11 votes

On the 18th October, Finland celebrates National Fairy Tale Day – share childhood favourites, recommend lesser known tales, or even get a little creative and make up your own

Articles

Hevosenkenkä Theatre will publish an online audio play for children to enjoy on Finland's national Fairy Tale Day

On the occasion of Finland's national Fairy Tale Day, Hevosenkenkä Theatre, an Espoo children's theatre has prepared a special surprise for all children who were eagerly awaiting this Finnish tradition.

Today, 18 October, the theatre will release an audio play of the story “The Bear That Wasn't” as a virtual gift to all those who were eager to visit in person but were unable due to the pandemic. The audio play is also part of the theatre's programme celebrating its own 45th anniversary.

TheMayor.eu – Anton Stoyanov – 18th October 2020

The other worlds of fairy tale – in pictures

Take a tour of the British Academy and Folio Society exhibition of fairy tale illustrations from all over the world, exploring the idea of ‘other worlds’ from China to Native America.

The Guardian – Unknown – 12th May 2015

Resources

Scandinavian Folk & Fairy Tales: Tales From Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland & Iceland

A collection of folk literature from five countries, with illustrations by native artists.

Good Reads – Claire Booss – 26th October 1988

Ten of the best fairy tales everyone should read

The best fairy tales are timeless and yet forever modern, tapping into deeply held and widely shared emotions and moral attitudes. The following constitutes not an exhaustive list of the definitive fairy tales, but rather our attempt to pick the top ten greatest fairy stories.

Interesting Literature – Dr Oliver Tearle – 10th July 2017

2 comments

  1. [2]
    Sand
    Link
    Seems more like the former than the latter to me. My favourite fairy tale is The Hare and the Hedgehog. It's similar to a fable, but it has no moral, which I think is funny.

    The following constitutes not an exhaustive list of the definitive fairy tales, but rather our attempt to pick the top ten greatest fairy stories.

    Seems more like the former than the latter to me.

    My favourite fairy tale is The Hare and the Hedgehog. It's similar to a fable, but it has no moral, which I think is funny.

    4 votes
    1. Sil
      Link Parent
      I always liked the Irish equivalent of King Arthur, Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool): He obtained the ability of foresight by accidentally sucking on his thumb he burned while cooking the Salmon...

      I always liked the Irish equivalent of King Arthur, Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool):

      He obtained the ability of foresight by accidentally sucking on his thumb he burned while cooking the Salmon of Knowledge for the poet who spent 7 years catching it. As a result, he would sometimes suck his thumb before wars to gain some salmon insight.

      The folk explanation of a landmark on the north coast of Ireland known as the Giant's Causeway
      is that Finn got into a feud with a Scottish giant, Benandonner.

      The causeway was made by Finn (described in the story, but not typically, as a giant himself) to get over to Scotland to fight Benandonner. Upon seeing that the Scottish giant was much larger than him he fled home.

      When Benandonner crossed over to Ireland to seek out Finn, Finn's wife fed the Scottish giant bread with iron inside and asked if he wanted to meet their baby while Finn was out hunting. The "baby" was Finn swaddled in a cloth. Seeing how big the "baby" was and what hard food Finn ate, Benandonner decided to flee back to Scotland.

      I think the moral is that discretion is the better part of valor, but it might be missing one as well..?

      3 votes