Fitcher's Bird Illustrations

Fitcher's Bird by Arthur Rackham

Since Fitcher's Bird from the Grimms is the best known tale in the ATU 311 group, I thought I would share some illustrations for it today. There aren't many for this tale is not as popular, but these are charming to look at.

Fitcher's Bird by Johnny Gruelle

Fitcher's Bird by Maurice Sendak

And more from around the web:

Fitcher's Vogel 1 by op art /2

Fitcher's Vogel 2 by op art /2

by Annika Meier & Roger Jahnke

by muckcracker

by Daria Kudla

ATU 311: Rescue by the Sister

Yesterday I discussed ATU 312, the first of three ATU tale types appearing in Bluebeard Tales From Around the World. Today I will briefly discuss ATU 311: Rescue by the Sister. There are 22 tales of this type in the collection. You can read some of them on SurLaLune as well as D. L. Ashliman's site.

From my introduction:

The second tale type, ATU 311: Rescue by the Sister, is also known as “How the Devil Married Three Sisters” as well as “Fitcher’s Bird,” the name of the variant in the Grimms’ Kinder- und Hausmärchen. In this tale group, a wealthy and mysterious gentleman woos or even kidnaps three sisters successively. When he brings the first one home, he gives her the keys to the castle as well as an egg. She is given full access to the castle but forbidden entrance into one room. While he is away, she opens the door and discovers the dead bodies of several women. She drops the egg which becomes stained with the blood in the room. When her disobedience is revealed, the gentleman kills her and places her in the room. The same sequence of events occurs with the second sister. When her turn arrives, the third sister receives the same instructions. She opens the door, too, but manages to avoid exposure by safely securing the egg. She then resurrects her sisters—or at least reclaims their bodies—and sends them home to their parents through wit and deception. Next she escapes through various subterfuges and eventually has the gentleman and his home destroyed as punishment for his crimes.

Note that curiosity and its consequences are sometimes presented in this group, but not often with as strong a moral against them as in ATU 312. The heroine here is not guilty for transgressing the restrictions placed upon her. She is heroic for rescuing herself and often her siblings as well.

I infinitely prefer this tale type over 312. I also prefer ATU 955 which I will discuss tomorrow. There has been some debate over the years whether this one should be lumped together with ATU 312 and not have its own classification. It is sometimes hard to distinguish between the two because the tales are closely related and often share many elements. But I prefer to separate them myself. It's not completely accurate, but in my brain I think of ATU 311 as the one in which the heroine rescues herself and often her siblings. In ATU 312 she most often does nothing to help herself besides wait for assistance. The heroine is rather unlikeable in ATU 312. She is greedy and foolish with no gumption. In ATU 311, you like her and even want to be her for she is smart and takes action to save herself and those around her.

This tale type is also the bridge between ATU 312 and ATU 955: The Robber Bridegroom for it shares traits with both while those two don't share as many traits beyond a murderous male(s).

And the real conundrum is why this tale has so often taken a back seat to Bluebeard. Historically, with Perrault's influence, we can understand when we see how passive fairy tale heroines grew in influence especially after Perrault's time and into the 1800s. But when I hear fairy tales once again bashed for being anti-feminist or such, I just remember my spunky ATU 311 heroine and I am happier.

ATU 312: Maiden-Killer (Bluebeard)

Today’s Bluebeard post is about the types of tales that appear in Bluebeard Tales From Around the World. From my introduction to the book:

This collection presents a considerable number of tales of dangerous suitors, robbers, wife-killers, cannibals, and overall monsters from our literary history. Most of the tales may be classified as either ATU 312: Maiden-Killer (Bluebeard), ATU 311: Rescue by the Sister, or ATU 955: The Robber Bridegroom, all of which are usually considered together in Bluebeard studies. Some of the tales do not easily fit into any of these three tale types, but merit inclusion for their similarities to the group presented here. I have not sorted them by tale type in the table of contents although a guide at the end of the book provides some classification help despite the various challenges of tale typing many of the stories.

And tale typing is not anything I like to do on a regular basis as much as it is helpful in creating collections like these. Overall, European tales, which dominate the collection, slide into categories much easier than tales from Africa and India. And many of these tales were collected before Aarne thought up the original incarnation of the tale type system. Thompson and Uther have refined it since, but it is a tricky business. I am no expert at it by any means although I have played in the sandbox often enough.

Needless to say, ATU 312 is the Perrault Bluebeard type, it draws its primary example from Perrault and the closely related tales. And this type is easier to trace since there aren’t any strong examples of this tale before Perrault set it down on paper. Not to say that it is the oldest known tale in the larger group, for tales in the ATU 311 and 955 groups predate Perrault’s Bluebeard of 1697. But the specific elements found in Perrault’s Bluebeard aren’t seen previously in literary history. And since the oral isn’t recorded we can only make assumptions about what existed before.

Again from my introduction:

In “La Barbe bleue,” a rich nobleman with a distinguishing blue beard courts and marries a woman who doesn’t appear to care much for him but appreciates his wealth. Before leaving on a journey, Bluebeard gives his wife the keys to the castle and encourages her to explore it with her visiting friends. However, he forbids her entry into one single chamber opened by a certain golden key and threatens a horrible punishment if she disobeys him. During his absence, the wife succumbs to curiosity’s temptation and opens the chamber door. Within she discovers the bodies of Bluebeard’s previous wives. In her horror, she drops the key which is consequently stained with blood and will eventually reveal her disobedience. Upon discovering her betrayal, Bluebeard states he will kill her and gives her a few moments to prepare for death. During this short span of time, the wife’s sister Anne watches for their brothers’ arrival, hoping they will arrive in time to rescue their sister from her gruesome fate. The brothers arrive in time and slay Bluebeard. The wife inherits his wealth and lives happily ever after.

