I’m starting this blog as a place to track my interest in fairy tales, folklore, mythology, fables, fantasy, and whatever else I might toss into this same category. I hope to read a lot of fairy tales in the coming year(s), and to start with the reading itself will be my primary interest. As I progress, though, I will be looking for ways to incorporate this particular interest into other things that I do. I want to write poems based on fairy tales. I want to design student assignments based on fairy tales. I want to write my own analysis of what these tales mean in the world we live in today.

People think of fairy tales as being for children, but I think adapting them for children has always been an afterthought. Disney convinces us that everyone had to live happily every after, and they had a little help with that from some of the people who collected fairy tales in the 19th century, but many of the original tales are pretty dark. They are little horror tales, and I think they are as much responsible for inspiring the horror genre as they are for inspiring stories that involve a princess riding off into the sunset with a handsome (and very rich) prince.

I’m  also drawn to fairy tales because they exist in every culture. Perhaps only a few cultures have a concept of the fairy itself, but most fairy tales don’t have fairies in them. They aren’t very aptly named. What they do have is some combination of magic, moralizing, and mayhem. They are the tales that ordinary people told one another to keep spirits up, to pass the time, to teach life lessons, to push through difficulties, and to simply dream a little.

Fairy tales have a lot to teach us if we are willing to listen. That’s what I’m here for. I’m ready to start my quest, with any luck it will be one that does not require a pair of iron shoes.