood and Perrault's tale points to an influence-although Grimms' version adds a different ending (perhaps derived from The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids). Occasionally, internal evidence points towards one source; not only is Duan Chengshi's Ye Xian the oldest known variant of Cinderella, but the value the tale places on small feet points to its being the origin of the others, reflecting the importance of tiny feet (causing the practice of footbinding) in Chinese culture.

Fairy tales also tend to take on the color of their location, through the choice of motifs, the style in which they are told, and the depiction of character and local color.

Association with children

Originally, adults were the audience of a fairy tale just as often as children. Literary fairy tales appeared in works intended for adults, but in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the fairy tale came to be associated with children's literature.

The précieuses, including Madame d'Aulnoy, intended their works for adults, but regarded their source as the tales that servants, or other women of lower class, would tell to children. Indeed, a novel of that time, depicting a countess's suitor offering to tell such a tale, has the countess exclaim that she loves fairy tales as if she were still a child. Among the late précieuses, Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont redacted a version of Beauty and the Beast for children, and it is her tale that is best known today. The Brothers Grimm titled their collection Children's and Household Tales and rewrote their tales after complaints that they were not suitable for children.

In the modern era, fairy tales were altered so that they could be read to children. The Brothers Grimm concentrated mostly on eliminating sexual references; Rapunzel, in the first edition, revealed the prince's visits by asking why her clothing had grown tight, thus letting the witch deduce that she was pregnant, but in subsequent editions carelessly revealed that it was easier to pull up the prince than the witch. On the other hand, in many respects, violence - particularly when punishing villains - was increased. Other, later, revisions cut out violence; J. R. R. Tolkien noted that The Juniper Tree often had its cannibalistic stew cut out in a version intended for children. The moralizing strain in the Victorian era so altered the classical tales to teach lessons, as when Cinderella was altered to contain temperance themes, that Charles Dickens protested, "In an utilitarian age, of all other times, it is a matter of grave importance that fairy tales should be respected."

Psychoanalysts such as Bruno Bettelheim, who regarded the cruelty of older fairy tales as indicative of psychological conflicts, strongly criticized this expurgation, on the grounds that it weakened their usefulness to both children and adults as ways of symbolically resolving issues.

The adaptation of fairy tales for children continues. Walt Disney's influential Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was largely (although certainly not solely) intended for the children's market. The anime Magical Princess Minky Momo draws on the fairy tale Momotarō.

Contemporary tales

In contemporary literature, many authors have used the form of fairy tales for various reasons, such as examining the human condition from the simple framework a fairytale provides. Some authors seek to recreate a sense of the fantastic in a contemporary discourse. Some writers use fairy tale forms for modern issues; this can include using the psychological dramas implicit in the story, as when Robin McKinley retold "Donkeyskin" as the novel Deerskin, with emphasis on the abusive treatment the father of the tale dealt to his daughter. Sometimes, especially in children's literature, fairy tales are retold with a twist simply for comic effect, such as The Stinky Cheese Man by Jon Scieszka. A common comic motif is a world where all the fairy tales take place, and the characters are aware of their role in the story.

Other authors may have specific motives, such as multicultural or feminist reevaluations of predominantly Eurocentric masculine-dominated fairy tales, implying critique of older narratives. The figure of the damsel in distress has been particularly attacked by many feminist critics. Examples of narrative reversal rejecting this figure include The Paperbag Princess by Robert Munsch, a picture book aimed at children in which a princess rescues a prince, or Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, which retells a number of fairytales from a female point of view. An analogous use of the fairy tale can be seen in the works of Oscar Wilde who introduced homoerotic narratives-in particular a pederastic ethos-into a medium intended for the use of children through his The Happy Prince and Other Stories and A House of Pomegranates.

One more unusual usage of the genre occurred in a military technology journal named Defense AT&L, which published an article in the form of a fairytale titled Optimizing Bi-Modal Signal/Noise Ratios. Written by Maj. Dan Ward (USAF), the story uses a fairy named Garble to represent breakdowns in communication between operators and technology developers. Ward's article was heavily influenced by George MacDonald.

Other notable figures who have employed fairy tales include A. S. Byatt, Jane Yolen, Terri Windling, Donald Barthelme, Robert Coover, Margaret Atwood, Kate Bernheimer, Espido Freire, Tanith Lee, James Thurber, Robin McKinley, Kelly Link, Donna Jo Napoli, Cameron Dokey, Robert Bly, Gail Carson Levine, and Jasper Forde among others.

It may be hard to lay down the rule between fairy tales and fantasies that use fairy tale motifs, or even whole plots, but the distinction is commonly made, even within the works of a single author: George MacDonald's Lilith and Phantastes are regarded as fantasy, while his "The Light Princess," "The Golden Key," and "The Wise Woman" are commonly called fairy tales. The most notable distinction is that fairytale fantasies, like other fantasies, make use of novelistic writing conventions of prose, characterization, or setting.

Fairy tales have been enacted dramatically; records exist of this in commedia dell'arte, and later in pantomime. The advent of cinema has meant that such stories could be presented in a more plausible manner, with the use of special effects and animation; the Disney movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 was a ground-breaking film for fairy tales and, indeed, fantasy in general. Disney's influence helped establish this genre as children's movies, despite the fact that Snow White, as well as the company's other early feature-length films were originally intended for adults as well. They have been accused of simplifying the tales and creating the "fairy tale" ending, in which everything goes right, as opposed to the pain and suffering-and sometimes unhappy endings-of many folk fairy tales.

Many filmed fairy tales have been made primarily for children, from Disney's later works to Aleksandr Rou's retelling of Vasilissa the Beautiful, the first Soviet film to use Russian folk tales in a big-budget feature. Others have used fairy tale motifs to create new tales, as in the movies Labyrinth, and My Neighbor Totoro.

Other works have retold fairy tales for adults. The Company of Wolves, based on an Angela Carter story, retold the story of Little Red Riding Hood, and Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast retold the eponymous story.. Pan's Labyrinth creates a new tale from fairy motifs, as does Princess Mononoke.

Many fairy tales have features in common with each other. Two of the most influential classifications are those of Antti Aarne, as revised by Stith Thompson into the Aarne-Thompson classification system, and Vladimir Propp's Morphology of the Folk Tale.

Aarne-Thompson

This system groups fairy and folk tales according to their overall plot. Common identifying features are picked out to decide which tales are grouped together. Much therefore depends on what features are regarded as decisive.

For instance, tales like Cinderella - in which a persecuted heroine, with the help of the fairy godmother or similar magical helper, attends an event (or three) in which she wins the love of a prince and is identified as his true bride - are classified as type 510, the persecuted heroine. Some such tales are "The Wonderful Birch," "Aschenputtel," "Katie Woodencloak," "The Story of Tam and Cam," Ye Xian, "Cap O' Rushes," "Catskin," "Finette Cendron," "Allerleirauh," and "Tattercoats."

Further analysis of the tales shows that in Cinderella, "The Wonderful Birch," "The Story of Tam and Cam," Ye Xian, and "Aschenputtel," the heroine is persecuted by her stepmother and refused permission to go to the ball or other event, and in "Finette Cendron" by her sisters and other female figures, and these are grouped as 510A; while in "Cap O' Rushes," "Catskin," and "Allerleirauh," the heroine is driven from home by her father's persecutions, and must take work in a kitchen elsewhere, and these are grouped as 510B. But in Katie Woodencloak, she is driven from home by her stepmother's persecutions and must take service in a kitchen elsewhere, and in Tattercoats, she is refused permission to go to the ball by her grandfather. Given these features common with both types of 510, Katie Woodencloak is classified as 510A because the villain is the stepmother, and Tattercoats as 510B because the grandfather fills the father's role.

The weakness of this system is its difficulty in classifying subportions of a tale as motifs. Rapunzel is type 310 (The Maiden in the Tower), but it opens with a child being demanded in return for stolen food, as does Puddocky; but Puddocky is not a Maiden in the Tower tale, while The Canary Prince, which opens with a jealous stepmother, is.

The system lends itself to emphasis on the common elements, to the extent that the folklorist describes The Black Bull of Norroway as the same story as Beauty and the Beast. This can be useful as a shorthand but can also erase the coloring and details of a story.

