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Bluebeard
"Bluebeard" (french: Barbe bleue, ) is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in '' Histoires ou contes du temps passé''. The tale tells the story of a wealthy man in the habit of murdering his wives and the attempts of the present one to avoid the fate of her predecessors. " The White Dove", " The Robber Bridegroom" and " Fitcher's Bird" (also called "Fowler's Fowl") are tales similar to "Bluebeard". The notoriety of the tale is such that Merriam-Webster gives the word "Bluebeard" the definition of "a man who marries and kills one wife after another". The verb "bluebearding" has even appeared as a way to describe the crime of either killing a series of women, or seducing and abandoning a series of women. Plot In one version of the story, Bluebeard is a wealthy and powerful nobleman who has been married six times to beautiful women who have all mysteriously vanished. When he v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gilles De Rais
Gilles de Rais (c. 1405 – 26 October 1440), Baron de Rais (), was a knight and lord from Brittany, Anjou and Poitou, a leader in the French army, and a companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc. He is best known for his reputation and later conviction as a confessed serial killer of children. A member of the House of Montmorency-Laval, Gilles de Rais grew up under the tutelage of his maternal grandfather and increased his fortune by marriage. He earned the favour of the Duke of Brittany and was admitted to the French court. From 1427 to 1435, Rais served as a commander in the French army, and fought alongside Joan of Arc against the English and their Burgundian allies during the Hundred Years' War, for which he was appointed Marshal of France. In 1434 or 1435, he retired from military life, depleted his wealth by staging an extravagant theatrical spectacle of his own composition, and was accused of dabbling in the occult. After 1432, Rais was accused of engaging in a series o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Histoires Ou Contes Du Temps Passé
''Histoires ou contes du temps passé, avec des moralités'' or ''Contes de ma mère l'Oye'' (''Stories or Tales from Past Times, with Morals'' or ''Mother Goose Tales'')Zipes (2000), 236 ff. is a collection of literary fairy tales written by Charles Perrault, published in Paris in 1697. The work became popular because it was written at a time when fairy tales were fashionable amongst aristocrats in Parisian literary salons.Bottigheimer (2008), 187 f. Perrault wrote the work when he retired from court as secretary to Jean-Baptiste Colbert, minister to Louis XIV of France. Colbert's death may have forced Perrault's retirement, at which point he turned to writing. Scholars have debated as to the origin of his tales and whether they are original literary fairy tales modified from commonly known stories, or based on stories written by earlier medieval writers such as Boccaccio. Elaborate embellishments were a preferred style at the French court. The simple plots Perrault started w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conomor
Conomor ( ), also known as Conomerus or Conomor the Cursed, was an early medieval ruler of Brittany. His name, which has the Welsh cognate Cynfawr, means "Great Dog", but could also indicate "Sea Dog" in early Brythonic. Conomor was notorious for his cruelty, becoming a legendary villain in Breton culture. He is widely regarded as one of the probable sources for the myth of Bluebeard and possibly also of Tristan's uncle King Mark of Cornwall. The wife-beating giant Cormoran may also retain a garbled folk memory of the same character. Conomor was king of Dumnonia and Prince of Poher. Dumnonia was, at this time, expanding to claim control over all Brythonic territory in Armorica (Brittany). It is difficult to disentangle the Conomor of legend from the historical ruler. As with other early Breton rulers most written information about him comes from the lives of Breton saints. Historical record The name Conomor is mentioned in Cornish genealogies, and may have established himself in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Robber Bridegroom (fairy Tale)
"The Robber Bridegroom" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 40. Joseph Jacobs included a variant, ''Mr Fox'', in ''English Fairy Tales'', but the original provenance is much older; Shakespeare (circa 1599) alludes to the ''Mr. Fox'' variant in ''Much Ado About Nothing'', Act 1, Scene 1: :''Like the old tale, my lord: "it is not so, nor `t was not so; but, indeed, God forbid it should be so."'' It is Aarne–Thompson type 955, the robber bridegroom. This type is closely related to tales of type 312, such as ''Bluebeard'', and type 311, such as '' How the Devil Married Three Sisters'' and ''Fitcher's Bird''. Synopsis A miller wishes to marry his daughter off, and so when a rich suitor appears, he betroths her to him. One day the suitor complains that the daughter never visits him. He tells her that he lives in the forest and overrides her reluctance to visit by telling her he will leave a trail of ashes so she could find his home. She fills her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault ( , also , ; 12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was an iconic French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales, published in his 1697 book '' Histoires ou contes du temps passé'' (''Stories or Tales from Past Times''). The best known of his tales include ''Le Petit Chaperon Rouge'' ("Little Red Riding Hood"), ''Cendrillon'' (" Cinderella"), ''Le Maître chat ou le Chat botté'' (" Puss in Boots"), ''La Belle au bois dormant'' (" Sleeping Beauty"), and ''Barbe Bleue'' (" Bluebeard"). Some of Perrault's versions of old stories influenced the German versions published by the Brothers Grimm more than 100 years later. The stories continue to be printed and have been adapted to most entertainment formats. Perrault was an influential figure in the 17th-century French literary scene, and was the leader of the Modern faction during the Quarrel of the An ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
How The Devil Married Three Sisters