The emphasis in this tale is upon the wife’s fatal curiosity—often likened to the Biblical Eve and mythological Pandora—with sexual overtones concerning the key and the blood. Bluebeard is rather sympathetic in this version, a man betrayed by his wife, although his murderous philosophy earns him a death sentence.

Bluebeard’s restriction and the wife’s transgression in this group have provided much fuel for various interpretations of this tale. Throughout most of the tale’s fascinating history, the wife’s “betrayal” has been emphasized over Bluebeard’s murderous behavior which is almost justified, but not quite, since he does die for his own sins. In one popular reading, the bloody key and opened chamber are seen as sexual betrayal as well as a moral sin. There isn’t as much discussion of Bluebeard’s proclivities or outright entrapment of his wives. In modern times, compelling questions help to downplay those interpretations that condemn the heroine. After all, how did the first wife die? Who would want to live with a murderer and should anyone be expected to do so?

Tomorrow I will talk more about ATU 311 which I definitely prefer since it has more "girl power" in it. I don't have definite reasons why Bluebeard has dominated the group, but it is the most disturbing by modern feminist standards, one of the reasons I think it has decreased in popularity in recent decades. We are not quick to condemn female curiosity or power these days, thank goodness.

And, of course, you can also read an annotated version of the tale, the one that started it all on SurLaLune.

The Firebird Ballet at Tales of Faerie

   

Kristin at Tales of Faerie had a wonderful entry on the Firebird Ballet last week and I wanted to make sure no one missed it. It even had a little extra for me in it--Kristin doesn't know this--because she mentions Maria Morevna as a reverse Bluebeard tale, which it is of sorts, meaning flipped genders--and thus was included in Bluebeard Tales From Around the World because it is often mentioned as such in Bluebeard discussions. But this really isn't a Bluebeard entry, it is a Firebird Ballet entry.

  

You have to go over to her blog to read it all, but here's the start to tantalize you into doing so. I have never seen this ballet performed and would love to do so. Over time I have gotten several of the other romantic fairy tales ballets off my list from Swan Lake to Sleeping Beauty to Coppelia to Cinderella but Firebird has proved elusive in the areas I've lived. Of course, I was enough of a balletomane as child to forever think of Maria Tallchief in the role.

I had mentioned, a while ago, that the plot for the Firebird ballet was a combination of Russian fairy tales, but what are the fairy tales the ballet drew from?

The ballet basically took two common characters found in Russian folklore, Koshchey the Deathless and the Firebird.

The villain of the ballet is Koshchey, who holds ten young princesses captive. The Russian tale "Koshchey the Deathless" tells of the hero, Ivan, who goes in search of the Princess he knew of from the lullabies his nurses sang to him. The compassion he has on a man being flogged (Bulat the Brave) results in Bulat accompanying him on a series of quests, basically doing everything for him, including freeing the Princess Vasilisa from Koshchey and finding his death, to kill it. The death itself is in an egg in a duck in a hare in a coffer under an oak on an island in the sea. In the ballet they simplified it to just being an egg he has to smash.

Kristin links to one of the tales on SurLaLune, but there are three Russian Fairy Tale collections hidden away on SurLaLune if you want to read more Russian tales.

  

 

Poster of a Costume Design

Another Bargain: Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman

Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman is another bargain Kindle book today, available for 5 cents. I'm not seeing a description but I believe it is simply the lyrics to his song of the same name with illustrations. So if you like the song, you may like this for a nickel.

Off Topic: Mr. Rogers Bargain Read

If you have a Kindle or Kindle software, Many Ways to Say I Love You: WISDOM FOR PARENTS AND CHILDREN FROM MISTER ROGERS, is one penny today and I don't know for how long. I have the paper editions of these books and they have survived many purges. As someone who has worked with children quite a bit, Mr. Rogers is an inspiration to me so being able to put one on my Kindle for a penny is lovely.

Bluebeard Tableau with Illustrations by Winslow Homer

First of all, Happy Mother's Day!

Looking for some light home entertainment for this evening? Here is a recommendation from Harper's Bazaar in 1868: A Bluebeard Tableau!

During my research for Bluebeard Tales From Around the World, I discovered this gem which has delighted me no end. It consists of a poem by Theodore P. Cook along with instructions and illustrations for how to present the story to an audience for an evening's entertainment. Ah, what they did in the olden days before tv to entertain each other! And extra bit of the charm is that the illustrations are by Winslow Homer which has thus merited a copy of the page's inclusion in some museum collections, such as the Smithsonian from where the above image was borrowed. As happened so often back then, this same article appeared in a UK publication, too, but with different illustrations and a slightly different edit.

Don't you want to entertain your family and friends with images of decapitated heads tonight? And these days so many women don't have long hair so rounding up seven women to create this image would be a challenge within itself. Unless wigs are readily available, I guess.

I included the full text as well as Homer's illustrations in Bluebeard Tales From Around the World in the poetry section.