A Study of Fairy Tales | Page 3

Fairy Tales, More
English Fairy Tales, Indian Fairy Tales, and Reynard the Fox, and
their scholarly introductions and notes, by Joseph Jacobs; of Norse
Tales and its full introduction, by Sir George W. Dasent; of Tales of the
Punjab and its Appendix, by Mrs. F.A. Steel; of the Uncle Remus
Books, by J.C. Harris; of Fairy Tales, by Hans C. Andersen; of Fairy
Mythology and Tales and Popular Fictions, by Thomas Keightley; of
Principles of Literary Criticism, by Professor C.T. Winchester, for its
standards of literature; of English Composition, by Professor Barrett
Wendell, for its standards of composition; of Professor John Dewey's
classification of the child's instincts; and of the Kindergarten Review,
containing many articles of current practice illustrating standards
emphasized here.
Recognition is gratefully given for the use of various collections of
fairy tales and for the use of any particular fairy tale that has been
presented in outline, descriptive narrative, criticism, or dramatization.
Among collections special mention should be made of The Fairy
Library, by Kate D. Wiggin and Nora A. Smith; the Fairy Books, by
Clifton Johnson; and the Fairy Books, by Andrew Lang. Among tales,
particular mention should be made for the use, in adaptation, made of
Oeyvind and Marit, given in Whittier's Child Life in Prose; of The
Foolish Timid Rabbit, given in The Jataka Tales, by Ellen C. Babbit; of
The Sheep and the Pig, in Miss Bailey's For the Children's Hour; of
Drakesbill, in The Fairy Ring, by Wiggin and Smith; of The Magpie's
Nest, in English Fairy Tales, by Joseph Jacobs; of How the Evergreen
Trees Lose their Leaves, in The Book of Nature Myths, by Miss
Holbrook; of The Good-Natured Bear, described by Thackeray in "On
Some Illustrated Christmas Books"; and of The Hop-About-Man, by
Agnes Herbertson, given in The Story-Teller's Book, by Alice O'Grady
(Moulton) and Frances Throop.
The author wishes also to express thanks to the many teachers and
children whose work has in any way contributed to A Study of Fairy
Tales.

LAURA F. KREADY LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA August,
1916

CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
INTRODUCTION BY HENRY SUZZALLO xv
I. THE WORTH OF FAIRY TALES 1
II. PRINCIPLES OF SELECTION FOR FAIRY TALES 13
III. THE TELLING OF FAIRY TALES 90
IV. THE HISTORY OF FAIRY TALES 158
V. CLASSES OF FAIRY TALES 204
VI. SOURCES OF MATERIAL FOR FAIRY TALES 245
APPENDIX 265
OUTLINE 291
INDEX 305

INTRODUCTION
The fairy tale has a place in the training of children which common
sense and a sympathetic attitude toward childhood will not deny. Some
rigid philosophers, who see no more of life than is to be found in
logical science, condemn the imaginative tale. They regard the teaching
of myths and stories as the telling of pleasant lies, which, if harmless,
are wasteful. What the child acquires through them, he must sooner or
later forget or unlearn.

Such arguments carry conviction until one perceives that their authors
are measuring the worth of all teaching in terms of strictly intellectual
products. Life is more than precise information; it is impulse and action.
The fairy tale is a literary rather than a scientific achievement. Its
realities are matters of feeling, in which thought is a mere skeleton to
support the adventure. It matters little that the facts alleged in the story
never were and never can be. The values and ideals which enlist the
child's sympathy are morally worthy, affording a practice to those
fundamental prejudices toward right and wrong which are the earliest
acquisitions of a young soul. The other characteristics of the tale--the
rhythmic, the grotesque, the weird, and the droll--are mere recreation,
the abundant playfulness which children require to rest them from the
dangers and terrors which fascinate them.
The fairy tale, like every other literary production, must be judged by
the fitness of its emotional effects. Fairyland is the stage-world of
childhood, a realm of vicarious living, more elemental and more
fancy-free than the perfected dramas of sophisticated adults whose
ingrained acceptance of binding realities demands sterner stuff. The
tales are classics of a particular kind; they are children's classics, artful
adaptations of life and form which grip the imaginations of little folks.
The diet of babes cannot be determined by the needs of grown-ups. A
spiritual malnutrition which starves would soon set in if adult wisdom
were imposed on children for their sustenance. The truth is amply
illustrated by those pathetic objects of our acquaintance, the men and
women who have never been boys and girls.
To cast out the fairy tale is to rob human beings of their childhood, that
transition period in which breadth and richness are given to human life
so that it may be full and plastic enough to permit the creation of those
exacting efficiencies which increasing knowledge and responsibility
compel. We cannot