Selected Tales

by Brothers Grimm, David Luke (Translator), David Luke (Introduction), David Luke (Noted by)

Overview

Selected Tales contains some of the most timeless and enchanting folk and fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm, translated with an introduction by David Luke in Penguin Classics.

These folktales collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm are among the most memorable stories in European culture - conjuring up a world of spells and bewitchment, outwitted villains and cruel stepmothers, animal bridegrooms and enchanted princesses. Tales such as 'Hansel and Gretel', 'Little Red Cape' and 'The Robber Bridegroom' depict the dangers lurking in dark forests, and others, including 'Briar-Rose' and 'Snow White' show young beauties punished by unforgiving sorceresses. Other tales include 'Thickasathumb', which portrays a childless young couple whose wish for a baby is granted in an unexpected way, while 'The Frog King' tells of a rash promise made by a haughty princess to share her bed with a frog, and a fortune is won in 'The Blue Lamp', when a soldier gains a kingdom with the help of a magic lamp.

David Luke's vibrant translation is accompanied by an introduction discussing the key themes of the tales and the literary background of the Brothers Grimm. This edition also includes new further reading and a chronology, with notes and a glossary.

Jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (1786-1859) are nowadays simply known as 'the brothers Grimm'. Both brothers were state-appointed librarians in Kassel, and later members of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in Berlin, where Frederick William IV of Prussia had invited them to settle. Two of Germany's greatest scholars, Jacob is regarded as the founder of the scientific study of the German language, and with his brother Wilhelm initiated the Deutsches Wörterbuch, a dictionary of all words in modern High German since 1450.

If you enjoyed the Selected Tales of the Brothers Grimm, you might like Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales, also available in Penguin Classics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780241245057
Publisher:	Penguin UK
Publication date:	07/02/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	860,612
File size:	631 KB

About the Author

Jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (1786-1859) are nowadays simply known as 'the brothers Grimm'.

Place of Birth:

Hanau, Germany

Place of Death:

Berlin, Germany

Table of Contents

	Introduction	xiii
	Note on the Text	xliii
	Note on the Translation	xlvii
	Select Bibliography	liii
	A Chronology of the Grimm Brothers	lvii
	The Tales
	Preface to the Second Edition (1819)	3
1	The Frog King, or Iron Henry	11
2	Cat and Mouse As Partners	14
3	Our Lady's Child	16
4	The Tale of the Boy Who Set Out To Learn Fear	20
5	The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats	27
6	Faithful John	30
7	The Good Bargain	36
8	The Twelve Brothers	39
9	The Pack of No-good, Low-life Ruffians	44
10	Little Brother and Little Sister	45
11	Rapunzel	51
12	The Three Little Men in the Forest	54
13	Hansel and Gretel	58
14	The Tale of the Fisherman and His Wife	65
15	The Brave Little Tailor	72
16	Ashypet	78
17	The Tale of the Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage	84
18	Mother Holle of the Snow	86
19	The Seven Ravens	88
20	Little Redcap	91
21	The Bremen Town Band	94
22	The Singing Bone	97
23	The Devil With the Three Golden Hairs	98
24	The Girl With No Hands	104
25	Clever Hans	109
26	Sensible Elsie	111
27	The Table-Lay, the Gold-Donkey, and the Club in the Sack	114
28	Little Thumb	122
29	Mrs Fox's Wedding	127
30	The Robber Bridegroom	129
31	Godfather Death	132
32	Thumbling's Travels	135
33	Fitcher's Bird	138
34	The Tale of the Juniper Tree	141
35	Old Sultan	149
36	The Six Swans	151
37	Briar-Rose	155
38	Foundling-Bird	158
39	Snow-White	160
40	Knapsack, Hat, and Horn	168
41	Rumpelstiltskin	172
42	The Golden Bird	175
43	The Golden Goose	181
44	Coat o' Skins	184
45	Jorinda and Joringel	189
46	The Three Children of Fortune	191
47	Six Make Their Way Through the Whole World	193
48	Grandfather and Grandson	198
49	The Tale of Little Hen's Death	198
50	Hans in Luck	200
51	The Fox and the Geese	204
52	The Singing, Soaring Lark	204
53	The Goose-Girl	209
54	The Young Giant	215
55	The King of the Golden Mountain	221
56	The Water of Life	226
57	The Bearskin Man	230
58	Tales of Toads and Adders	235
59	The Jew in the Thorn Bush	236
60	The Bright Sun Brings It To Light	240
61	The Wilful Child	241
62	The Devil and His Grandmother	241
63	One-Eye, Two-Eyes, and Three-Eyes	244
64	The Shoes That Were Danced To Tatters	250
65	Iron John	253
66	The Lord's Beasts and the Devil's	260
67	The Little Shepherd Boy	261
68	The Starry Coins	261
69	The Stolen Farthing	262
70	Reviewing the Brides	263
71	The Tale of Cockaigne	263
72	A Tall Tale From Diethmarsch	264
73	A Riddling Tale	265
74	Snow-White and Rose-Red	265
75	Sharing Joy and Sorrow	270
76	The Moon	271
77	The Messengers of Death	273
78	The Unequal Children of Eve	274
79	The Golden Key	276
	Children's Legends
80	St Joseph in the Forest	276
81	The Rose	279
82	Our Lady's Goblet	279
Appendix A	Selected Earlier Versions	280
Appendix B	Selected Tales from the First Edition, Removed for the Second and Subsequent Editions	288
Appendix C	Circular Letter Concerning the Collection of Folk Poesy	294
Appendix D	Wilhelm Grimm's Last Reflections on the Marchen	298
	Notes	305

Editorial Reviews

"The book that afforded me deepest pleasure is 'Selected Tales' by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (trans Joyce Crick). What a joy to meet Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel and Ashypet again in these sparkling new versions." —Paul Bailey, The Independent

"Terrific new edition...forcefully translated and brilliantly analysed, by Joyce Crick." —The Independent

"Joyce Crick, a fine scholar of German literature, has set out here to rescue Grimm's Tales both from children and folklorists and to help us see it as a major work of literature... she has done a magnificent job, and both she and OUP are to be congratulated." —Times Literary Supplement

From the Publisher