Rumpelstiltskin

I always knew about the story of Rumpelstiltskin, but after discussing the tale in class, I have a hard time deciding on a purpose or moral for the tale other than entertainment.

The story from Fairy Tales From the Brothers Grimm told a tale about a selfish king who desires gold, a miller's daughter who is suppose to spin straw into gold, and Rumplestiltskin, who turns the straw into gold. The king puts the Miller's daughter into rooms filled with more and more straw threatening her life, the Miller's daughter makes an impulsive deal with Rumplestiltskin bargaining her first born child, and Rumplestiltskin, who showed her compassion and made the wife another deal. In the end the King and Miller's daughter are married and keep their child, and Rumplestiltskin has lost his part of the deal and destroyed himself. So with all that happen, What is the moral lesson in this story?

People look for meaning and lessons in Fairy tales and Folklore, and I am struggling trying to find it in this story.  The people who behaved poorly, the king and his selfishness and the miller's daughter and her sneakiness, end up with a happily every after. Rumplestiltskin does not. He shows compassion, understanding, and mercy on the miller's daughter, and he ends up being tricked, and losing what he originally one.

The best idea for a moral I could think of has to do with greed. The King was a greedy man, and his action caused his wife to make a deal with Rumplestiltskin. Rumplestiltskin was greedy exchanging his services from material items to the royal couple's baby, and as a result he lost his winnings. Greed seems to run a lot of motives, but I even feel that this is a stretch. The story seems to be written for more entertainment uses like a written version of "Let's Make a Deal".

www.letsmakeadeal.com

Post 4/5

Choice Selections from My Notes on the Fellowship

Having just watched The Fellowship of the Ring for the first time since its release for the sake of class discussion on Monday, I decided to take a few notes as I was watching, to make sure that I followed everything. Ultimately, this made me realize two things; the first being that the movie is not anywhere near as complicated as I was expecting it to be, and the second being that I have a tendency to write down particularly important sounding quotes as well as often-inappropriate summaries of an event.

What follows are a few examples, presented here in order.

• Sauron's Defeat - 2500 years to rediscovery of Ring, Gollum 500 years, Bilbo, 60 = 3060 years
• "Incident with the dragon"
• "Keep it secret. Keep it safe."
• "Understand. I would use this ring out of a desire to do good. But through me it would do great and terrible evil."
• "Hobbit's Leaf" = Pot?
• Wizard Battle (no pyrotechnics - just telekinetics)
• Giant Eagles?
• "Speak friend and enter" - the wizard doesn't understand what Frodo does
• I've seen enough hentai to know where this is going
• "The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of man."
• Going to have to call 'bullshit' on the mithril chainmail
• Gimli calls her a "witch" - IMMEDIATELY DISTRUST THIS WOMAN
• Aragorn and Boromir have a bro-chat
• "some things that have not yet come to pass" - implies predetermined fate
• Orcs = Corrupted Elves (the greatest 'mortal' good becoming the greatest 'mortal' evil)
• Standing Death of Boromir

There are obviously a few key details missing from these notes, but mostly I wanted to provide an opportunity for discussion. Did anyone else tackle watching the movie like this? And if so, what sorts of notes did you write down, and why?

---

3 of 5

BBC Merlin & Once Upon A Time – Dear God What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

After finishing our last paper, I feel the need to rehash some of the Merlin stuff that we’ve left behind a few weeks ago and bring up a few things in regards to modern media and the timeless fairy tales and legends we’ve been reading.

(Heads up there might be spoilers for Merlin seasons 1-5 and Once Upon a Time season 1 – read with caution.)

Doctor Who reference, in case you weren't aware.

I chose to write my paper on BBC Merlin because I thought that this was as good of an excuse as any to binge watch an entire TV series on Netflix. Who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?

Other than heartbreak and tears I found BBC Merlin to be unique from other Merlin’s in one major aspect – the relationship between Arthur and Merlin. I promise I’m not about to do any crazy fangirl shippy things here, I’m looking at their relationship in the most platonic and analytical sense. Seriously though, these two characters are thrown together because of prophecy and predestination and they make the very best of their situation in regards to one and other. Arthur, the prophesized “Once and Future King” is to be guarded and advised by Merlin – a wizard so powerful and eagerly awaited that the Druids bow down to him (Druids are a really big deal in real life mythology and in the show). The two don’t always see eye to eye, but they create a bond so powerful that it lasts through multiple reincarnations.