Morphology

Vladimir Propp specifically studied a collection of Russian fairy tales when he first created his theories in the 1930s, but his analysis has been found useful for the tales of other countries.

Having criticized Aarne-Thompson type analysis for ignoring what motifs did in stories, and because the motifs used were not clearly distinct, he analyzed the tales by the function of each character and action each fulfilled, concluding that a tale was composed of 31 elements and eight character types. While the elements were not all required for all tales, when they appeared they did so in an invariant order-except that each individual element might be negated twice, so that it would appear three times, as when, in Brother and Sister, the brother resists drinking from enchanted streams twice, so that it is the third that enchants him.

One such element is the donor who gives the hero magical assistance, often after testing him. In The Golden Bird, the talking fox tests the hero by warning him against entering an inn and, after he succeeds, helps him find the object of his quest; in The Boy Who Drew Cats, the priest advised the hero to stay in small places at night, which protects him from an evil spirit; in Cinderella, the fairy godmother gives Cinderella the dresses she needs to attend the ball, as their mothers' spirits do in Bawang Putih Bawang Merah and The Wonderful Birch; in The Fox Sister, a Buddhist monk gives the brothers magical bottles to protect against the fox spirit. The roles can be more complicated. In The Red Ettin, the role is split into the mother - who offers the hero the whole of a journey cake with her curse or half with her blessing - and when he takes the half, a fairy who gives him advice; in Mr Simigdáli, the sun, the moon, and the stars all give the heroine a magical gift. Characters who are not always the donor can act like the donor. In Kallo and the Goblins, the villain goblins also give the heroine gifts, because they are tricked; in Schippeitaro, the evil cats betray their secret to the hero, giving him the means to defeat them. Other fairy tales, such as The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was, do not feature the donor. The donor is featured due to illegitimate causes.

Analogies have been drawn between this and the analysis of myths into the Hero's journey.

This analysis has been criticized for ignoring tone, mood, characters and, indeed, anything that differentiates one fairy tale from another.

Interpretations

Many variants, especially those intended for children, have had morals attached. Perrault concluded his versions with one, although not always completely moral: Cinderella concludes with the observation that her beauty and character would have been useless without her godmother, reflecting the importance of social connections.

Many fairy tales have been interpreted for their (purported) significance. One mythological interpretation claimed that many fairy tales, including Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, and The Frog King, all were solar myths; this mode of interpretation is rather less popular now. Many have also been subjected to Freudian, Jungian, and other psychological analysis, but no mode of interpretation has ever established itself definitively.

Specific analyses have often been criticized for lending great importance to motifs that are not, in fact, integral to the tale; this has often stemmed from treating one instance of a fairy as the definitive text, where the tale has been told and retold in many variations. In variants of Bluebeard, the wife's curiosity is betrayed by a blood-stained key, by an egg's breaking, or by the singing of a rose she wore, without affecting the tale, but interpretations of specific variants have claimed that the precise object is integral to the tale.

Other folklorists have interpreted tales as historical documents. Many German folklorists, believing the tales to have been preserved from ancient times, used Grimms' tales to explain ancient customs. Other folklorists have explained the figure of the wicked stepmother historically: many women did die in childbirth, their husbands remarried, and the new stepmothers competed with the children of the first marriage for resources.

Compilations

Collections of fairy tales include:

Panchatantra

Giovanni Francesco Straparola

Pentamerone by Giambattista Basile

Contes de ma mère l'Oye by Charles Perrault

Grimm's Fairy Tales

Hans Christian Andersen, for Andersen fairy tales

Joseph Jacobs, for collected fairy tales

Ruth Manning-Sanders, for collected fairy tales

Norske Folkeeventyr

Narodnye russkie skazki

Madame d'Aulnoy

Popular Tales of the West Highlands by John Francis Campbell

Andrew Lang's Fairy Books

Fairy Tales, a book by E. E. Cummings

Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino

Legende sau basmele românilor by Petre Ispirescu

1. Terri Windling, "Les Contes de Fées: The Literary Fairy Tales of France"endicott-studio.com. Retrieved October 5, 2008.

2. Moss Roberts, "Introduction," xviii, Chinese Fairy Tales & Fantasies. (Pantheon, 1980. ISBN 0394739949.)

3. Andrew Lang. The Brown Fairy Book. "Preface"mythfolklore.net. Retrieved October 5, 2008.

4. Yei Theodora Ozaki, Japanese Fairy Tales, "Preface"surlalunefairytales.com. Retrieved October 5, 2008.

5. Joseph Jacobs. More Celtic Fairy Tales. London: David Nutt, 1894, Notes and References surlalunefairytales.com. Retrieved October 5, 2008.

6. Harry Velten, "The Influences of Charles Perrault's Contes de ma Mère L'oie on German Folklore," 962, in Jack Zipes, ed., The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm.

7. Lewis Seifert, "The Marvelous in Context: The Place of the Contes de Fées in Late Seventeenth Century France," 913, in Jack Zipes, ed., The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm.

8. Helen Pilinovsky, "Donkeyskin, Deerskin, Allerleirauh: The Reality of the Fairy Tale"endicott-studio.com. Retrieved October 5, 2008.

9. Richard Scheib, review of Labyrinth moria.co.nz. Retrieved October 5, 2008.

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Velten, "The Influences of Charles Perrault's Contes de ma Mère L'oie on German Folklore," 962, in Jack Zipes, ed., The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm.

Waggoner, Diana. The Hills of Faraway: A Guide to Fantasy. Encore Editions, (1978) 1983. ISBN 068910846X

Warner, Marina. From the Beast to the Blonde: On Fairy Tales And Their Tellers. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1995. ISBN 0374159017.

Wood, Naomi, "Creating the Sensual Child: Paterian Aesthetics, Pederasty and Oscar Wilde's Fairy Tales." in Marvels and Tales 16(2) (2002)

Yolen, Jane. Touch Magic. August House, 2007. ISBN 0874835917

Zipes, Jack. The Brothers Grimm: From Enchanted Forests to the Modern World, 2nd ed., (original 1980) Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. ISBN 1403960658

Zipes, Jack. The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm. New York: W. W. Norton, 2001. ISBN 039397636X

Zipes, Jack. When Dreams Came True: Classical Fairy Tales and Their Tradition,2 edition. Routledge, 2007. ISBN 0415980062.

Heidi Anne Heiner, "The Quest for the Earliest Fairy Tales: Searching for the Earliest Versions of European Fairy Tales with Commentary on English Translations" surlalunefairytales.com. Retrieved May 29, 2007.

Heidi Anne Heiner, "Fairy Tale Timeline"surlalunefairytales.com. Retrieved May 29, 2007.

External links

All links retrieved March 25, 2017.

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A fairy tale is a story featuring folkloric characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, witches, giants, and talking animals, and usually enchantments. Fairy tales often involve a far-fetched sequence of events that ultimately progress to a satisfying conclusion while teaching a moral lesson.

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Romanian fairy tale: Tinerețe fără bătrânețe și viață fără de moarte (Youth Without Age and Life Without Death), collected and recounted by Petre Ispirescu

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Romanian fairy tale: Tinerețe fără bătrânețe și viață fără de moarte (Youth Without Age and Life Without Death), collected and recounted by Petre Ispirescu

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This is the story of a king and queen who promise their unborn son, who wouldn’t stop crying, that they would gift him “youth without age and life without death”. As he grows up and the promise cannot be fulfilled, he decides to go encounter it himself. And although he does find the place where eternal youth is possible an unexpected event awakens in him the longing to return home, among the mortals.

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The Journey of Initiation in Romanian Fairy Tales

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The Journey of Initiation in Romanian Fairy Tales

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A strong sense of the place, a memorable, relatable character, a journey of initiation we are eager to follow - are the markings of retellable Romanian fairy tales.

Romanian folk tales are filled with active characters involved in amazing journeys. Perhaps an influence of the millennial transhumance and of a local history forged in battles, seen through the Romanian metaphysical view on religion, what better way to explain the connection between the sacred and the profane but through stories?

Romanian folklore sees the sacred and the profane as two parts that, united, create this world. Thus the journey the main character of a mythical story or a folk tales follows is seen as a bridge connecting the two, a way of communication, of connecting the sacred with the profane. But at the same time this journey, by reaching the sacred, allows the character to achieve a higher level of knowledge and understanding of the world he lives in, the profane.

