nPostednon January 4, 2014
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Whatnwith the television show called “Grimm,” Jacob Grimm’s name has,nperhaps, never been more famous than it is now. However, he was bornnon this date way back in 1785, and way over in Germany.
Whatnwith the television show called “Grimm,” Jacob Grimm’s name has,nperhaps, never been more famous than it is now. However, he was bornnon this date way back in 1785, and way over in Germany.n
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nHisnname is associated with fairy tales, for he and his brother Wilhelmnare the Brothers Grimm. But Jacob Grimm was more than just an editornof a fairy tale collection. He was a philologist, a jurist, and anmythologist.
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nLetnme explain those terms!
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n Anphilologist is someone who studies language in historical sources—innother words, someone who studies old books and other old pieces ofnwriting. It’s like a combination of being a book reviewer, anhistorian, and a linguist.
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nAnjurist is someone who studies, teaches, and/or practices the law. InnGrimm’s case, he studied and wrote about German laws throughoutnhistory and oral legal traditions. n
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nAnmythologist is someone who systematically collects and studies myths,nwhich are stories about a group of people—where they came from,ntheir history and gods and ancestors and heroes.
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nYouncan see, with all this study of language and stories and myths andntraditions, why Grimm ended up collecting and publishing fairy tales.
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nFairyntales – not just nice little stories for children!
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nAsnanyone who watches Grimmnor OncenUpon a Timencan tell you, fairy tales aren’t pretty and tidy and nice littlentales meant to soothe little kids as they drift off to sleep. Ournmore modern versions of fairy tales are nicer and warmer and cuddliernthan the original stories—but still, there are plenty of scarynvillains and dark creepiness and violence!
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Fairyntales were originally told and heard, not written and read, and theynwere meant for adults as well as children. They were often storiesnthat contained warnings of sorts—can you see that “Little RednRiding Hood” warns you not to talk to strangers? And they werenoften stories about the wrongs inflicted on women and children—innother words, they were meant to be by, about, and for women andnchildren, who were relatively powerless compared to adult men.
Fairyntales were originally told and heard, not written and read, and theynwere meant for adults as well as children. They were often storiesnthat contained warnings of sorts—can you see that “Little RednRiding Hood” warns you not to talk to strangers? And they werenoften stories about the wrongs inflicted on women and children—innother words, they were meant to be by, about, and for women andnchildren, who were relatively powerless compared to adult men.n
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nIt’snhard to define what makes a story a fairy tale, as opposed to a myth,nlegend, fable, or simply a folktale. Even scholars who study andnwrite about fairy tales cannot agree on one firm definition. Still,nmost fairy tales happen “once upon a time,” rather than in onenparticular time and place, and they usually involve magicalnbeings—not always fairies, though—sometimes it’s elves or dwarvesnor witches or giants.
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nItnwas collectors-of-tales like the Brothers Grimm who probably mostnsolidified what is and is not considered a fairy tale, and it was thenGrimms in particular who associated the tales with children. Theynnamed their highly influential 2-volume story collection Children’snand Household Tales.nn
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nEnjoynfairy tales today!
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nTherenare all sorts of fairy tale activities to be found on the web:
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nHeren is an animated Grimm Fairy Tale website.
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nHeren is the Hello Kids website, which includes Grimm stories andn activities.
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nHeren is a crafts page from DLTK that ties into Grimm fairy tales.
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nAlsonon this date:
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SpaghettinDay
SpaghettinDay
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nWorldnBraille Day
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nWorldnBraille Day
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nFirstsnfor the fourth
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nFirstsnfor the fourth
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nEarth at Perihelion
nEarth at Perihelion
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nnPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nJanuaryn birthdays
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nAndnhere are my boards for:
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