Fairy Tale Friday--The Month of March

For the last Friday in March, I would like to feature the story The Month of March on page 42 of Italian Fairy Tales by Georgene Faulkner.  This is the first fairy tale I've read that features personified months; seasons, sure, but not months.

It also includes the very common theme of two people (in this case a rich brother and a poor brother) getting a completely different results from an encounter with the same supernatural being(s).

Fairy Tale Friday--Aino Folk-tales

The Ainu are an indigenous Japanese people.  This collection of tales aimed at academics hasn't got any illustrations, so I've added one from a Dover clip art collection.


Aino Folk-tales by Basil Hall Chamberlain

The story I would like to feature is The Man who was changed into a Fox on page 25.  Foxes appear frequently in Japanese folklore. They generally disguise themselves as women, or possess the souls of women,  so that makes this story an interesting exception.

Fairy Tale Friday--Urashima

Japanese Fairy Tales  By Teresa Peirce Williston has lots of color illustrations.  I'd like to tout the story Urashima.  It's a Japanese version of Rip Van Winkle.

Not from the book

Fairy Tale Friday--Prince Hat Underground

This title caught my eye because I love hats.  The tale, as told starting on page 187 of the collection Swedish fairy tales. Translated by Tyra Engdahl and Jessie Rew., never explains why he is Prince Hat.  Does he favor hats over crowns?  Is his head particularly important?

Another interesting element is the "singing leaves," which the good daughter (pictured above) asks her father to bring her.  Of course, her request for this weird gift gets her away from her father into the realm of Prince Hat Underground.  She has to live with him without seeing him, but (as in the story of Cupid and Psyche) she sneaks a look at him while he's sleeping, which makes him leave.  Then she has to go through a lot of rigamarole to get him back.

It's a very long, complicated story with many motifs.