Going back to my Romanian roots I read my childhood's fairytales with one though in my mind. That the material read influences not only the style and the form, but also the thoughts and the ideas behind one's work (and actions). By observing various characters from Romanian fairy tales I drew a mind map of the various journeys of initiation, with examples.

The journey of initiation as depicted in Romanian fairy tales

1. The quest of finding one's fate, even going to the netherworld

Youth without Age and Life without Death, Tinerete Fara de Batranete si Viata Fara de Moarte, is the story of a young prince who goes in search of that what was promised to him before he was born, a youthful state of life that lasts forever. During his adventure he discovers a land far away, where time passes at a different pace. Surprisingly this fairy tale does not have a happy ending.

The journey of finding what was promised, of finding one's fate, or the journey to the underworld often includes a forbidden place, a room or an object that has the power to suddenly undo the happiness found. The world that the main character left behind, ruled by normal time, is different than the new world he discovered. Often, there is no exact border between the two. While time cannot physically affect them in the world they discovered at the end of their quest of initiation, we must remember that the main character was born in a world guided by normal time and therefore time can still affect him psychologically (they becomes homesick).

2. The journey of finding a beloved that went (suddenly) missing or of leaving a beloved behind in order to find something lost

The Enchanted Pig, Porcul cel Fermecat, is the story of the youngest princess (of three), the one who marries a pig because that was her fate. Following wrong advice, one night she gets rid of the pig's skin and this throws her into her journey. Turns out the pig skin was only spell put over a handsome prince that now she must search for all over the world, "until she will wear out three pairs of iron shoes and a steel staff"in order to undo the spell and find happiness again.

Often in Romanian fairy tales a character appears to have a different shape, wear an animal skin that is suddenly lost due to the main character's mistrust.
The transformation that the secondary charter goes through, often from that of an animal to a human appearance, can represent the hero's confusion, his or hers lack of experience in dealing with intimate relationships.
It is the journey of initiation the hero must take (in this case of finding something lost, the animal skin) that will eventually allow him/ her to mature enough so that on his / her return a relationship can be pursued.

During this type of journey the character can be forced to leave the loved one behind due to a mistake. The journey he is about to undertake will help solve the problems, or redeem the sin that was committed and was the catalyst of he journey.
On the other hand, the hero that undergoes such a journey shows exceptional qualities, as anyone else showing less class would not have been able to undergo such a quest.
The loved one that is left behind or must be found, often waiting in anguish, is not having happier days either until the hero's victory.

3. The trip to solve a problem, fix a wrong doing, or of proving oneself

Ileana Simziana or The Princess Who Would be a Prince tells the story of three princesses who try to prove themselves in the eyes of their elderly father, the king. It is the youngest one who emerges victorious from the different quests she has to undergo.

Through the journey the hero finds himself on a higher level, gaining the experience needed to live in a world he knew nothing about at the beginning of the story. Often it is the youngest one or the smallest one (of three brothers of sisters) who emerges victorious.
The journey also allows the main character to finally perceive the reality just the way it is, without the initial pink cloud of an ideology based on the ignorance of youth or of a sheltered existence.
In other occasions this journey of initiation starts out of indifference to the place of birth or because the character is banished.

4. The ride of humility, of forgiveness or of teaching a lesson

Junior the Brave and the Golden Apples, Praslea cel Voinic si Merele de Aur tells us the story of how the youngest son of an emperor who goes to find and punish the intruder who would steal the golden apples from the king's orchard. During the quest he discovers the cunning jealousy of his older brothers as well as a monster with great powers. Luckily, a beautiful fairy comes to his rescue.

Often, a hero found high on the social scale has to undergo a journey of initiation that will force him or her to leave below the social standard received through birth, thus learning a valuable lesson on self-sufficiency, humility and compassion.

5. The voyage as a pretext that will lead to lessons learned or other journeys.

Emperor Aleodor, Aleodor Imparat, is the story of an emperor's son who accidentally passes the border to a forbidden land, that of Half-man-riding-on-the-worse-half-of-a-lame-rabbit. To redeem himself he has to undergo a series of tasks. He doesn't mind proving his innocence and escaping the beast, but the outcome is not what he bargained for - still a happy ending.

The initial journey is often an every day activity, such as a stroll, hunt, or a trade. The result, on the other hand, is that of the main character meeting a fairy, a witch, a spirit, a beast, entering a forbidden space or having a terrible dream that will later lead to him pursuing more adventures.
Although it begins as an involuntary activity, this journey of initiation proves that the spiritual and the sacred surpass the godless and the worldly side of life.

The journey of initiation will often allow the character access to the sacred. In Romanian folklore, life consists of seen and the unseen combined, much like the world we live in, crated by God as a unity.
The journey of initiation allows the character to travel between the two worlds, the seen and the unseen. These worlds, although different, are governed by the same moral laws. What differ is often the way the physical body interacts and reacts, often to the passing of the time.

The journey of initiation in Romanian fairy tales and its connection with time

One other element connected with the journey of initiation is the time that seems removed from the normal timeline of the character's everyday life. No matter where the character arrives, in a magical valley, over seven mountains and seven seas, in an enchanting kingdom, time passes different.

In Romanian folk culture there are various sacred tradition throughout the year, connected with the seasons, with observing of various saints, with agriculture or human life stages and each tradition is preceded by a series of customs. These customs have to be performed in a certain order, at a certain time. By doing so we mark the sacred time in the year that we celebrate.

Through the prism of the the end result - the finding of what "rightfully" belonged to the main character, the braking of the spell, the removing of the obstacle, the knowledge and experience gathered - the journey of initiation is similar to the traditions of the Romanian folk culture, marking a sacred time in the life of the character, the time he spent in his quest.
The character fought to obtain something and by doing so he gained access to a sacred time in a different land, away from the time frame and the borders of the era and the country where he was born.
By traveling to a far way, enchanted land, the main character passed not only a border between worlds, but he traveled in time, not in the past or the future, but in a parallel time, governed by different laws. There is often little difference between the two worlds and there is no visible border either, the exact moment of passing is often unnoticed. Only by observing the various rules that govern the two world can we tell them apart.

The journey of initiation in Romanian fairy tales is extraordinary and it often spans over the entire length of the folktale. But is this journey mesmerizing though the various tasks the hero goes through and the challenges he faces or because he finally gains that much needed knowledge and sees the life and the world around him for what it actually is?

Life is a journey of initiation in itself and it is in how we address its problems and on how we emerge from its various challenges that makes it retellable and relatable, much like fairy-tales.

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The Journey of Initiation in Romanian Fairy Tales - Patricia Furstenberg

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A strong sense of the place, a memorable, relatable character, a journey of initiation we are eager to follow - are the markings of retellable Romanian fairy tales. Romanian folk tales are filled with active characters involved in amazing journeys.

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Romanian fairy tale: Greuceanu, collected and recounted by Petre Ispirescu

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Romanian fairy tale: Greuceanu, collected and recounted by Petre Ispirescu

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Brave Greuceanu embarks on a search for the sun and the moon, which had been stolen and no man in the kingdom had proved able to find and return. He has to fight many deceiving monsters in his journey but the promise to marry the king’s daughter awaits until he proves successful in his endeavour.

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Romanian fairy tale: Prâslea cel voinic și merele de aur (Mighty Prâslea and the Golden Apples), collected and recounted by Petre Ispirescu

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Romanian fairy tale: Prâslea cel voinic și merele de aur (Mighty Prâslea and the Golden Apples), collected and recounted by Petre Ispirescu

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Prâslea, the youngest son of the emperor, volunteers to guard the garden hosting an apple tree producing golden apples. His proposal to the emperor, initially met with scepticism, comes after his older brother and many others have failed in protecting the garden from thieves. He succeeds in the task and goes on to search for the perpetrator only to find and fight ogres and the envy of his brothers but also encounter his future bride.

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Romanian fairy tale: Sarea-n bucate (The Salt in Your Food), collected and recounted by Petre Ispirescu

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Romanian fairy tale: Sarea-n bucate (The Salt in Your Food), collected and recounted by Petre Ispirescu

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The youngest of the king’s daughter upsets her father when she confesses she loves him “like the salt in your food”. She is sent away from home but manages to find a way to make a living and eventually marries into another royal family, not before proving her father that one can live without sugar and honey but not without salt.

