The ''Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales'' (''Enzyklopädie des Märchens'') is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

reference work A reference work is a work, such as a paper, book or periodical (or their electronic equivalents), to which one can refer for information. The information is intended to be found quickly when needed. Such works are usually ''referred'' to ...

on international

Folkloristics Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

, which runs to fifteen volumes and is acknowledged as the most comprehensive work in its field. It examines over two centuries of research into the folk narrative tradition. It was begun by

Kurt Ranke Kurt Ranke (14 April 1908 – 6 June 1985) was a German ethnologist who specialized in the study of fairy tales. Biography Kurt Ranke was born in Blankenburg, Germany on 14 April 1908. His father was a postal inspector. Growing up in Essen, Ranke ...

in the 1960s and was continued by chief editor Rolf Wilhelm Brednich, both of the

Göttingen Academy of Sciences Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The or ...

(Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen). Like the technical periodical '' Fabula'' it is published by the Walter de Gruyter GmbH

publishing house Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

with working premises at the Georg-August University of

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

and as a project of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences. The forerunner of this work was the ''Handwörterbuch des deutschen Märchens'' (''Handbook of German Fairy Tales''), of which only two volumes were published. (article on the making of the ''Enzyklopädie des Märchens'') The first article ''Aarne, Antti Amatus'' appeared in slip in 1975, and the first volume in 1977. By 2014, the final fourteenth volume had been published, followed by an additional volume with lists, indexes and corrigenda in 2015. In all there are approximately 3900 articles, alphabetically arranged, from over 800 authors from over 60 countries. The ''Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales'' provides an overview in the following areas, as relevant to folk narrative research: * Theories and methodologies, * Genre questions, problems of style and structure, issues of context and performance * Important tale-types and motifs * Biographies of scholars, collectors, and authors * National and regional surveys

Creation and compilation

The project was begun by

in the early 1960s with a small staff, and the first fascicle appeared in 1975. Ranke was not only the founder but first chief editor of the project; he was succeeded by Rolf Wilhelm Brednich, who completed the project. Other editors included Elfriede Moser-Rath (1963-1987), Max Lüthi (1973-1984), Rudolf Schenda (1973-1992), Lutz Rohrich (1973-2006), and Regina Bendix (2005-2006). Technical editors included Doris Boden, Ulrich Marzolph, Ulrike-Christine Sander, and Christine Shojaei Kawan. An online-database based on the Encyclopaedia, the ''Encyclopaedia of the Folk Tale Online'', was published in 2016.

Notes

External links

Homepage of the project ''Enzyklopädie des Märchens''
in English
Subject headings for ''Enzyklopädie des Märchens ''
in German {{- Fairy Tales, Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales, Encyclopedia of Works about fairy tales Fairy Tales, Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales, Encyclopedia of 20th-century encyclopedias 21st-century encyclopedias