Fairy tales and folk tales are living entities. The stories change and grow with the tellers and the times. Tales were passed on by oral tradition before they were ever written down. There is evidence of fairy tales from an Egyptian papyrus dated about 1700 BC. These stories from Egypt seem similar to those told centuries later in Europe.

Storytelling was a means of entertainment and teaching on farms and in rural areas.The lessons of good and evil, industry over sloth, and that the truth always wins out have always been themes of these tales. Perhaps, as women sat at their spinning wheels, they spun stories involving spinning, such as Sleeping Beauty, to show the rewards of good. The men might have taught the danger of lying to young shepherds they were training through The Boy who Cried Wolf. As she cooked in her farm kitchen a mother could have warned her children not to talk to strangers by telling them of Little Red Riding Hood.

As times changed and rural areas gave way to towns, schools, businesses, and central meeting places. As society changed, the way that people connected and taught through storytelling evolved as well. Stories from the oral tradition were first collected and published by Charles Perrault, a French intellectual, in 1697. He titled his book Tales from Times Past, with Morals: Tales of Mother Goose, and published it under his son’s name, Pierre. Puss in Boots, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty were included in Perrault’s collection, among others.

It wasn’t until the early 19^th century that the Brothers Grimm published their first collection of stories. Their collection included Snow White and Rumplestiltskin among others. The publishing of this book inspired others, such as Hans Christen Anderson, to begin writing fairy tales.

The traditions of storytelling and fairy tales are not lost. We see them today in Disney productions on film and on stage. Steven Speilberg’s E.T. and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series are now our modern classics. The methods have changed, the characters have changed, but the traditions continue.

In fairy tales a wolf can talk, a pumpkin can become a carriage, trolls live under bridges, and a fairy can grant you every wish. They are a place to escape to, a place to believe in magic, a place to gain solace, and a place to learn important lessons. They might frighten us, but they always reward us. An evil queen may wish a princess dead, but the people who care about her always attempt to protect her. And, as she is an innocent girl, she is rewarded with a prince who jolts the fatal apple-piece out of her throat. When involved in a fairy tale, all things are possible and we always believe.