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Thinking of the heroes from Romanian folktales, and any tales, they achieve so much more than rescuing the princess or defeating the dragon who endangers an entire kingdom. Heroes give readers hope and hope is the seed of dreams, of adventures and achievements.

Only four centuries ago, during a time when books would slowly, very slowly become accessible due to printing, yet reading was still a skill of the lucky few, written stories were cherished, their readers esteemed, and the entire experience treasured in group gatherings, artisanal sittings or during feasts. Stories were further narrated, enjoyed and treasured, past on to descendants, and the storybooks, if owned, were even kept next to religious icons and even protected by curses against possible thieves.

Be it religious accounts, mystical or magical tales, secular adventures, enigmatic predictions, parables or humorous accounts, stories have left their mark on people's mindset, on their imagination.

My Top Heroes from Romanian Folktales

Făt-Frumos, Beautiful-Son

Ask any Romanian 🙂 and Făt-Frumos, Beautiful Son, is the one Romanian folktale hero that's on everyone's lips. Well, he is a character quite hard to forget, handsome (as if it needed be said), smart, possessing great physical and spiritual strength, performing good deeds left and right, always keeping his word while going through some really queer adventures.

Usually the youngest son of a king, Beautiful Son always succeeds where his older brothers failed. I guess he is a bit like Superman or Spiderman - the underdog who eventually goes through tests and obstacles that surpass ordinary men's power, fighting monsters - dragons - and other malicious characters - hags, witches, or even prejudiced, unreasonable kings, always emerging victorious.

He does have an aid, and this is one of my favorite parts as it is a magic horse, a Marvelous Horse, a Magic Horse, who looks old and shabby, but is given a second chance.

I am not sure I am cut to be the type of hero Beautiful Son is, having to overcome Frost's dilemma as to which road to travel: " If you turn right, you will be in sorrow; if you turn left, you will be in sorrow as well", and ending up traveling through deserts and snowy places on this land, but on the other land too.

Isn't this what we love about heroes, the second chance they are offered and they offer to others?

My Top Heroes from Romanian Folktales

For a child, a hero is the ticket to an adventure he / she can take from the safety of their own bed. But if we look at folk heroes closely, as adults, we can see that they encompass the history of the nation who birthed them. Romania has known centuries of harsh attacks from north, south, east and west (mongols, Turks, Austro-Hungarians, Russians, Nazis) - and Romanians always fought back, always forced to decide between two equally unfortunate choices: ally with your enemies or fight them.

Have you read the story of Emperor Aleodor yet?

Ileana Cosânzeana

Ileana Cosânzeana (or Ileana Simziana, Chira Chiralina) is the main heroine of Romanian mythological fairy tales, the female correspondent of Beautiful-Son, usually his love ideal. She is depicted as beautiful and kind - perhaps the other way around, her kind spirit shining through, therefor everyone finds her lovely?

According to folktales she is kidnapped by a dragon and locked in a tower or taken to the Other Land, the Netherworld. The heroine is saved by Făt-Frumos and most of the times the two have to defeat the dragon/ or the witch together. Thus, the fairy tale ends, most of the time with a wedding. And they both live happily ever after.

Worth mentioning is that the dragon is always in love with Ileana. It is interesting to notice that Ileana and her abductors never have children. In Romanian fairy tales a child can only be the result of a relationship based on love and consensual marriage.

What makes a heroine out of a brave girl?

A spirit that soars against patriarchal norms.
Boldness when obedience is expected.
A voice that does not yell.
A will like a sword.
A kind heart.

Now, as Iana Sânziana (and many argue that the two are not the same character) she is the daughter of the Son from which she runs away for he loves her so, perhaps with too much ardor. She hides herself on a secluded island. In another version of the myth she is the Moon and thus God separates the Moon from the Sun.

The Romanian myth of the Sun and the Moon goes like this

My Top Heroes from Romanian Folktales

The sun is presented as a young man who, wanting to get married, travels for nine years, on nine paths to find his chosen one. Finally, the sun finds the youngest of nine sisters and her name was Ileana Sinzeana, later nicknamed
'The lady of flowers
Of carnations,
The sister of the Sun,
The foam of milk. '
He wishes to marry her and travels through Heaven and Hell, accompanied by "old man Adam" and "mother Jehovah" (Eve), who try to persuade him to give up his intention. Back to earth, the young man again asks the girl to accept him as her husband, and she, as in the fairy tale, asks him to build her "A brass bridge, To not pay attention to it" (perhaps invisible) over the Black Sea (bordering Romania), at the end of which she knew there was a monastery where they can celebrate their marriage.
But when the two reach the bridge, Ileana Sânziana throws herself into the sea, turning into the white foam that "the saints from heaven" in their palms took.

You might want to read about the legend of Dochia too.

Greuceanu

This hero we encounter in only one Romanian myth. The Sun and the Moon are stolen by three vicious dragons, balauri, and their wives. Greuceanu defeats them all and returns daylight to humankind. This is a precious motif of initiation symbolizing a new beginning for humans, the chance of a rebirth.

Prâslea cel Voinic, Young-One the Robust

The youngest of the brothers, again, proves to be the bravest and the smartest one. He is also the one who has to save the honor of the family by making up for his older brother's faults - necessary for his success. But it isn't only bravery that Prâslea has and his brothers don't, but social skills too. In Romanian folklore Prâslea finds the thief of the King's golden apples.

When I was young I found this story mesmerizing as Prâslea had to stay awake an entire night to catch the thief. He even fashions some spikes for himself that were supposed to impale him awake from his slumber.

Harap Alb, White Warrior

Harap Alb may be only a 19th century story told by Ion Creanga and based on Romanian folktales, but the theme of this fairy tale is still the struggle of good against evil, ending with the victory of good. The main character follows the same heroic adventure, a path of moral and ethical maturation sprinkled with various trials and obstacles. The world in which the action takes place is still a miraculous one, dominated by stereotypes and exaggerations.

It is the same reflection of reality, but in an embellished, fabulous way, which does distract the reader and thus the characters can and will react in ways that will not make sense nor be possible in the real world.

Harap might translate to moor, or Arab, but the character is the youngest son of a King and is depicted as having blond hair.

My favorite part as a child were some of Harap Alb's helpers, his buddies: Frost-one, Thirsty-one, Hungry-one, Good-sight-one, Birdy-Widy-Lenghtly-One, one more colorful than the next.

Harap-Alb by Natsuki Otani

The Old Man's Clever Daughter

I do like the Old Man's Daughter and she was one of my favorite heroines as I grew up. Not your average wild character, and definitely not a warrior with a sword. Still, a champion.

She is quiet, shows perseverance, and always sees the best in others - qualities often overlooked in many people. Her story shows us that good deeds, honesty, humanity and diligence do not go unrewarded. Something we need to read more about these days. I wrote more about her story for the lovely people at Folklore Thursday.

Why do we love a good hero?

Because they create order out of chaos? Because they show us that it can be done, any obstacle surmounted if we set our mind to it?

Folk tales remind us of a time when everyday life was passing at a slower pace, when people listening and let their imaginations unfold, when simple fables held the answer the world's ultimate questions and dark forests still withheld secrets.

Today we rush through each day and fly over forests to spy on its last secrets. But perhaps at night, when we hear the last wolves howl, or a branch knocks in the window stopping us from our fast pace, sending shivers down our necks, our souls remember what was passed on from generation to generation until it was embodied in our DNA. Story-time.

I hope you enjoyed My Top Heroes from Romanian Folktales. Which are your favorite fairytale heroes and heroines?

Discover all my books through Amazon. Free with Kindle Unlimited.

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My Top Heroes from Romanian Folktales - Books by Patricia Furstenberg

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Thinking of the heroes from Romanian folktales, and any tales, they achieve so much more than rescuing the princess or defeating the dragon who endangers an entire kingdom. Heroes give readers hope and hope is the seed of dreams, of adventures and achievements.

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Romanian fairy tale: Capra cu trei iezi (The Goat and Her Three Kids), by Ion Creangă

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Romanian fairy tale: Capra cu trei iezi (The Goat and Her Three Kids), by Ion Creangă

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This is the story of the mother goat and her three kids and of what happens after she leaves them home by themselves while she is away to provide food for the family. She instructs them to open the door of the house only when hearing her sing a specific song. But the bad wolf overhears the conversation and what follows is no fairy tale.

