Selected Tales

Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm
Translated by Joyce Crick

Oxford World's Classics

A new translation of Grimms' tales offering a more representative selection of the Tales for Children and the Household than other editions, and including animal fables, tall tales, comic peasant tales, religious magic tales and morality tales
As well as some seventy-nine tales, including all the well-known fairy tales, the edition also prints earlier versions of some of the famous stories, and stories that were removed after the first edition, to show the stylistic evolution of the stories in their retelling by the Grimms
The introduction places the work of the Grimms in the literary and historical context of German Romanticism and demonstrates how the brothers edited, refined and adapted tales which were not necessarily taken from the peasant sources they implied
The edition includes Wilhelm Grimm's preface to the second edition (1819) in which he described their methods of collecting and admitted their intervention, as well as Jacob's Circular Letter with regard to the Collecting of Folk Poesy appealing to other collectors
Notes identify sources and variants,common motifs and linked tales, and any changes introduced by the Grimms

Selected Tales

Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm
Translated by Joyce Crick

Description

The tales gathered by the Grimm brothers are at once familiar, fantastic, and frightening. They seem to belong to no time, or to some distant feudal age of fairytale imagining. Grand palaces, humble cottages, and the forest full of menace are their settings; and they are peopled by kings and princesses, witches and robbers, millers and golden birds, stepmothers and talking frogs.

Regarded from their inception either as simple nursery stories or as raw material for the folklorist, the tales were in fact compositions, collected from literate tellers and shaped into a distinctive kind of literature. This new translation mirrors the apparent artlessness of the Grimms, and fully represents the range of less well-known fables, morality tales, and comic stories as well as the classic tales. It takes the stories back to their roots in German Romanticism and includes variant stories and tales that were deemed unsuitable for children. In her fascinating Introduction, Joyce Crick explores their origins, and their literary evolution at the hands of the Grimms.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Selected Tales

Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm
Translated by Joyce Crick

Oxford World's Classics

From Our Blog

The Grimms and 'Tales for Children and the Household'

By Joyce Crick This year, Thursday December 20th, is the 200th anniversary of the publication of their Tales for Children and the Household, currently being celebrated world-wide. Just in time for Christmas. But even after 200 years, English-speaking countries still seem to know little more about the brothers and their stories than as a brand name for films from Disney or Terry Gillliam. How many could we name off the cuff? A dozen? Twenty?

Posted on December 20, 2012

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Story time with the Brothers Grimm... Part One

We've picked one of our favourite stories from the Oxford World's Classics edition of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's Selected Tales: The Water of Life. Read on for part one, and come back for the final twist in the tale tomorrow!

Posted on March 7, 2012

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Story time with the Brothers Grimm... Part Two

Read the second installment of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's Selected Tales: The Water of Life. What happens to the scheming elder princes and their sea-water goblet next? And will the youngest prince live happily ever after with his beautiful princess?

Posted on March 8, 2012

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