The Horrors Of Fairy Tales Part II

As most of you read last time, I wrote an article on the horrors on some fairy tales that most people know by their 'fluffy' versions. Now I'm going to talk about seven more fairy tales that are horrifying. Now this could range from popular tales or uncommon ones. Mainly these are the fairy tales that I find interesting because of how gruesome they are. Also I think it's still funny that they were written for little kids. Now let me begin with an uncommon tale.

This tale is called The Juniper Tree. Now, this has got to be one of the most horrifying stories I have ever read. The story starts out kind of like Snow White. A mother wishes for a child with skin as white as the snow...blah, blah, blah...When the mother does, it's under a juniper tree. Well the mother gets her wish, but of course she dies shortly after. The father remarries to a woman, who already has a daughter. The stepmother, of course doesn't like her stepson, so she is really cruel to the boy. Well one day she figures out a way to get rid of the boy. She asks the boy if he wants and apple from the chest in her room. The boy says yes and when he reaches into the chest to get one, the stepmother slams the top of it, chopping off the boy's head. Then she sets it up, to make it look like the boy still has his head and sitting with an apple in his hand. His stepsister asks her brother for the apple. When he doesn't respond, she punches him, making his head fall off. The girl runs to her mother, crying and saying that she killed her brother. The stepmother goes along with it and chops up the little boy and cooks him in a stew. Later, the wife feeds the stew to the boy's father. The stepsister takes the boys bones, wraps them in a sash, and buries them underneath the juniper tree. After this, a bird magically appears. Then, the bird goes to the town and starts singing:

My mother, she killed me,
My father, he ate me,
My sister Marlene,
Gathered all my bones,
Tied them in a silken scarf,
Laid them beneath the juniper tree,
Tweet, tweet, what a beautiful bird am I.

Now, he sings this song to a blacksmith, a shoemaker, and a miller. They all love the song and ask him to sing it again. But, they have to give him something in return. The blacksmith gives him a gold chain, the shoemaker gives him little red shoes, and the miller gives him a milestone. He goes back to his house and calls out his family one by one. The father comes out and the boy gives him the gold chain. Then his stepsister, Marlene, comes out and he gives her the little red shoes. But when the stepmother comes out, he drops the milestone on her head. Then he changes back into a boy and lives happily ever after with his family.

This next tale is The Little Match Girl. This story isn't all that horrifying, but really depressing. It starts out on a cold winter night. A neglected and abused girl is selling matches. She barely has anything to protect her from the cold. Then she goes to an alleyway and sits down because she is exhausted. She is terribly cold and lights one of the matches for what little warmth it will give her. When she does, she imagines herself next to a warm iron oven. The illusion doesn't last long because then the match goes out. Then she lights another one and imagines herself next to a glorious Christmas tree. But again the illusion disappears when the match goes out. Then she lights another match and imagines a turkey rolling off the table and stops right in front of her. When she tries to eat it, the illusion disappears. Then she lights another one, but this time her dead grandmother shows up in front of her. The girl loves her grandmother and doesn't want her to disappear, so she lights all the matches. The grandmother reaches her hand out to the girl and the girl takes it. Then they fly up into the sky. In the morning the girl lies dead in the snow, from the cold.

This next tale is called The Girl Without Hands. The title sounds horrifying enough. It starts out with a poor miller. One day a strange man comes to the miller and tells him, that for what is behind his mill, he'll make him rich. The miller thinks the guy is talking about the apple tree, that is behind his mill, and makes the deal. The guy leaves, saying he'll be back in three years. When the miller tells his wife, he finds out that the guy is the devil and the thing he promised him, was not the apple tree, but his daughter. Three years the girl prays and on the day the devil comes to get her she baths and puts a cirlcle around herself. The devil cannot get her and tells the father not to give her water to bath in. The miller does what the devil says. The girl cries and her tears clean her hands. The devil comes back the next day and cannot get her because of her hands. The devil tells the miller to cut the girl's hands off. Sadly, the miller does what the devil says. The girl cries on the stumps and her tears clean them. The devil returns the third day and gives up because he still can't get her. Then she leaves her home. She comes to a garden, but cannot get to it. An angel from heaven comes down and helps her get to the garden. It turns out this garden belongs to the king. When the king sees the girl on her second night in the garden, he takes her, marries her, and gives her silver hands. He goes off to war, leaving his wife in the capable hands of his mother. The queen has a son and the king's mother writes a letter to him. The messenger falls asleep while delivering the message. Then the devil comes and rewrites the letter, saying the queen had a changeling. The king reads the letter and writes back to take care of the queen and child. The messenger falls asleep again, and the devil rewrites the letter, saying to kill the girl and her child. The king's mother reads the letter, but cannot do it. She sends the queen and her child away. She is protected and guided by an angel and is led to a cottage. She lives there for seven years with an angel and her son. Her hands grow back during this time. Then the king returns, finds his wife gone, and goes searching for her. He comes to the cottage after searching for nearly seven years. He finds his wife and son, takes them to the castle and lives happily ever after.

