"I've seen a lot of weird things, but never such a monster!" - by the Grimm Brothers' eponymous fairy tale The Turnip
As children, we all enjoyed the long and dark nights or the night before Christmas, the beautiful and unforgettable tales of the Grimm Brothers. A world where good overcomes evil, princesses marry princes and the world is beautiful and magical.
But this is not even close to the truth. If you are a fan of the series "Makeup" and the adventures of Detective Makeup, you know for sure that fairy tales can be quite scary.
Are both films and their tales an attempt to escape from our surroundings?
Although we have read the magnificent stories of Snow White, Aschenputtel / Cinderella and Rapunzel, we are left a little surprised that neither of the works is actually a work of the two brothers. In an attempt to save these tales, as part of German cultural heritage and the rapid development of industrialization, the two brothers begin to compile stories and stories related to German culture by friends and relatives in a collection. In 1812, Jacob and Wilhelm published these stories as part of a compilation of stories, called "Children's and Household Stories," or as the "Grimm Brothers Tales" is known today.
But the original version of the book is not intended for children. There is blood, sex, incest in the stories, and they are not illustrated.
For example, in the original version, Rapunzel becomes pregnant by the prince after the adventure, in Cinderella, the sisters cut their toes so they can get into the shoe. To make these stories accessible to the youngest readers, some of the stories have been edited. However, the Cinderella and Red Riding Hood stories are not fictionalized by the brothers, but are based on an earlier version of Charles Perot, while the story of Beauty and the Beast has nothing to do with the Grimm Brothers' creativity.
In addition to the initial shock in German society, these stories lead to new troubles for the brothers. In 1830, the King of Hanover, Ernst August I, issued a decree of allegiance to the King to all teachers at the University of Göttingen. However, not everyone agreed with this document and 7 professors, including the brothers, were leaving town. Declared to be enemies of the crown and without money, Grimm borrows from his friends as they work on a storybook.
Wilhelm Grimm died in 1859, just as the seventh edition of the stories was coming out. At that time, the collection already included 211 stories and a bunch of complex illustrations. Only 4 years later, his brother Jacob died, deeply saddened by the loss of his beloved brother.
Talented and versatile brothers published not only fairy tales. Thanks to the training received from university philologists and librarians, Grimm has, in parallel with his stories, also published numerous books on mythology, several scientific works on linguistics and medieval studies. The two began an ambitious endeavor to compile a vocabulary of German words, but their demise ended that urge before they could complete the letter F.
The desire, talent and commitment of the two brothers forever leave their mark on world literature. Although some stories are for little or only adult readers, they continue to excite, and perhaps even frighten, the knowledge-hungry book lovers.
