The Secret Adventures of WriterGirl

Current Theme Song (aka what's playing on my ipod right now): Oraanu Pi by E.S. Posthumus.








Here's a post to anyone who ever wondered if or thought the Grimms brothers and Hans Christian Anders were all the fairy tales that ever were.


Happily I can tell you, there are more. So much more than you ever dreamed. If you have a penchant for fairy tales or want to write a retelling to something just a little off kilter and different, this post is for you. Ever heard of Andrew Lang? Maybe (and bravo!). But have you heard of Karl Haupt or Henry Carnoy? No? Excellent. :) Let's begin. Here is a list to introduce you to a much wider world of fairy tales and fairy tale collectors. And once done here, you can also look through this Wikipedia article. Seriously, Wikipedia has to be the eighth wonder of the world.


Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm - You know these guys. Most famous Western set of compilers to date. The Frog Prince, **, you name it. But let's delve deeper now.

Charles Perrault - Now here is a name you really should know. This guy not only preceded the Grimms, but also could be considered as the mistaken Grimms. Cinderella? Little Red Riding Hood? Puss in Boots? Sleeping Beauty? Yeah, all Perrault. Poor guy is like the stunt double that doesn't get any credit for tons of heavy lifting.

Hans Christian Anderson - Good ole' Anderson, writer of modern classics such as The Little Mermaid, The Matchstick Girl, and the Nightingale. And they all have such happy endings, too.

Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve (with a good deal credit given to the latter Jeanne Marie Leprince de Beaumont) - Now who is this, you might ask? Oh, just the woman credited for writing Beauty and the Beast. Yep, back in the 1700s. The closest thing Grimms has to this is The Singing, Soaring Lark (which is actually in my opinion a much cooler version of this story).

Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d'Aulnoy, or "Madame d'Aulnoy" -
an early french writer of less-known fairy tales, including The White Cat.

Andrew Lang - Compiler of the famous (or not-so-famous depending on the person) "color" fairy tale books. Beginning with the Blue Fairy Book, it features many well-known tales, but get progressively obscure with such titles as the Pink, Grey, Olive, Orange, and Violet fairy books come out. And there's more than just those.

Pu Songling - A Chinese fairy tale collector way back in the 1600s.

Lafcadio Hearn, or Koizumi Yakumo - collector of Japanese folk tales and ghost stories.

Franz Xaver von Schönwerth - You know him from the "rediscovered" fairy tales post. :)

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen - a collector of Norwegian folk tales, including East of the Sun, West of the Moon.

Jack Zipes - A modern translator and collector of fairy tales.


And here are some more for you to delve into, but by no means complete. This is just the tip of the iceberg, people. Dive in. It's an ocean out there. :)


Fletcher S. Bassett
Sophia Morrison
James Halliwell-Phllipps
Alexander Afanasyev
Theodor Vernaleken
Karl Haupt
Ignaz and Joseph Zingerele
François-Marie Luzel

and so many more. Don't disclude our contemporary folklorists, either.