Day 57: It is National Tell a Fairy Tale Day! It doesn’t sound real, but it is! And it’s fun! My mom used fairy tales to keep us in line, like the one about the trolls who live under the bridge—the Three Billy Goats Gruff. I was probably ten before I realized there wasn’t really a troll living in the culvert that ran under our driveway.
Mom wasn’t as far off the mark as you’d think. At their origins, fairy tales were told to make children behave. The Brothers Grimm were a dark and edgy duo, so their telling of the tales was edgy, too. When Hans Christensen Anderson told his versions they were a bit warmer. And then Walt’s team Disney-fied fairy tales, and they all became fluffy and flitty and lighthearted. The cautionary part of the tale is still in there somewhere, but it’s not enough to spark bad dreams - or keep kids away from the ditch.
In case you missed the moral of the story tucked into all the cuteness, here are a few. Don’t take shiny apples from strangers. Don’t climb hastily sprouted bean stalks. Don’t talk to wolves in the forest. And if you’ve been relegated to an attic room, or a tower of some sort, expect that someone will lock you in there. You can’t always depend on the woodland creatures to help you down - or your hair to be long enough to hoist help up. Make a spare key. Delineate alternate exits.
I guess what I’m really saying is, listen to your mom. Trolls under the bridge? It could happen. #MomsCompanyTowels #TellaFairyTaleDay #therecouldbetrolls #listentoyourmother
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