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Romanian fairy tale: Fata babei şi fata moşneagului (The Old Man’s Daughter and the Old Woman’s Daughter), by Ion Creangă

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Romanian fairy tale: Fata babei şi fata moşneagului (The Old Man’s Daughter and the Old Woman’s Daughter), by Ion Creangă

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The tale contrasts the lazy and badly-behaved old woman’s daughter with the diligent, patient and well-behaved old man’s daughter, who is driven out of her home by the scheming of her stepmother and stepsister. She travels to find work and is rewarded plentifully for the good deeds she performs during her journey and at her found patron. Not something that will happen to the old woman’s daughter when she attempts a similar voyage.

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Romanian fairy tale: Povestea lui Harap-Alb (The Story of Harap-Alb), by Ion Creangă

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Romanian fairy tale: Povestea lui Harap-Alb (The Story of Harap-Alb), by Ion Creangă

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Harap-Alb is the youngest of the king’s three sons and the only one who successfully passes his father’s courage test. He is thus sent to his uncle’s kingdom to marry one of his daughters. The journey there is filled with adventures, testing several of his skills, which he puts to use with the help of friends he made along the way, each with their own impressive powers. The hero even needs to be revived by his soon-to-be bride but all ends well in this case.

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Romanian fairy tale: Punguţa cu doi bani (The Little Purse with Two Halfpennies), by Ion Creangă

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Romanian fairy tale: Punguţa cu doi bani (The Little Purse with Two Halfpennies), by Ion Creangă

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This story centers on the adventures of a rooster, whose owner wants him to start laying eggs, just as his partner’s hen does. Since it predictably results impossible, the rooster is sent away to make himself useful to his owner. The rooster’s powers prove impressive as it persistently fights to keep a purse with two halfpennies it found and wants to return to his owner, who ends up richer than he ever thought possible.

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Animals in Romanian Folklore and Mythology

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Animals in Romanian Folklore and Mythology

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The way in which animals and nature are presented in folklore and mythology can tell us a lot about a nation's cultural profile. Although in most cultures we encounter the belief that all animals were created / put on earth by a higher divinity to teach humans a lesson and challenge them, animal symbology and legends can vary.

Some cultures and religions believe that the man was created to rule over all the animals. Other cultures believe that animals are manifestations of a divine power. During medieval times Christian beliefs in a hierarchical structure of all matter and life emerged, The Great Chain of Being, an idea that humanity (with the king at the top) is a subdivision situated above animals (with the lion at the top).

Folklore and mythology are the domains where explaining and understanding real life events was done by the use of animals as symbols - thus creating a microcosmic representation for easier comprehension of something that seemed larger than life. The explanations become story lines and new situations and events are understood and can be dealt with only if explained though the prism of an archaic vision with its social norms, moral values, and traditions.

Animals in Romanian folklore and mythology are considered to have a positive interaction with humans (the farm animals, the ones humankind relied on), but they can also threaten and challenge us (the wild beasts), as well as be conferred fabulous, mythological powers (exotic animals).

The cow and the ox as white animals

In Romanian folklore the cow and the ox were seen as holy in the sens that even God loved them and bestowed upon them the gift of speech, one day a year, like people.

White symbolizes their purity and their economical value in working the field, as means of transport, as well as being a source of various foods.

Cow, as a symbol, stands for prosperity, fertility, and obedience. In folktales the cow defies evil and helps enrich the hero.

The ox is held on higher regards than the cow, seen as the farmer's symbol of strength and wealth therefor an ox must never be sold.

The cow and the ox in folklore

In Romanian folklore, to protect a cow you can tie a red ribbon around one of her horn; you can feed her magical grains; you can hide in the shed various lucky items; and if you do milk the cow then you must fast during specific dates of the year so the cow won't run out of milk.

At Christmas time, the best carols are the ones wishing the host to have lots of healthy cows.

In Romanian folk songs love's value and meaning can only be compared to that of a cow.

On Pentecost, Rusalii, 31st May, custom asks to decorate an ox (symbol of fertility) with flower garlands and bells.The lads would then take the ox for a stroll around the village, from one house to the next, and the ox would be sprinkled with water (another symbol of fertility). The flower garland that decorated the ox was to be kept safe so that the field would be fertile that year.

Superstitions involving the cow

When a cow is about to have her calf, put some wheat, lemon, salt and pepper in a red cloth and tie it to the cow's tail to keep the bad spirits away.

Don't hit the cow with a pitchfork or she'll have a bowlegged calf.

If you want to find out the year you will marry, go to the stables and kick the cow that's lying down, saying 'this year... I shall marry.' If the cow stands, you have your answer. If she doesn't, chose another year and kick her again... gently 🙂

The oxen can speak on the day of Saint Vasile, 14 January, and you can hear them do so if you go to bed in the manger - but you better watch out as you might not like what you hear.

The sheep was from God

The sheep, good, soft and gentle, could only have been God's gift to all humankind. All you need to do when you are sick is touch the sheep to feel better.

Romanian folktales say that God Himself walks the sheep to pasture, and He plays the flute, feeling happy and content. Sheep are helpers, protectors and, in more than one instances, messengers of God - as is the lamb in the myth of Miorita.

The ram, with its golden fleece and painted horns at Christmas time is also a reason of joy and pride.

Folk rituals involving the sheep and the ram

On Sângeorz day, Saint George, on 23rd April and especially in the province of Moldova, shepherds sprinkle their sheep with water, to be abundant in milk.

On Rusalii, in Transylvania, the sheep are jumped over a life-giving fire (smoked), to protect them against evil spirits.

During the midsummer celebration of Sânziene or Dragaica (24 June), rituals involving sheep and flowers are performed.

The sacred sheepfold

Romanian folklore sees the sheepfold as sacred as a church altar. Millennial old rituals take place here and inherited tools play a sacred role, tools that are never removed from the spot, tools decorated with the symbols of the sun, the earth, the cosmos, or the heaven's holy gates... The sheepfold's hearth, where the fire had been burning for generations, is on high regards. For this reason, in its foundation one will find the bone of an ancestor, of a warrior who fought against the enemy of the country or against the wild beasts; a sacred bone, for the same reason one would bury the bones or relics of saints in the foundation of churches.

The sheep is sacred too. Touch it and any bad spirits that bothered you will leave.

The bells hanging around the sheep's necks, of various sizes, based on a rigorous hierarchy, are in harmony with the shepherd's flute, with the song of the forest streams and with the rustle of the wind through the leaves and across the grassy planes.

Any sheepfold has a knapsack containing, at any given time, bread, holy water from the church or sanctified by a log from its holy hearth, as well as flowers kept from the Sânziene celebrations - all necessary during various rituals.

No one leaves a sheepfold without the smallest of gifts; a piece of cheese, a pipkin of milk, or at least a piece of bread for the road. Gifts from the heart.

The goat is a whole different story

The goat came from the devil, it is said in the Romanian folklore.

The myth of how the goat came to be

God took a handful of earth and created the sheep. So the devil wanted to do the same. He scraped some ground from the marsh, barely a handful and, not knowing what to do further, he decorated it with branches and shoots of grass instead of fur. He found his creation to be just as perfect as God's. Yet something was missing... so he added a tuft of grass shooting from the goat's chin, much like his own. Yet he couldn't bring it to life. That was something only God could do.

Romanian folklore says that it is the horned scoundrel that takes care of goats, chasing them over the fields that they never sit still and he's also the one that cuts their fur; that's why it is all erratic and in tufts and uneven. You just have to take care of one and see for yourself.

Superstitions involving the goat

If you are gifted a goat on Saint Vasile, the angels will stay away from your home for fifty days.

Goats symbolize poverty as they eat a lot, stomp over grass and chew on all the green buds.

Caroling with the goat at Christmas time

Perhaps resonating of a pagan custom and definitely not related to the hellish imp is the winter custom of caroling with a goat mask while performing a ritualistic dance on a cheerful music to match the event.

The pig

Long ago, one creature cheated and lied to the gods so it was destined to grunt for a speech and to trundle through mud all its life.

The pig's curse also says that the pig hates all humans, for he know he will be butchered, yet he forgets all about it whenever he is fed and joyfully stuffs itself.

