What are some interesting and less-known Grimms' fairy tales?

Wilhelm Grimm, of the popular storytelling duo the Grimm Brothers, was born this day in 1786. He and his brother Jacob are known for their amazing collection of fairy tales, with stories like Snow White and Rapunzel. The two were historians and researchers who began collecting tales for publication. read more

Fairy tales like"Vasilisa the Fair" are syncretic, constructed by borrowing tropes and motifs, along with bits and pieces of plot, not only from the cultural surround in which the tale is told but also from other tales, legends, and myths."Vasilisa the Fair," in Annotated Classic Fairy Tales, ed. Maria Tatar (New York: W.W. Norton, 2002), 172-85. read more

Originally fairy tales were designed to entertain and to teach morals and reflected the spiritual and cultural beliefs of the time but some of these stories—like The Red Shoes—are all too clearly designed to put the fear of god into little children and many of them emphasize the fact that it is okay to react with violence when violence is done unto you. read more