As someone mention in a comment for my last article, The Three Little Pigs, was not the happy tale that we know today. Mainly because the wolf actually eats all three of the pigs. Sad to say that they didn't get away and kill the wolf in the end. No, they all die. How sad for them. Unfortunately I can't give details, because no matter how hard I try, I can't find the original tale. But if you can find it, then read it to see what really happens.

Another tale is called, Fitcher's Bird. It starts out with a magician who goes out and takes young, pretty girls. No one ever sees them again. One day he comes to a house with three beautiful daughters. The eldest gives him a piece of bread. All he does is touch her and she goes into the basket he was carrying. He takes her to his home and gives her an egg and some keys. He tells her to take care of the egg and not to go into one room. Then he goes off on a journey. The girl's curiosity overcomes her and she opens the forbidden room. She is horrified by what is in the room. There is a bloody basin and mutilated bodies of girls. The girl drops the egg and gets blood on it. She tries cleaning the egg, but fails to get the blood off. When the magician comes back, he sees the blood and kills the girl. Then he goes and gets the second sister. She ends up doing the exact same thing as her sister before her, and gets killed. Then the magician gets the third sister. She is clever and tucks away the egg in a safe place. Then she goes into the room. She finds her sisters and puts the body parts back together. The sisters come back to life. Then the magician comes back and sees the egg. Since there is no blood, he takes the girl as his wife. Then she and her new husband-to-be go to her house. Her sisters are hidden in the gold and silver they are carrying to the house. When she gets home they send out invitations to the magicians friends. The girl gets a skull and puts it in a window. Then she covers herself in honey and feathers. Then she goes to the guests. They think she is a fitcher bird and she tells them the bride is peeping in through the window. The guest go into the house, and then all the villagers come, lock the magician and his guest inside, and burn the house.

Now this next tale is some what disturbing. This one is called All-Kinds-Of-Fur. The story starts out about a king who's wife dies. He goes out looking for a new bride, but does not find one that equals the beauty of his late wife. But then he notices how beautiful his daughter has become and lusts after her. He tells his daughter that she is to marry him. The princess tells her father, that she will marry him if he can make her a three dresses. One as golden as the sun, as silver as the moon, and as bright as the stars. Then he has to make a mantle from the fur of all the animals in the kingdom. The king has all these things done. Well the princess doesn't want to marry her father. She takes the dresses, the mantle, a golden ring, a golden spinning-wheel, and a golden reel. Then she runs away and ends up living in the castle of another king. She becomes a maid there. Well one day there is a feast and the girl puts on the dress as golden as the sun and goes to the party. The king falls in love with her and dances with her. Then afterward she pretends to be the maid and fixes soup for the king and puts a golden ring in it. The king asks the girl about the ring and she says she knows nothing about it. Then at another party she wears the silver dress and dances with the king. Then pretends to be the maid and puts the golden spinning-wheel in his soup. The king asked about the golden spinning-wheel, but the girl says she knows nothing about it. Then at the third party she wears the dress as bright as the stars. Dances with the king then pretends to be the maid. She makes the soup and puts the golden reel in it. But this time she reveals who she is and marries the king.

The last tale I'm mentioning is The Pied Piper. Now we all know about the rats or mice, and how everyone wanted to get rid of them. Well the pied piper gets rid of them and the villagers won't pay him. In modern day versions he leads the children to a cave until the villagers pay. Uhhh...no. That's not what happen. No, he leads them to a river and drowns them. Except for the one lame boy.

Well that's it for this article. I don't feel like writing anymore. Maybe I'll add a part III or maybe not. Depends on how many more horrifying tales I can find and how much spare time I have. Well that's all for now.