BBC Merlin has one thing that none of the other Merlin’s we’ve read about have: LOVE.

Yeah I had to do it.

Again, nothing fangirly here, but love is what sets the same repeated characters apart from their older legends. The friendship that Merlin and Arthur have is unique to the BBC rendition, and the love they have for one and other and their friends is what the show revolves around.

Once Upon a Time (which I know a lot less about so please correct me if I’m wrong here) seems to be doing the same thing. Take a legend (in this case many legends) and modernize them in a way that commercial media will appreciate.

The first season is more of an origin story where main character Emma Swan is forced to confront the unbelievable truth that she is the daughter of fairy tale characters and that the residents of her town, Storybrooke, Maine, are all fairy tale characters who happened to have their memories erased. That sounds more like a nightmare to me – trapped in Maine. Cue snare drum, everyone laugh.

My sense of humor is impeccable. Sorry if you're from Maine. It's really a lovely place.

Where Merlin is about love, Once Upon a Time is about hope. The characters move forward with the hope that their life meanings can be restored, hope that they can triumph over evil, and most importantly, hope that they can achieve happiness.

My reaction when things get too sappy.

BUT HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO MEDIEVAL MAGIC AND MYSTICISM?! I honestly am not quite sure and that’s what I’d really like to discuss in the comments on my post (please do it).

So far my best guesses are as follows: the new shows are a clash of medieval and modern thought. In BBC Merlin for example, you see the war between magic and common folk not unlike that seen in witch trials. That’s a typical medieval thought (and a modern one but that’s for another discussion) BUT love conquers all and magic can be used for good. So magic is what you make it… that’s a pretty modern thought. As for Once Upon a Time we bear witness to the struggles of fairy tale folk… and that’s not new at all – isn’t that exactly what the medieval folk did to the original tales, listen to their struggles and apply the morals to real life? So why do we change Merlin into a show about love/friendship while we basically keep fairy tales the same?

Sources:

http://io9.com/5850277/in-once-upon-a-time-all-of-your-favorite-fairy-tale-characters-are-trapped-in-maine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Time_(season_1)

Merlin (BBC TV Series)

So, I started watching the Merlin TV series the other day (only through season 2) and something about the first episode, after seeing it once already, stuck out to me.

And that was the witch that casts the curse on Uther, though I shouldn't say the witch I should say the witches circumstances. Now when you look at things from the witch's perspective you see a mother who just had seen her son executed before her eyes for practicing witchcraft, the way the show goes anything practicing or possessing magic related is punishable by execution.

Now it may seem as if I am rambling, but I do have a point. What brought the witch to curse Uther was human emotion; anger and the desire for revenge. Those emotions were caused by Uther himself, when he banned all magic which led to the execution of her son.

Which makes me wonder if magic was not outlawed would the witch have still tread the path she did? Would she have still sought revenge or expressed malice against Uther where there would be no reason to do so?

A French Rapunzel

When I was browsing the internet I ran across an alternate telling of Rapunzel that had French origins. Now anyone that has read Rapunzel will easily be able to see the similarities between these two stories.

Here is a link to the French version - http://talesoffaerie.blogspot.com/2012/04/french-rapunzel.html

A few differences that stand out from even a quick look are

-The husband takes a side role in place of the wife
-The wife makes a deal with a faerie, rather than a witch
-The faerie seems rather generous compared to the witch
-The faerie punished Rapunzel because of her constant lies
-There really wasn't a happy ending

I found it an interesting read, as it shows how a few simple changes to a story can give the story a completely different viewpoint to the reader. Because this version of Rapunzel paints the faerie in a kinder light than that of the witch, in our book. This also seems to be one of those stories that is meant to teach a person that they should not tell lies to their parent figure, in this case the godmother faerie.

Iron Hans! Why has Honor and High Praise not come?

