Build-A-Grimmer-Story ~ CLOSED

Happy Birthday, Brothers Grimm!

Last week, we celebrated the 200 year anniversary of Grimm's Fairy Tales, that collection of folk tales that has inspired generations of imaginative children and children-at-heart. 

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors.  Their accomplishments were many, including a German dictionary published in 1852.  What they are most remembered for, however, is the work Kinder- and Hausmärchen (now known as Grimm's Fairy Tales), first published in 1812. This compendium of folk tales was the result of research conducted while at the University of Marburg.  (A fairy tale town in itself, I might add!) Later editions were expanded to include over 200 stories, and today, Grimm's Fairy Tales has become a standard introduction to fantasy for children the world over. 

As an author, I'm accustomed to hearing voices in my head, and so I wasn't surprised in the least last week when Jacob and Wilhelm decided to contact me on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of their most famous publication.

"Karin!" they said. "We want to celebrate our 200 year anniversary with a guest spot on Heroines of Fantasy!  Our folk stories are full of great female protagonists!  Courageous women who rescue their fathers and brothers, bring heinous criminals to justice, break wicked spells cast over handsome princes, and all-in-all have amazing and admirable adventures."

Well, of course, I couldn't resist this opportunity.  After all, how many bloggers get to have famous -- no, legendary -- guests, especially guests who have been dead for 150 years? 

So I invited the Brothers Grimm to lead our holiday build-a-story event, and they graciously agreed to do so.  Now all of us get to write a story with the Brothers Grimm!

Here are the rules:  Jacob and Wilhelm will give us five lines to start.  Everyone who participates can add five more lines to the story -- NO MORE THAN FIVE. 

Each contributor MUST build on the previous five lines, so that the story is a cohesive thread woven by all of us together.  Please pay attention to what the previous person wrote, and go from there. Don't try to invent the story all over again, or Jacob and Wilhelm will, in the best tradition of 19th century German professors, strike your fingers with a phantom ruler!

You may add to the story as often as you like, but again, no more than five lines at a time, and you must allow at least one other person to add their part before contributing another piece of your own.

Posting will end at midnight on Monday, December 31.  Jacob and Wilhelm will wrap up the story with five final lines, and I will post the whole thing on Tuesday, January 1. 

This build-a-story event is extra extra special, not only because you will be rubbing shoulders with the spirits of the Brothers Grimm, but also because every addition you make to the story earns you a chance to win the Heroines of Fantasy Holiday Giveaway, a FREE ebook bundle of four great novels by HoF authors!  So let your imaginations run wild, write away, and enter the giveaway to boot. Giveaway winners will be announced on January 1.  Good luck!


Now, here are our first five lines, courtesy of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm:

There once lived a princess so very haughty that, when a suitor came, she would have nothing to do with him unless he could solve one of her riddles; and if he tried, and did not succeed, he was dismissed with mockery and contempt.  She allowed it to be generally known, however, that the man who could find out her riddle should be her husband. 

Now, it happened that three tailors came to the town in which the princess lived.  The two eldest, who had done so many fine stitches and guessed all sorts of puzzling riddles, were sure of being able to guess what the princess propounded; it was not possible such clever people could fail. 

The third tailor, however, was a useless little fellow, who knew scarcely anything of is trade; yet he fancied he might be lucky as well as any of them and wished to try. . .

~*~

 

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Posted by Karin Rita Gastreich

Sisterhood

Snow White and Rose Red

One of my favorite Grimm’s Fairy Tales growing up was ‘Snow White and Rose Red’.  This tale is not to be confused with the much more popular ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves’.  The Snow White of ‘Snow White and Rose Red’ is a different character, with a distinct background, personality and story. 

Snow White and Rose Red are sisters who live with their widowed mother deep in the woods. Together they befriend a bear in winter time and rescue an ungrateful dwarf from a variety of unpleasant fates.  Little do they know the bear is actually a prince under a curse cast by the dwarf.  Each time they rescue the dwarf, they inadvertently take away some of his magic. This eventually results in the bear being able free himself from the curse by killing the dwarf.  The prince takes Rose Red as his bride, and as luck would have it, successfully matches up his brother with Snow White. Both sisters not only live happily ever after, they live happily ever after together.

The Ingalls sisters:  Caroline, Mary and Laura

Sisterhood is a repeated theme in many tales, and it has always appealed to me. Growing up, I was an avid follower of the Ingall's sisters in Laura Ingalls-Wilder’s classic Little House series. 

When as an adult, I read The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory, what impressed me most was not so much the retelling of Anne Boleyn’s story (after all, by then I knew how it all began and how it all would end), but the exceptional skill with which Gregory captured the essence of sisterhood:  the love, the admiration, the jealousy and rivalry, the bond of blood and affection capable of withstanding almost anything, even the fatal political and sexual intrigues of the court of King Henry VIII. 

I wasn't very happy with the film interpretation of Gregory's
novel, but Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansen made
for a nice-looking pair of sisters.

More recently in the Hunger Games, the power of sisterhood has resurged with Katniss Everdeen taking the place of her sister Primrose, and becoming a hero – oops!  I mean, a heroine -- before even stepping foot inside the Games. 

I have been blessed with having a sister; so every time I read a story about sisters, I’m reminded of that relationship, and all that my sister has meant to me and given me over the years. Love, encouragement, faith in my ability to achieve my dreams, an example to aspire to, someone to care about, support and depend upon.  Big sisters are especially wonderful because they so often serve the role of pathfinders. They are the ones who forge ahead into life’s unknown territories, and come back to share their wisdom with younger siblings. 

Katniss and Primrose from The Hunger Games have recently
been added to the list of famous sisters

In Eolyn’s world, sisterhood also has a special meaning.  Eolyn herself has no biological sisters, but in the tradition of the Magas, all followers of the very first maga, Aithne, are sisters in magic.  For the Magas, sisterhood transcends boundaries of time, place and bloodlines.  One can even speak of ‘sisters’ who lived centuries ago. The Magas believe that all practitioners who have passed into the Afterlife continue to watch over their sisters in the world of the living.  So while Eolyn is on her own for much of her journey, she is never truly alone with her magic. 

These are some of my thoughts on sisterhood; it’s importance in our stories as well as in our lives.  Now it’s your turn.  What does “sisterhood” mean to you?  Who are your favorite sisters in fiction and history, and why?  How have your sisters, in blood and in spirit, made your life easier, more interesting, more fulfilling? 

Posted by Karin Rita Gastreich

The Munro sisters, Cora and Alice, from the film
The Last of the Mohicans.  Like many sisters that live on in our
imaginations, their fates will not be happy ones.