Romanian Christmas custom asks for a pig to be slaughtered on Ignat, 20th December. It is said that, shortly before Christmas, the pig dreams of a sharp knife and stops getting fat. It is better to cut it or the wild beasts will have its meat.

It is also said that a farmer must see or, even better, spill the blood of a pig each year around Ignat to have wealth in the farmyard and on the fields the following year.

Superstitions involving the pig

The woman who doesn't eat pig on Christmas Day or at Easter will have an easy childbirth.

On Ignat day, if you don't see or at least hear the pig being slaughtered you should prick your finger so that you at least see some blood.

After the pig is slaughtered and cut, on Ignat, when the pig's head is brought inside to be cooked, its snout must enter the house firs, for good luck and a rich litter of piglets in the new year.

The blessed donkey

Romanian folklore blesses the donkey for the donkey was blessed by Virgin Mary herself, after it carried her on its back all the way to Jerusalem, and later it carried Jesus too.

There is a heartwarming symbology behind the donkey's mild appearance, an impulse to choose to be modest, devoted and unpretentious because big things will still cross your path.

The myth of how the donkey got its super-sized ears

Well, once when the donkey was but a foal he was a little bit naughty, walking at the back of the herd. So God scolded the beast for its incessant agitation and fret. Yet the young animal, like any young, pretended not to hear. God repeated Himself, the donkey said he still can't hear Him. Being at the back of the group and all... So God pulled the donkey by its ears... And that's why the donkey has such long hearing aids.

The horse

The horse is seen as a virile animal, a warrior yet often less valuable to a farmstead than a cow or an ox.

One must never eat the meat of a horse because it might have been ridden by a woman.

The dog and the cat

It goes without saying that the dog is loved by God for its qualities and his good and reliable nature, much as it is treasured by humans.

Romanian folklore says that the cat came to be from God's glove, when He threw it on Noah's Arch to catch the mouse.

The myth of why the cat and the dog fight

It is said that, long ago, the cat and the dog used to be married, yet the cat was a lazy and greedy wife, while the dog was a hard working husband. The two were always arguing with each other because of their different views and expectation of the world.

Superstitions involving the dog

If the dog digs in the yard, right in front of the house, it is a bad omen, foretelling death.

When there is thunder and lightning someone better sit next to the cat or the dog. Otherwise the devil might hide in their fur and the lightening will strike those nearby.

The two-faced wolf

Why two-faced? Because it has both positive and negative connotation, the wolf being good or bad, a friend or a foe - depending on the circumstances. Much like humans.

In Romanian folklore, the malefic wolf can be a or a vârcolacul. are the spirits of malefic people who, awoken from their graves, take the shape of a wolf and roam the streets to harm whoever they meet. Vârcolacii are a general representation of all evil that hunts humankind and they can take a wolf's appearance.

The positive connotation of the wolf is that of an animal-guide, accompanying the spirits of the dead to the netherworld.
There is a fascination story about the wolf as a symbol on the brave Dacian's flag, the ancient inhabitants of the cultural region of Dacia, today Romania. But this is a story for another time.
Superstitions involving the wolf

If you caught shivers after a big fright, smoke around yourself the hair of a bear or the dung of a very hairy wolf.

If you travel under the new moon you better watch out for wolfs.

The two-faced snake

House snakes are seen as sending a positive vibe, not so the snakes one meets during various travels. This one you should kill (and not only for its Christian connotation), for 'if you don't it will turn into a dragon (balaur) in no less than two years time.'

One should not 'believe the word of a snake' or 'harbor a snake in one's bosom', or harm will come in return. Snakes have strong connotations with magic and spells too. For example, cut with a silver coin the head of the first snake you see before Saint George day, put a clove of garlic in its mouth and on Saint George's day it will help you see how vampires steal the milk from the cows.

The beasts showcased in Romanian folklore and mythology are fabulous and deserve separate attention or, who knows, their mythological powers might prove real. 🙂 Stay tuned.
As always, discover all my books on Amazon.

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Animals in Romanian Folklore and Mythology - Books by Pat Furstenberg

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The way in which animals and nature are presented in folklore and mythology can tell us a lot about a nation's cultural profile. Although in most cultures we encounter the belief that all animals were created / put on earth by a higher divinity to teach humans a lesson and challenge them, animal symbology and legends can vary.

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Romanian fairy tale: Ursul păcălit de vulpe (The Bear Fooled by the Fox), by Ion Creangă

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Romanian fairy tale: Ursul păcălit de vulpe (The Bear Fooled by the Fox), by Ion Creangă

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Set in the animal kingdom, this story pits the fox against the bear. After making an illegitimate capture of fish, the fox draws the attention of the bear, who also wants to sample some of the food. But the fox advises him to go fishing and use a method which will leave the bear without his tail. No luck for the bear when trying to get his revenge either.

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Romanian fairy tale: Prostia omenească (Human Foolishness), by Ion Creangă

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Romanian fairy tale: Prostia omenească (Human Foolishness), by Ion Creangă

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This story focuses on one’s men search to find anyone more stupid than his family. His search doesn’t take too long as he encounters various examples, from someone trying to capture sunlight in a bucket instead of making a window for his house or someone who attempts to get his cow to climb the ladder to be fed rather than take the fodder down from the barn.

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The most popular fairy tales are about the fight against monsters, the release of an enchanted princess, about the third son, and tales about a stepdaughter.

The main character (hero) of many fairy tales is a strong man. There are many motives of very ancient origin in these tales. As a rule, a strong man is the son of a mare, a fish, a bear, etc.

Another popular hero of fairy tales is the third son, a fool (according to others). In some fairy tales, the image of an orphan appears instead of the youngest son.

Often the evil hero is a devil who personifies the ancient forces of nature. He possesses enormous growth and strength, and rarely interferes in human affairs. Despite this, the person easily deceives him and wins.

The structure of the fairy tale

Most fairy tales have a similar structure:

• a short description of the hero and his entourage (peasant life, poverty, etc.),

• wandering,

• meeting with the enemy,

• fighting,

• victory and award.

Fairy tales either begin with the words "Reiz dzīvoja ..." ("Once upon a time ...").

The central, main part of the tale is the story of the hero's clashes with opponents. Events are described in great detail here. The hero always comes out the winner of all trials.

The standard ending is very laconic: "He lives happily to this day, unless he died." In fairy tales from the eastern regions of Latvia (apparently under the influence of Slavic folklore), the endings are more extended. The narrator usually claims that he himself witnessed the adventures, and expresses his attitude to the events.

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Until the end of the 19th century, Latvian fairy tales were an exclusively oral form of folk art.

The first collection of 148 was published in 1887 by F. Brivzemnieks.

In Latvian literary studies, fairy tales are divided into 3 main types:

· Allegorical tales of animals

· Fairy tales

· "Household tales" (including comic and short stories)

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Oghuz Khagan or Oghuz Khan ( Turkmen: Oguz han; Turkish: Oğuz Kağan; Azerbaijani: Oğuz Xan) is a legendary khan of the Turkic peoples. Some Turkic cultures use this legend to describe their ethnic origins and the origin of the system of political clans used by Turkmen, Ottoman, and other Oghuz Turks. The various versions of the narrative preserved in many different manuscripts has been published in numerous languages as listed below in the references. The narrative is often entitled Oghuznama, or narrative of the Oghuz.

The name of Oghuz Khan has been associated with Maodun. The reason for that is a remarkable similarity of the Oghuz Khagan biography in the Turco-Persian tradition with the Maodun biography in the Chinese sources, which was first noticed by Hyacinth.[1][2]

The legend of Oghuz Khan is one of a number of different origin narratives that circulated among the Turkic peoples of Central Asia. It was first recorded in the 13th century.

The anonymous Uyghur vertical script narrative of the 14th century, which is preserved in Paris, is a manuscript that was probably already being modified to fit with stories of the Mongol Conquest, as Paul Pelliot has shown and it does have suggestions of Oghuz Khan's later significance as Islamizer of the Turks, and does not include the figure of Moghul ( Mongol) as an ancestor of Oghuz Khan.

