11
votes
Accepted
Original Celtic, Old English, Old Norse, or Gothic Texts Online
Old Norse
For Old Norse, heimskringla.no has a lot of material, including different editions (also in modern Nordic languages). The site itself is mostly in Norwegian, so it can be tricky to navigate ...
- 6,006
8
votes
Original Celtic, Old English, Old Norse, or Gothic Texts Online
Gothic
As mentioned in andejons’ answer, there is not a lot of material in the Gothic language. Apart from Wulfila's Bible translation on the Wulfila project (where you can also find a calendar ...
- 581
7
votes
Accepted
Are there tales where people are turned into rats?
There are certainly tales where humans are turned into rats. The Aarne-Thompson motif index, which categorizes fairytale tropes, includes one for “Transformation: man to rodent” (with the identifying ...
- 473
7
votes
Original Celtic, Old English, Old Norse, or Gothic Texts Online
Old Irish
Mary Jones' Celtic Literature Collective This is the best place to find Irish and Wesh language mythology with the original sources. It's actually an amateur project, but I've seen it ...
6
votes
Original Celtic, Old English, Old Norse, or Gothic Texts Online
The Perseus Project is an exceptional resource for Greek and Latin Texts (not complete, but quite comprehensive):
Perseus Collection; Greek and Roman Materials
It's particularly useful because you ...
- 14.1k
6
votes
Myths/folktales/fairytales of areas/buildings/objects that disappear and reappear at fixed intervals?
This sounds reminiscent of Vineta, a city on the coast of the Baltic sea, which was supposedly flooded as punishment for the inhabitants' ungodly ways. Some versions of the story have the city ...
- 6,006
6
votes
Myths/folktales/fairytales of areas/buildings/objects that disappear and reappear at fixed intervals?
My sense is the Smurfs were probably inspired by Brigadoon, a famous Broadway musical (Lerner & Loewe) that was adapted into a very famous film starring Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse.
The story ...
- 14.1k
6
votes
Accepted
Who and what are the winged "faries" that feature in fairytale?
David is correct. In English winged fairies are sylphs or sylphids.
sylph (n.)
1650s, "air-spirit," from Modern Latin sylphes (plural), coined 16c. by Paracelsus (1493-1541), originally ...
- 176
5
votes
Was Rumplestiltskin intended as a Jewish caricature?
Was Rumplestiltzchen intended as a Jewish Character?
Short answer
I would say, no, he was not. The Encyclopäpie des Märchens entry for Rumpelstiltzchen directs to “Name des Unholdes” (name of the ...
- 551
5
votes
Was Rumplestiltskin intended as a Jewish caricature?
Heinz is short for Heinrich and Kunz is a (now rare) abbreviation of Konrad, all typically Germanic names. There is nothing Jewish about them, and certainly not about Rumplestiltskin. It is very ...
- 472
5
votes
Who and what are the winged "faries" that feature in fairytale?
I suspect that these things become confused over time, as they often do.
If I had to guess however, I suggest that a reasonable explanation if you wanted to make the distinction, the 'Winged Fairies' ...
- 524
3
votes
Myths/folktales/fairytales of areas/buildings/objects that disappear and reappear at fixed intervals?
This is not only found in mythology. In Shintoism, it is customary to break down and rebuild shrines at intervals of decennia.
In Arthurian mythology, Avalon could be hidden from the world. Inspired ...
- 5,354
3
votes
Folktales or Fairy Tales in Native Language (if any exist anywhere)
There are many Chinese folk tales that have been preserved in their original Literary or Classical Chinese form, as early as from the Han dynasty. In fact, they have recently been compiled into 23 ...
- 5,354
2
votes
How should "Bensiabel" be pronounced?
Prunella and Bensiabel are the names in Andrew Lang's version of the tale. There is also an Italian language version of this tale recorded by Calvino, where the names are Prezzemolina and Memé.
...
- 5,354
2
votes
Accepted
Which version of Little Gold Star or the Three Fairies involved a donkey tail?
This occurs in the Italian Colony of Cats, except for the specific detail of the sky:
The little maid, having gratefully kissed the white paw of the old cat, set off for home; but just as she got ...
- 903
1
vote
When did many kinds of Fairies become small statured or tiny?
So, the idea of many fairies being small or tiny can be traced back to the writings of folks like Shakespeare and Drayton in the medieval and Renaissance periods. In their works, fairies like Puck ...
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