Week 13 Reading Diary, Continued: Europa's Fairy Book

As I continued reading through the European unit, I saw and read so many interesting stories. However, for this reading diary I decided to focus my attention to Europa's Fairy Book. The stories are written by Joseph Jacobs. This unit consists of stories taken from a fascinating book he wrote called Europa's Fairy Book. Here Jacobs has chosen some of the fairy tales that he saw repeated again and again in different European traditions.

The Cinder-Maid: Naturally I am very familiar with the story Cinderella because it has always been a favorite from my childhood. I was interested to see how the story altered in this version of it. In the story I head I don’t believe that Cinderella’s father was a noble of the king’s court. Also I found it very strange that it was not a fairy godmother who helped her get ready for the ball, but it was a little bird and that scene was very short lived. In the story I heard it is a much bigger deal but it this story they kind of just blow over it very quickly. Although it is a little different from the story I know it this has the same message and overall plot line.

(flickr)

The Language of Animals: clearly this story caught my attention because of my love of animals. When I saw the title I had to know more, and I truly enjoyed reading it. It was a well told story that had a lot of vivid detail.

Week 13 Reading Diary: Italian Popular Tales

For the thirteenth week in my Mythology and Folklore class I was told to read stories from a European unit. There were many areas that I found to be very interesting. I decided to focus on my efforts on a particular country. Today I will be reading stories from Italian Popular Tales. This selection of stories from the Italian Popular Tales by Thomas Crane provides a great introduction to the fabulously rich tradition of Italian folktales and fairy tales.

Zelinda and the Monster: right away it was easy to tell that this was a different version of Beauty and the Beast. I had no idea that this was originally an Italian story. I really enjoyed the way that the story added in the culture of the people. It has been a long time since I have seen the Disney movie of Beauty and the Beast, so while I was reading this story it was jogging my memories and reminding me of my childhood.

The Fair Angiola: after I finished the story I was able to understand that this was a version of the story we come to know as Rapunzel. The beginning of the story was very different though. I do not remember the witch being Rapunzel’s aunt, nor do I remember the witch hurting and threatening her. It was interesting to read a different version to this story. I know learned much more background information about how Rapunzel or for the purpose of the story, Angiola, came to be.

Week 12 Reading Diary, Continued: Welsh Fairy Tales

As I continued into week 12 of my Mythology and Folklore class at the University of Oklahoma. I continued to read more from the British unit. As I did this, I decided to focus this blog on Welsh Fairy Tales. These Welsh Fairy-Tales and Other Stories were collected by Peter Emerson in Anglesea during the winter of 1891-1892.

(flickr)

Three Short Tales of Fairies: Here I learned about three very unique fairies and their lives. Fairies have always been very interesting to me and I was very eager to learn more about their origin. By reading these tales I was able to hear three very different stories which allowed me to have a greater understanding of the fairies. My favorite of the three stories was The Craig-Y-Don Blacksmith. I found it to be a very intriguing read that kept my attention the whole time. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about fairies.

Crows: I began reading this story with great caution. I really do not like birds at all. I especially dislike crows because I think they are very scary and they remind me of a scary movie. I just think they give off really bad vibes. As I imagined, this story was not happy at all. In fact, it was very sad and surrounded by death. However, it was written very well. I think that all of the detail really helped me sympathize with the crows. To my surprise I actually found the story quite interesting.

Week 12 Reading Diary: Nursery Rhymes

During our 12 week on this class we were told to read from the British reading units. I decided to focus on Nursery Rhymes. I found these interesting because it allowed me to revisit my childhood, but it also gave me a brand new perspective, as well as broadening my horizons. The collection of stories I read are from The Nursery Rhyme Book by Andrew Lang with illustrations by L Leslie Brooke.

Charms and Lullabies: there were a wide variety of lullabies in this section. Many that I had heard before and some that I had not. The one in particular that I would like to focus on is “Hush a bye Baby.” I had always heard it as “Rock a bye Baby.” However, in this version there were many more verses to the story. The one I am familiar with stopped after the first verse. This story went on for quite some time and I found it very interesting to hear the rest of the story. It was like finally figuring out the ending after such a long time.

Tales: once again some of these stories were familiar and others were not. I really enjoyed two songs in particular. They were, The Man in the Moon and There was a Crooked Man. Both I had heard once but they were a little different. I think they are both really fun short stories. They are great for children and go a great job of rhyming. I think tales are interesting to read.

Week 11 Reading Diary, Continued: More English Tales

As I continued into week 11 I decided to stick with reading More English Fairy Tales in the British unit. I really enjoyed all of the stories I read yesterday so I thought I would just continue to learn even more about the unique fairy tales. The readings for this unit come from More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, published in 1894 as a sequel to his English Fairy Tales of 1890.

The Three Wishes: When I first looked at the title I imagined something like a genie. I soon learned that I was kind of right in thinking it was a genie. The story is about a fairy granting a person who is less fortunate three wishes. However, the wishes the man asked for were not nearly as extravagant as I was expecting. I think that the ending was kind of a let down, but I still found it to be enjoying to read.

The King o’ the Cats: This story really excited me because I saw that it was about cats. As I have already explained, I love stories about animals. This story took a bit of a depressing turn with the death of someone in the story and the cats crying together in a depression. It was not really that happy story that I was expecting when I first began reading it.

Week 11 Reading Diary: English Fairy Tales

For week 11 we were instructed to read stories from the British unit. For my reading diary I decided to focus on English Fairy Tales. The readings for this unit come from English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, published in 1890, which he followed with More English Fairy Tales in 1894.

The Story of the Three Little Pigs: I am sure that everyone has heard the story of the three little pigs at some point in my life. For me it has always been my favorite. I have two older sisters and we used to always call ourselves the three little pigs. That is why this story was one of my favorites in the unit. What was particularly great about this story is that it gave me the chance to hear the story a lot more in depth. I had never realized how violent it is. It talks about eating the pigs and boiling and eating a wolf. I am now surprised it is such a popular children’s story.

Mr. Fox: This is a story that I was not familiar with already, but it turned out to be a very interesting one. I assumed Mr. Fox was an actual fox and I was surprised to find out otherwise when I began reading the story. The story was tragic and gruesome. It reminded me of a serial killer. It was not at all what I expected when I began to read this story. I am glad that she confronted Mr. Fox in the end for killing all of those women.

Week 10 Reading Diary: American Indian Fairy Tales

As I continued reading Native American stories for Week 10 I had many topics to choose from. I chose to focus on American Indian Fairy Tales. I chose this because I thought it would be a little bit more relatable to me. This unit contains stories inspired by the Ojibwa and other Native American legends collected and published by Henry Schoolcraft in the early 19th century.

(Iagoo)

Iagoo, the Story-Teller: as the story began I found myself becoming very interested with Iagoo. I was eager to learn more about a character who was so powerful and wise. He seems like the perfect character and role models for young children. I liked how he is all knowing of all fairy tales and stories and he continuously passes them on. This story is kind of the set up for the entire book as the stories in the book are ones that Iagoo will soon share.

The Fairy Bride: I found this story to be very interesting. I am a sucker for a good love story so I was drawn to this story when I saw the title. I love reading about weddings! The story begins by saying who Neen-i-zu is. She is a wonderful girl who is extremely popular throughout the tribe. I gained more intrigue in the story once fairies were introduced. Overall, I think that this was a particularly great story. It had everything that fairy tales are supposed to have. It had romance, and magic. It kept my interest through the whole thing.