You have stumbled upon the fifth blog post in my Fairy Tale Re-Draw series, which is a bit of a surreal thing for me to write simply because that means we’re officially half-way through the posts! I’m pretty excited about it, and I really hope you’ve been enjoying them - comment down below and tell me which one has been your favourite so far!
Make sure you’re following the Puddles of Ink Instagram; that’s where you’ll catch all of my DAILY uploads for the project, as well as lots of behind-the-scenes exclusives and information on all of my art supplies and the upcoming zine I’m working on. I’ve created a useful Highlight on there too so you can catch up on anything you might have missed, and I keep it updated regularly so there’s always something to see!
If it’s blog posts you need to catch up on, then look no further:
If you need an introduction to the project, as well as information on The Queen of Riddles, The Frog Prince or The Seven Wives of Bluebeard, then click here.
If you’re after Thumbelina, Jack and the Beanstalk or Godfather Death, this is the post for you!
Perhaps you missed the post about The Princess and the Pea, The Spindle, the Spool and the Needle, or Oh: The Tsar of the Forest? You’ll find that here.
Or if you’ve been following along and just happened to miss Tuesday’s upload, featuring the infamous Cinderella, The Flying Trunk and The Little Mermaid, then feel free to check it out here.
With all of that out of the way, I think it’s time we get on with our newest trio of tales!
The Crystal Ball
This fairy tale was one of my favourite new discoveries in 2018, and I knew I needed to include it in the Re-Draw project. It’s one of the lesser-known (although not entirely obscure) stories by The Brothers Grimm, about a sorceress who doesn’t trust her three sons with the power they wield. Her solution is to turn her eldest son into an eagle and her middle son into a whale, with the condition that they could change back into their human forms for only two hours a day. The main action follows the youngest son who, having escaped, seeks out the King’s daughter who apparently has answers to their dilemma, but as is to be expected with fairy tales, he gets waylaid along the way.
If you fancy having a read of it and finding out what happens in the end, you’ll find the story here. There aren’t as many resources available to share with you for this one, but I did find this interesting academic analysis that takes you through a lot of the key themes within the story, and it’s incredibly accessible so have a look at it if you’re interested. Let me know if you like the illustration and what your favourite bit of the story is in the comments!
Rapunzel
I think everyone has heard a version of this fairy tale in one form or another; from Barbie dolls to Disney, poetry to prose, Rapunzel is one of the most frequently adapted stories in history. The version that we are most familiar with today is indeed from the notorious Brothers Grimm - they recorded their retelling in 1812 - but this was in fact an adapted version of Friedrich Schulz’s earlier Rapunzel from 1790. To complicate things further, Schulz created his story as a translation of Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force’s Persinette, which she wrote in 1698, and her story was in turn heavily influenced by Giambattista Basile’s 1634 story of Petrosinella. I love being able to trace adaptations and translations back through the years; it creates such a rich and diverse chain of artists that each bring their own spin to a story - it’s so inspiring and offers hope in a field that can sometimes feel overwhelmingly saturated.
The story deals with a few difficult themes: infertility, loss, grief, isolation, control and heartbreak. It all seems a little bleak in the versions where Rapunzel and her Prince are separated and never reunited. It’s unsurprising that the adaptations most cherished are the ones where true love conquers all, and there is a happy ending to hold on to. Tell me in the comments which version of the story you’re most familiar with!
I chose to keep my illustration as true to the core features of Rapunzel’s story as possible; the unifying motif of a blonde-haired woman trapped in a tower with long locks features in all of the adaptations. I also included the green vegetables that Rapunzel’s mother craves during her pregnancy because it’s a feature I remember so clearly from reading the story as a child, and it partly explains her name. Unlike some of the other lesser known tales, Rapunzel has a wealth of research material to read, and I’ve tried to include some useful articles here for you to check out. If you’d like to know more about Saint Barbara, the unfortunate woman said to have inspired the story after being locked in a tower by her father, then this is an interesting introduction. If you’re looking for a more detailed analysis of some of the tropes and themes within the legend, as well as links to other similar tales from around the world, then click here. If you follow my Instagram Stories you will have seen me post this podcast yesterday; I’ve featured the Tales podcast in these posts before and I’d highly recommend them if you want to listen to the story and learn a little more about its history.
Hansel and Gretel
I think I’ve been looking forward to talking about this particular fairy tale more-so than the others since I first put this project together. If you’re looking for a fairy tale that’s deliciously creepy, full of magic and steeped in history and debate, this is the one for you.
The story of the ill-fated siblings who are left in the woods by their father to fend for themselves has been passed on for generations. Happening upon a house made of gingerbread and decorated with candy, they are lured into an evil witch’s den, and it is down to Hansel’s shrewd thinking that they are able to escape and get revenge. You can read the Brothers Grimm version here, and an earlier story from Giambattista Basile named Nennillo and Nennella, is also a really good read as a point of comparison. If you want to get a better picture of the context within these stories were created, including child abandonment during horrific famine in Medieval Europe, as well as the interesting plot trope the tale explores where the witch is actually killed, I highly recommend reading Sheldon Cashdan’s The Witch Must Die. It’s one of my favourite resources for understanding fairy tales better, and I’ve come back to it many times over the years.
As infanticide and abandonment were such widespread issues, there have naturally been many, many claims of the ‘real life’ children that Hansel and Gretel are based on. This article gives a brief run-down of a lot of these examples across Europe; it’s a fascinating read that makes you realise how desperate the situation truly was. But if you’re after a more comprehensive analysis of how likely, or unlikely, certain examples are to have been real, this episode from the brilliant Folklore Podcast is essential listening!
And so marks the end of our half-way post through the Fairy Tale Re-Draw Project! Let me know which of these stories you enjoyed the most and why. Make sure you’re following the Puddles of Ink Instagram for DAILY uploads, and keep your eyes peeled for the next blog post on Monday!
Also, leave your fairy tale recommendations for me in the comments because they may just get featured in the zine!!!!