Fairy Tales Have Ancient Origins

Fairy Tales Have Ancient Origins

A new study reveals that fairytales, such as Little Red Riding Hood, are actually much older than anyone thought. The tales are told in all cultures, with subtle differences. But they all have the same basic plotline which is around 2600 years old.

Dr Jamie Tehrani, a cultural anthropologist at Durham University, studied 35 versions of Little Red Riding Hood from around the world. Whilst the European version tells the story of a little girl who is tricked by a wolf masquerading as her grandmother, in the Chinese version a tiger replaces the wolf. In Iran, where it would be considered odd for a young girl to roam alone, the story features a little boy.

Contrary to the view that the tale originated in France shortly before Charles Perrault produced the first written version in the 17th century, Dr Tehrani found that the varients shared a common ancestor dating back more than 2,600 years. He said: "Over time these folk tales have been subtly changed and have evolved just like an biological organism. Because many of them were not written down until much later, they have been misremembered or reinvented through hundreds of generations. By looking at how these folk tales have spread and changed it tells us something about human psychology and what sort of things we find memorable. The oldest tale we found was an Aesopic fable that dated from about the sixth century BC, so the last common ancestor of all these tales certainly predated this. We are looking at a very ancient tale that evolved over time."

Dr Tehrani, who will present his work on Tuesday at the British Science Festival in Guildford, Surrey, identified 70 variables in plot and characters between different versions of Little Red Riding Hood. He found that the stories could be grouped into distinct families according to how they evolved over time. The original ancestor is thought to be similar to another tale, The Wolf and the Kids, in which a wolf pretends to be a nanny goat to gain entry to a house full of young goats.

There are stories in Africa, Japan, China and Burma that all descend from the original story. Traders most likely spread the tales all over the world where they changed over time to suit various cultures. Professor Jack Zipes, an expert on fairy tales, believes fairy tales evolved to pass on knowledge of how to survive to younger generations, which makes sense. The witch in Hansel and Gretel was clearly some kind of Jeffrey Dahmer serial killer. Actually there are quite a few warnings about serial killers, liars and con men in fairy tales. No wonder the stories are so gruesome: they are warnings.

Falling into Autumn

I feel a rant coming. Some time ago I was educated to the fact that in setting up Apartheid South Africans came to Canada to study our reserve system as a blueprint for eliminating an unwanted ethnic minority. Sending body bags to Native Reserves as a method of treating H1N1 virus is so repellent and insensitive as to be beyond bad taste. Certainly the crowded ill-constructed housing conditions and limited life-expectancy on reserves makes them prime targets for such an epidemic but I agree with the elders who found the move insulting and refused delivery of this 'gift'.

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The most dangerous food in the world is wedding cake.

"Do you want to insure this?" asked the clerk at the post office when I handed her my package.

"Nope," I answered. "The contents aren't breakable."

The clerk wasn't so sure. "Ma'am, we are professionals. We can break anything."

Every time I tell Irving Layton what I plan to do next he says,

"Are you sure you're doing the wrong thing?"

--Leonard Cohen

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September 25

A couple days ago the Northern Hemisphere passed through the Autumnal Equinox. However iconic this spatial natural event may be the realities of the season were already with us. With the advent of September overnight frosts, cold blustery winds, and squalls of rain were already upon us. Almost overnight the leaves of hardwood trees lose their verdant green and turn almost fluorescently red, gold, orange and magenta. Fragile fern turn amber at the slightest hint of frost. Evergreens, though they remain green year-round slough off aging needles with yellowing boughs giving the trees an unhealthy look. In these and many other ways forest plants and animals prepare for the annual dormancy of winter.

Country Music Buffs might think of:

I played around, and stayed around

This old town to long

Summer's almost gone, yes

Winter's coming on...

And it looks like

I gotta travel on.

But hillsides turning brilliantly red and fog banks drifting over rocky outcrops ringing with the raucous calls of blue jays, crows and ravens remind me of the poet Bliss Carmen studied decades ago:

Along the line of smoky hills

The crimson forest stands

And all day long the Blue Jay's call

Sounds through the Autumn lands.

On Canada's East Coast with its Mixed Acadian Forests and remnant Appalachian Mountain Range even in the few urban areas wilderness is never more than a brief walk or drive away and these lines eminently capture the scene.

Today, Friday, September 25, 2009 is my Brother-in-Law Richard's sixtieth birthday and I, parked over one hundred miles distant in this campground, can be with him only in spirit. It's great when a sibling can give you a surrogate brother you didn't get through birth. I can only wish that he, as I have been able, were retired.

Today is one of those typical Fall days here in Nova Scotia. At dawn the rising tide brought with it an intense squall of rain and a cold gusting wind has driven scattered showers ever since. Surprising how accurate meteorologists can be about bad weather, now if they can be right about the next two days of sunshine? Well they weren't.