          This should surprise absolutely no one who was even on the same campus as me this week. The story of Iron Hans caught my attention like nothing else has in a long time.

Although, every time I see this picture, it comes pretty close.

http://www.ruethedayblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/teddy_roosevelt_vs__bigfoot_by_sharpwriter-d3a72w4-500x323.jpg

However, after retelling this story about… five times, to my family, friends, a team mate while we were running, and to a group of people I have never actually met before, I think I realize why this story did not catch on. To be to the point, it is a long story with a lot of important parts to remember in order for the story to work.

“How dare you criticize this story! I will destroy you with my army of iron-clad men!”

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuGPUOWHKZA8gVmQvXffiysikNh5RtCI3N8nJiVnzTK0nJFiSLFq_D2K7tM_Pl8VpmcCKMQJvihQ4sW5cfFZvk6o_1tKjL1RU7AEyMUZxkP3TPJ_1yEuqOEe1ZcIh6h7jWQAsSPaT7rg/s640/IMG_0912a.jpg

Now, I have read other Grimms Fairy Tales that are guiltier of this than Iron Hans (I’m looking at you, King of Golden Mountain), however when you compare it to a story like Hansel and Gretel this drawback becomes pronounced. What would happen if you forget to mention the first part in Hansel and Gretel were Hansel thwarts his step-mother by using flints, and instead just skipped to the bread crumbs? Or if you forget to mention the duck that takes the children across the river, and instead they just find their way home and they did not have to cross a river? Does it alter the story that much… not really.

You know, for kids who were nearly eaten by a witch living in a house made of cake, these kids are oddly trusting of magical encounters.

http://thriftwrecks.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/children-riding-duck.jpg

          Now, how about Snow White? What If you forget to mention that Snow White let the Queen into the house where the Queen then tried to kill her two times before the poisoned-apple incident? Does it change the story that much? From my experience, the answer is no.

In fact, if you forget the first two times it kind of helps. It makes Snow White seem like less of an idiot.

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/dvd/Disney/Images/SnowWhite3.gif

          Now what about Iron Hans? If you forget to mention that for a few years the princess stole the Prince’s hat and saw his golden hair (which at the time seems like story-filler)? Or that as he fled from the festival the Princess caught a glimpse of the Prince’s golden hair? Without either of these two seemingly small details the Princess would not be able to identify the Prince at the end of the story. You have to remember these tiny details and when they are supposed to come up, otherwise the story does not flow well.

“And then, uh… did I mention the hair thing? Or that he pinched his finger? Darn it! This story is great, please believe me!”

http://www.ansnuclearcafe.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/storyteller.jpg

            And the morel? In Hansel and Gretel it has a pretty clear message of “Stranger Danger” and the importance of cooperation in bad situations, and yet at the same time the importance of self-reliance (sometimes help is not coming and you have to save yourself). In Snow White the message is, again, pretty strait forward; jealousy and envy are bad qualities which will make you do bad things and will ultimately make you a bad person. (If taken literally, a bad person who will be forced to dance to death while wearing red-hot iron shoes.) In contrast I find myself having to justify my moral interpretation of Iron Hans every time I tell the story. In the end, I think the only obvious, clear-cut message in this story is that is awesome to know or to be Iron Hans.

“And what is wrong with that?”

http://www.matttavares.com/images/hansinterior.jpg 

Again, I really do enjoy this story, and will continue to sing its praises. There might even be an expanded story that I will work on, or a sequel. Iron Hans II: The Re-Ironing! (working title).  However, after retelling Iron Hans a few times, I can see why it was really popular (enough to attract the Grimm brothers to record it and include it in their works), but also why the tale has not gotten more attention. It is to this end that we must now act. I call upon every man, woman, and child who has heard of the awesomeness that is Iron Hans to spread the word and drum up support! Together we can be the Iron Army of Iron Hans!!!!

“I am an Iron Soldier of Iron Hans…. To Victory!!!”

http://www.wallsave.com/wallpapers/1024x768/medieval-knights/121724/medieval-knights-knight-charge-graphics-code-comments-pictures-121724.jpg

Post 3 of 5