Abū'l-Ghāzī's 17th century version called Shajara-i Tarākima (Genealogy of the Turkmen) roughly follows Rashīd ad-Dīn's already Mongolized (post-conquest) version of the early 14th century. But in his account, Oghuz Khan is more fully integrated into Islamic and Mongol traditional history. The account begins with descent from Adam to Noah, who after the flood sends his three sons to repopulate the earth: Ham was sent to Africa, Sam to Iran, and Yafes went to the banks of the Itil and Yaik rivers and had eight sons named Turk, Khazar, Saqlab, Rus, Ming, Chin, Kemeri, and Tarikh. As he was dying he established Turk as his successor.

Turk settled at Issiq Kul and was succeeded by Tutek, the eldest of his four sons. Four generations after him came two sons, Tatar and Moghul, who divided his kingdom between them. Moghul Khan begat Qara Khan who begat Oghuz Khan. For three days he would not nurse and every night he appeared in his mother's dream and told his mother to become a Muslim or he would not suckle her breast. His mother converted, and Abū'l-Ghāzī writes that the Turkic peoples of Yafes from the time of Qara Khan had been Muslim but had lost the faith. Oghuz Khan restored Islamic belief.

The Seljuks originated from the Kinik branch of the Oghuz Turks,[3][4][5][6][7] who in the 9th century lived on the periphery of the Muslim world, north of the Caspian Sea and Aral Sea in their Yabghu Khaganate of the Oghuz confederacy.[8][9] During the 11th century, they established the Great Seljuk Empire under the command of the Seljuk chieftains Toghrul Beg and Chaghri Beg.[10]

Anushteginids Edit

There are certain historical sources which state that the Anushteginids, who ruled vast parts of Central Asia from 1077 to 1231 under the title of Khwarazmshahs, descended from the Begdili tribe of the Oghuz Turks.[11]

The dynasty was founded by commander Anush Tigin Gharchai, a former Turkic slave of the Seljuq sultans, who was appointed as governor of Khwarezm. His son, Qutb ad-Din Muhammad I, became the first hereditary Shah of Khwarezm.[12]

Kara Koyunlu Edit

Kara Koyunlu were a tribal confederation of Oguz Turkic nomadic tribes from the Oguz tribe of Yiva, which existed in the 14-15th centuries in Western Asia, on the territory of modern Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iraq, northwestern Iran and eastern Turkey.[13]

Aq Qoyunlu Edit

The Aq Qoyunlu Sultans claimed descent from Bayindir Khan, through grandson of Oghuz Khagan.[14]

Yazıcıoğlu Ali, in early 15th century, traced Osman's geneaology to Oghuz Khagan, through his senior grandson of his senior son, so giving the Ottoman sultans primacy among Turkish monarchs.[15] Bayezid I advanced this claim against Timur, who denigrated the Ottoman lineage.[16]

According to Ottoman historian Neşri, Osman had a grandfather with a king's name and came from a lineage of the senior branch of Oghuz family:[17]

The experts in knowledge of the foundation of the prophets and those who know the secrets of the meanings (human) works narrate that this great lineage (of the house of Osman) comes from Oghuz son of Kara Han, who was one of the children of Bulcas, son of Yafes, son of Noah, peace be upon him! As follows: Ertugrul son of Suleyman Shah son of Kaya Alp son of Kızıl Buğa ... son of Bulcas son of Yafes son of Noah.

Sultan Cem, Bayezid II's brother, linked their geneaology to Oghuz Khagan that would prevail as a tool of legitimization of the sixteenth century onwards:[17]

Oghuz Khan, he was given the name, which means "saint", in his childhood because he was seen on the right path (i.e. God's). Because he recognized the Oneness of God, he fought with his father, and Oghuz's army killed the latter. This happened during Prophet Abraham's times.

According to a Turkish legend, Oghuz was born in Central Asia as the son of Qara Khan, leader of the Turkic people. He started talking as soon as he was born. He stopped drinking his mother's milk after the first time and asked for kymyz (an alcoholic beverage made with fermented horse milk) and meat. After that, he grew up supernaturally fast and in only forty days he became a young adult. At the time of his birth, the lands of the Turkic people were preyed upon by a dragon named Kiyant. Oghuz armed himself and went to kill the dragon. He set a trap for the dragon by hanging a freshly killed deer in a tree, then killed the great dragon with a bronze lance and cut off its head with a steel sword.

After Oghuz killed Kiyant, he became a people's hero. He formed a special warrior band from the forty sons of forty Turkic begs (lords, chiefs), thus gathering the clans together. But his Chinese stepmother and half-brother, who was the heir to the throne, became intimidated by his power and convinced Qara Khan that Oghuz was planning to dethrone him. Qara Khan decided to assassinate Oghuz at a hunting party. Oghuz learned about this plan and instead killed his father and became the khan. His stepmother and half-brother fled to Chinese lands.

After Oghuz became the khan, he went to the steppes by himself to praise and pray to Tengri. While praying, he saw a circle of light coming from the sky with a supernaturally beautiful girl standing in the light. Oghuz fell in love with the girl and married her. He had three sons whom he named Güneş (Sun), Ay (Moon), and Yıldız (Star) (all in Turkish). Later, Oghuz went hunting and saw another mesmerizing girl inside a tree. He married her as well and had three more sons whom he named Gök (Sky), Dağ (Mountain), and Deniz (Sea) (in Turkish).

After his sons were born, Oghuz Khan gave a great toy (feast) and invited all of his begs (lords). At the feast, he gave this order to his lords:

"I have become your Khan;
Let's all take swords and shields;
Kut (divine power) will be our sign;
Gray wolf will be our uran ( battle cry);
Our iron lances will be a forest;
Khulan will walk on the hunting ground;
More seas and more rivers;
Sun is our flag and sky is our tent."

Then, he sent letters to the Kings of the Four Directions, saying: "I am the Khan of the Turks. And I will be Khan of the Four Corners of the Earth. I want your obedience."

Altun Khan (Golden Khan), on the right corner of the earth, submitted his obedience, but Urum ( Roman), Khan of the left corner, did not. Oghuz declared war on Urum Khan and marched his army to the west. One night, a large male wolf with grey fur (which is an avatar of Tengri) came to his tent in an aura of light. He said, "Oghuz, you want to march against Urum, I want to march before your army." So, the grey sky-wolf marched before the Turkic army and guided them. The two armies fought near the river İtil (Volga). Oghuz Khan won the battle. Then, Oghuz and his six sons carried out campaigns in Turkistan, India, Iran, Egypt, Iraq and Syria, with the grey wolf as their guide. He became the Khan of the Four Corners of the Earth.

In his old age, Oghuz saw a dream. He called his six sons and sent them to the east and the west. His elder sons found a golden bow in the east. His younger sons found three silver arrows in the west. Oghuz Khan broke the golden bow into three pieces and gave each to his three older sons Gün, Ay, and Yıldız. He said, "My older sons, take this bow and shoot your arrows to the sky like this bow." He gave the three silver arrows to his three younger sons Gök, Dağ and Deniz and said, "My younger sons, take these silver arrows. A bow shoots arrows and you are to be like the arrow." Then, he passed his lands on to his sons, Bozoks (Gray Arrows - elder sons) and Üçoks (Three Arrows - younger sons) at a final banquet. (Abū'l-Ghāzī identifies the lineage symbols, tamga seals and ongon spirit guiding birds, as well as specifying the political hierarchy and seating order at banquets for these sons and their 24 sons) Then he said:

"My sons, I walked a lot;
I saw many battles;
I threw so many arrows and lances;
I rode many horses;
I made my enemies cry;
I made my friends smile;
I paid my debt to Tengri;
Now I am giving my land to you."

In scientific literature, the name of Maodun is usually associated with Oguz Kagan, an epic ancestor of the Turkic people . The reason for that is a striking similarity of the Oguz-Kagan biography in the Turko-Persian manuscripts ( Rashid al-Din, Hondemir, Abulgazi) with the Maodun biography in the Chinese sources (feud between the father and son and murder of the former, the direction and sequence of conquests, etc.), which was first noticed by N.Ya. Bichurin (Collection of information, pp. 56-57).[18][19]

Oghuz Khan is sometimes considered the legendary founder of all Turkic peoples, and ancestor of the Oghuz subbranch. Even today, subbranches of Oghuz are classified in order of the legendary six sons and 24 grandsons of Oghuz Khan. In history, Turkmen dynasties often rebelled or claimed sovereignty by saying their rank was higher than the existing dynasty in this tribal classification.

Oğuz and Oğuzhan are a common masculine Turkish given names, which come from Oghuz Khan.