September 28, 2009

I left Nova Scotia yesterday amid some eagerness to escape the yoke of the Campground Host Experience. Made it to Sackville, New Brunswick where I stopped at the tourist bureau and the ESSO station across the road, a busy spot as the first opportunity to buy gas 6¢ a litre cheaper than NS. My tanks full I set off for Hopewell Rocks. Since there are no bridges or ferries cross the Petitcodiac River one is forced to drive to Moncton and then back down to a point just a few miles from Sackville and just across the Minas Basin from Joggins, NS. The Petitcodiac is famous for its Tidal Bore which, at Spring Tides enthusiasts attempt to surf and catch on river rafts as the powerful tides back up the river creating up to a 3 foot wave.

Ponderosa Pines Campground lives up to its name though the trees here are Red Pine and they are dropping an alarming number of needles many looking frighteningly yellow and their foliage remarkably thin. The park has two large onsite lakes but after a summer without adequate power and no Wi-Fi the opportunity to catch up on the outside world has occupied me the last 12 hours. I've missed being able to check things out online on a whim at any time of the day or night without leaving the comfort of my own RV. Just as well as toward dark it started raining and has done so heavily ever since. So much for light showers. I have managed to whittle my E-mail 'in-box down from over 1000 to 300. I also have 300 CBC News Updates to catch up on later today. That news goes back to late July. In that time I've missed many program updates which will need installing later along with September's Windows Updates. I've also taken advantage of the opportunity to explore the online information on the parks I'm headed to in the next month of so and confirm that I have a place to stay in Texas this winter. With rain in the forecast for today and tomorrow it would seem I'll have plenty of time to play catch-up.

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And They Call That Art?

Were not Ryan Adams a Rock Musician of some note would anyone be interested in seeing the childish collection of so-called art on display in the Bowery in NYC:

http://www.morrisonhotelgallery.com/

Summer's Close

September 2, 2009

Getting a visit from Bill not being sufficient penance the following weekend Hurricane Danny came a knocking. Since Nova Scotia Parks shut down their entire system for Bill the week in between was quiet. As it happened Danny, though a much weaker storm hit Yarmouth head on with gusty winds and heavy rain. With the soil already saturated from the previous rains Danny and the heavy rains that followed a day after he left served to raise the lake levels nearly half a foot to unheard of levels. Cleaning ones feet after swimming is no longer an issue as one steps off the ramp directly into the water as these before and after shots will show.

Being the only camper in the park last Monday the 24^th of August I settled for making a pancake breakfast for the staff here. I spent most of the last week working on a puzzle I set up in the beach shelter. I've had opportunity for daily swims and lots of reading. I've been busy working my way through the recently released TV Series Battlestar Gallactica. The series makes frequent use of the word 'frak' in substitution for the forbidden 'f' word, but since both obviously refer to fornication I begin to wonder what the frak the difference may be.

Last Saturday I set up shop in the beach house, built a fire, and settled in to read my E-mailed cartoons, online magazines, and the Austin City Chronicle. When people actually showed up to join me I boiled corn as planned and went through 18 cobs. For the rest I played the games I'd bought at Wal-Mart and began work on my puzzle. There could be worse places to ride out a hurricane.

After two weeks of having a large provincial park almost entirely to myself it's a novel idea to think of having to share it with what could easily be over 200 people. With days when there were only 3 sites occupied the idea of 90 sites is a mite over-whelming. We already have 60 reservations for our 87 sites and in a pinch can squeeze in at least 8 more in overflow camping. I'm waiting to see how many people show up for the 8:00 AM nature walk I've offered to lead on Saturday.

As luck would have it just when one thinks nature has thrown its worst at you the area has just suffered a power failure. I can, of course operate my RV for several days on its onboard batteries but the gal in the office is staring at a blank registration screen. As it turned out the break in power was caused by power commission staff bumping the power wires with a maintenance basket while tending to a fallen tree.

Leaving Yarmouth and Ellenwood

It would seem that campers are more interested in partying hearty all night and sleeping in next morning. Two urchins showed up for hot chocolate when I got up early, made fire, and got ready for a morning nature walk.

In the wake of Hurricane Danny on August 29^th and the rain storm that followed dropping 4 inches of precipitation in short order September arrived with two weeks of Sunshine. As expected a flood of campers arrived for the long weekend and I went up to the office to help with their processing. Fortunately the 60-some campers managed to space their arrivals so that no line-ups ensued.

Once again a campground was faced with the incompatible expectations of those who look at camping as a wilderness experience of peace, quiet, and natural sounds and those who run their generators from dawn to dusk, engage in loud campfire parties and conversation, and gather in large groups to consume excessive amounts of alcohol. I must admit that I come down on the side of those who feel that noise from an adjoining campsite that makes it impossible to hear the loons calling is an obscenity.