How the Devil Married Three Sisters is an Italian fairy tale found in Thomas Frederick Crane's ''Italian Popular Tales'' (1885). It was collected and originally published in German as "''Der Teufel heirathet drei Schwestern''" by Widter and Wolf in 1866. It is classified as Aarne-Thompson tale type 311, "The heroine rescues herself and her sisters". Italo Calvino's retelling, entitled ''Silver Nose'' in his ''Italian Folktales'' (1956) is a composite, with its skeletal plot based on a Piedmont version featuring the devil-husband with a silver nose, fleshed out using variants from other localities.Martin tr., Synopsis The following version was given by Widter and Wolf (Thomas Frederic Crane tr.): Once, the Devil decided to marry. He prepared a house, disguised himself as a fine gentleman, and came calling on a family to woo their three daughters. The oldest agreed to marry him. When he took her home, he forbade her to look in a door, but as soon as he left, she did so, and h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fitcher's Bird
"Fitcher's Bird" (German: ''Fitchers Vogel'') is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 46.Margaret Hunt (tr.) It is Aarne-Thompson type 311, the heroine rescues herself and her sisters. Another tale of this type is '' How the Devil Married Three Sisters''.D. L. Ashliman,How the Devil Married Three Sisters, and other folktales of type 311 The Brothers Grimm noted its close similarity to the Norwegian '' The Old Dame and Her Hen'', also grouped in this tale type. The tale also features the motifs of the "Forbidden chamber" and a bloodied item that betrays the bride peeking in that chamber against strict orders, and as such bears resemblance to the ''Bluebeard'' type tales (which are type AT 312). Synopsis A sorcerer would take the form of a beggar to abduct young women as his would-be brides. After bringing the eldest sister of a family back to his home, he assured her she would be happy with him. Eventually, the sorcerer leaves but not before handi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saint Tryphine
Saint Tryphine (also spelled Trifine, Triphine and Tréphine) is a semi-legendary Breton saint whose life is often considered to be the basis of the story of Bluebeard. In Brittany she is widely revered as a patron saint of sick children and those whose birth is overdue. The legend of Saint Tryphine probably derives from a historical individual who was the wife of the early Breton ruler Conomor. Historical background Conomor is said to have married Tryphine, the daughter of his ally Waroch I, but seems later to have violently abused and then murdered her. Conomor was later killed in battle with a rival, and became a legendary villain in Breton history. Tryphine was elevated to the position of a martyred saint, along with her son Tremeur, and there are many churches dedicated to them. The village of Sainte-Tréphine is named for the former. Myth of Tryphine and Tremeur In later legend Conomor's villainy is extended to include the murders of three wives before Tryphine. Tryphine r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Due to its several coastal territories, France has the largest exclusive economic zone in the world. France borders Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Andorra, and Spain in continental Europe, as well as the Netherlands, Suriname, and Brazil in the Americas via its overseas territories in French Guiana and Saint Martin. Its eighteen integral regions (five of which are overseas) span a combined area of and contain clos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pentamerone
The ''Pentamerone'', subtitled ''Lo cunto de li cunti'' ("The Tale of Tales"), is a seventeenth-century Neapolitan fairy tale collection by Italian poet and courtier Giambattista Basile. Background The stories in the ''Pentamerone'' were collected by Basile and published posthumously in two volumes by his sister Adriana in Naples, Italy, in 1634 and 1636 under the pseudonym Gian Alesio Abbatutis. These stories were later adapted by Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, the latter making extensive, acknowledged use of Basile's collection. Examples of this are versions of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Puss in Boots, Sleeping Beauty, and Hansel and Gretel. While other collections of stories have included stories that would be termed fairy tales, his work is the first collection in which all the stories fit in that single category. He did not transcribe them from the oral tradition as a modern collector would, instead writing them in Neapolitan, and in many respects was the first writ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Three Crowns
The Three Crowns is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the ''Pentamerone''. Synopsis A childless king heard a voice asking him whether he would rather have a daughter who would flee him or a son who would destroy him. After consulting his wise men, who argued over whether the danger to life or honor was the worse, he concluded that the daughter would be less harmful to his realm; he went back to the garden and answered the voice that he wanted the daughter. She was born, and her father tried to shelter her in a castle, but when she was fifteen, he concluded a marriage for her. When she left to go to her husband, a whirlwind carried her off. The wind left her at an ogress's house in the forest. An old woman there warned her of the danger, saying the ogress did not eat her only because she needed a servant and the old woman was old and tough; she gave the princess the keys, to go inside and clean the house perfectly, which was her onl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maria Tatar
Maria Magdalene Tatar (born May 13, 1945) is an American academic whose expertise lies in children's literature, German literature, and folklore. She is the John L. Loeb Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures, and Chair of the Committee on Degrees in Folklore and Mythology at Harvard University. Biography Maria Tatar was born in Pressath, Germany. Her family emigrated from Hungary to the United States in the 1950s when she was a child.Amy Sutherland (October 27, 2012)"Maria Tatar: Professor and fairy-tale expert" ''The Boston Globe''. She grew up in Highland Park, Illinois and graduated from Highland Park High School in 1963. Tatar earned an undergraduate degree from Denison University and a doctoral degree from Princeton University. In 1971, after finishing her doctorate at Princeton University, Tatar joined the faculty of Harvard University. She received tenure in 1978. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Selected works * ''Spellbound: Studies on Mesmerism an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