Mary Province's district Oguzhan, in Turkmenistan, is named after him.

1. Concise Britannica Online ^ Seljuq Dynasty Archived 2007-01-14 at the Wayback Machine article

2. Merriam-Webster Online - Definition of ^ Seljuk

3. The History of the Seljuq Turks: From the Jami Al-Tawarikh (^ LINK)

4. Shaw, Stanford. ^ History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey (LINK)

5. ^ Golden, Peter B. (1992). An Introduction to the History of the Turkic People. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden. p. 209

6. Wink, Andre, ^ Al Hind: the Making of the Indo-Islamic World Brill Academic Publishers, Jan 1, 1996, ISBN 90-04-09249-8 pg.9

7. Andre Wink, ^ Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Vol.2, (Brill, 2002), 9. - via Questia (subscription required)

8. ^ Fazlallakh, Rashid ad-Din (1987). Oghuznameh (in Russian). Baku."Similarly, the most distant ancestor of Sultan Muhammad Khwarazmshah was Nushtekin Gharcha, who was a descendant of the Begdili tribe of the Oghuz family."

9. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, "Khwarezm-Shah-Dynasty", (LINK)

10. ^ Peter B. Golden, "An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples", p. 367-368

11. ^ Marinos Sariyannis, (2018), a A History of Ottoman Political Thought Up to the Early Nineteenth Century, p. 61b

Abū'l Ghāzī. 1958. Rodoslovnaia Turkmen. Andrei N. Kononov, ed. Moscow: Nauka.

İlker Evrim Binbaş, Encyclopaedia Iranica, "Oguz Khan Narratives" [1], accessed 7 July 2012.

Golden, Peter B. 1992. An introduction to the history of the Turkic peoples. Ethnogenesis and state formation in medieval and early modern Eurasia and the Middle East. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

Light, Nathan. Genealogy, history, nation

Nationalities Papers: The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity. Volume 39, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 33 - 53.

Pelliot, Paul. 1930. Sur la légende d'Uγuz-khan en écriture ouigoure. T'oung Pao. Second Series. 27: 4-5. pp. 247-358.

Rašīd ad-Dīn. Die Geschichte der Oġuzen des Rašīd ad-Dīn. Karl Jahn, trans. Vienna: 1969

Shcherbak, Aleksandr Mikhaǐlovich. Oguz-name. Muhabbatname. Moscow, 1959.

Woods, John E. 1976. The Aqquyunlu Clan, Confederation, Empire: a study in 15th/16th Century Turco-Iranian Politics. Minneapolis: Bibliotheca Islamica.

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Oghuz Khagan or Oghuz Khan ( Turkmen: Oguz han; Turkish: Oğuz Kağan; Azerbaijani: Oğuz Xan) is a legendary khan of the Turkic peoples. Some Turkic cultures use this legend to describe their ethnic origins and the origin of the system of political clans used by Turkmen, Ottoman, and other Oghuz Turks.

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Oghuz Khagan Legend           -Turkish Team- 

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Oghuz Khagan Legend           -Turkish Team- 

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Oghuz Khagan or Oghuz Khan is a legendary khan of the Turkic peoples. Some Turkic cultures use this legend to describe their ethnic origins and the origin of the system of political clans used by Turkmen, Ottoman, and other Oghuz Turks.

According to a Turkish legend, Oghuz was born in Central Asia as the son of Qara Khan, leader of the Turkic people. He started talking as soon as he was born. He stopped drinking his mother's milk after the first time and asked for kymyz (an alcoholic beverage made with fermented horse milk) and meat. After that, he grew up supernaturally fast and in only forty days he became a young adult. At the time of his birth, the lands of the Turkic people were preyed upon by a dragon named Kiyant. Oghuz armed himself and went to kill the dragon. He set a trap for the dragon by hanging a freshly killed deer in a tree, then killed the great dragon with a bronze lance and cut off its head with a steel sword. After Oghuz killed Kiyant, he became a people's hero. He formed a special warrior band from the forty sons of forty Turkic begs (lords, chiefs), thus gathering the clans together.

After Oghuz became the khan, he went to the steppes by himself to praise and pray to Tengri. While praying, he saw a circle of light coming from the sky with a supernaturally beautiful girl standing in the light. Oghuz fell in love with the girl and married her. He had three sons whom he named Güneş (Sun), Ay (Moon), and Yıldız (Star) (all in Turkish). Later, Oghuz went hunting and saw another mesmerizing girl inside a tree. He married her as well and had three more sons whom he named Gök (Sky), Dağ (Mountain), and Deniz (Sea) (in Turkish).

After his sons were born, Oghuz Khan gave a great toy (feast) and invited all of his begs (lords). At the feast, he gave this order to his lords:

"I have become your Khan;
Let's all take swords and shields;
Kut (divine power) will be our sign;
Gray wolf will be our uran (battle cry);
Our iron lances will be a forest;
Khulan will walk on the hunting ground;
More seas and more rivers;
Sun is our flag and sky is our tent."

Then, he sent letters to the Kings of the Four Directions, saying: "I am the Khan of the Turks. And I will be Khan of the Four Corners of the Earth. I want your obedience."

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Oghuz Khagan                         -Turkish team-   

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Oghuz Khagan                         -Turkish team-   

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Oghuz Khagan                         -Turkish Team-   

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Oghuz Khagan                         -Turkish Team-   

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Oguzhan monument in Ashgabat

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Oghuz Khagan                          -Turkish Team-

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Oghuz Khagan                          -Turkish Team-

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The Old World in 600 AD

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Broth or Stone Soup - Portuguese Team 🇵🇹 

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Broth or Stone Soup - Portuguese Team 🇵🇹 

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Grass-snake's bride ( Latvian team)

Veneration of the grass-snake, the patron saint of peasant wealth, is one of the features of Latvian mythology. There is an archaic Latvian fairy tale "The Bride of the Grass-Snake", where a girl marries a sea serpent.

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Broth or Stone Soup - Portuguese Team 🇵🇹 

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Broth or Stone Soup - Portuguese Team 🇵🇹 

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Broth or Stone Soup- Portuguese Team 🇵🇹 

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Broth or Stone Soup- Portuguese Team 🇵🇹 

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Broth or Stone Soup is a universal tale that allows us countless readings, which undoubtedly address basic questions of survival and overcoming that are important to help us discover the world and human nature as it really is.

In fact, the Sopa de pedra or Caldo de pedra is a typical Portuguese soup, particularly from the city of Almeirim, located in the heart of the Ribatejo region, 70 kilometers from Lisbon, considered the capital of the stone soup that transformed it into tourist attraction, so much so that most restaurants prepare it.

Using his intelligence, the friar punishes people for their selfishness!

The moral of the story is that: “Working together, they achieve the common good”

Thus, using some principles of this legend can help us to seek inner balance, prosperity and success, always remembering that the act of sharing can benefit everyone, as long as we know how to use “the ingredients we have at hand” and “create paths ”That help us find“ ingredients ”that can“ thicken and complete ”“ our daily broth ”.

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Somehow hot, summertime, at the very noon, three girls swam in the sea.

One asks:

- Which of us will marry first?

The second answers:

- The most beautiful will be the first to marry!

And the third girl said nothing. Soon she got out of the water and wanted to get dressed. As soon as she reached for her white shirt, she shuddered: it was already lying on the shirt.

- Oh, really, - asks the girl, - slide off your shirt.

- Get engaged to me, - he answers, - then I will leave!

- Why not get engaged? - the girl laughs. - Just slide off your shirt!

- Eh, no, - does not agree, - give me your ring.

The girl took off the ring and gave it to her already. At the same moment he disappeared with a ring in the depths of the sea.

And then, on second thought, I regretted it, but it was too late - I had to dive into the sea waves.

The bride's mother came to the sea and asked:

- Daughter, dear, tell me, tell me how is your life?

Hearing this, the bride hugged her husband and asked him to let her go with the children to visit mother. I really didn't want to let her go, but in the end he allowed her to stay with her mother for three weeks.

The bride took her son and daughter in her arms and went to visit her mother. Two frogs were pulling the carriage, and the pike was for the coachman. The mother met her daughter, hugged her, but she couldn't get enough of her grandchildren.

The bride spent three weeks with her mother and by the time she returned to the sea.