tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post5963634923962479967..comments2024-03-27T06:42:26.250-07:00Comments on Seven Miles of Steel Thistles: Fairytale Reflections (2) Adèle GerasKatherine Langrishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12529700103932422873noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-57474487095191331032021-03-31T02:48:26.264-07:002021-03-31T02:48:26.264-07:00I have always been struck by the white pebbles and...I have always been struck by the white pebbles and the white duck - against all that darkness of forest and oven.<br />Wonderful post, Adele. I knew a little boy who was obsessed by that story, so much so it was the only one that he wanted read aloud to him. He had a younger sister, and (it later turned out) an abusive father, and perhaps it helped him.Amandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15428693013132917947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-6434686909503278462010-10-02T10:18:58.574-07:002010-10-02T10:18:58.574-07:00Gruffling - yes, I don't know about the duck -...Gruffling - yes, I don't know about the duck - but a white duck strikes me as a symbol of domestic, childhood innocence in a way that a swan wouldn't- too wild - and geese are too in your face and aggressive. No one can be afraid of a duck - so the harmless 'dooryard' bird takes the children home...?Katherine Langrishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12529700103932422873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-30477787290475979802010-10-02T04:10:30.851-07:002010-10-02T04:10:30.851-07:00I love this post and Adele's poem. I've be...I love this post and Adele's poem. I've been re-reading Anne Sexton's Transformations this week and I was struck by the opening lines of her Hansel and Gretel and how much they chime with what Adele was saying:<br /><br />Little plum,<br />said the mother to her son,<br />I want to bite,<br />I want to chew,<br />I will eat you up.<br /><br />Sexton's poem is packed with references to food and cooking. The images give the sense of a kind of fetishisation of food which comes from hunger.Claire Deanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12466995265143493376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-45551116931041151952010-10-01T14:59:29.304-07:002010-10-01T14:59:29.304-07:00Adele mentions the role of birds everywhere in the...Adele mentions the role of birds everywhere in the story but misses out the almost surreal part when the children are heading home and require the assistance of a white duck which carries them over the water one at a time. <br /><br />It always struck me as being a very anomalous and unnecessary part of the story - they have worked together, overcome the danger, taken the witch's treasure and all that is required is that they get home to their father. <br /><br />Why throw in this last obstacle which is so easily overcome? Why a white duck, why not a swan or a goose?<br /><br />The only thing that I can come up with is the idea that just because they had defeated the witch does not mean that they can get home without further obstacles in their way. After all they had been hopelessly lost, it would be beyond even the suspension of disbelief required for fairy tales to expect the children to just stroll home without any further difficulty.Grufflinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14511179687822995915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-32465530739788189642010-09-28T01:08:12.812-07:002010-09-28T01:08:12.812-07:00Then I wonder if my version may be a dialect, Lesl...Then I wonder if my version may be a dialect, Leslie - this was taken from a German edition I own, which is clearly full of odd Flemish (?) and other dialects I wouldn't recognise! I must show it to you some time. Some of them, oddly, are a lot easier for me to read than standard German. I love your comment about the wind being also an invocation to Christ - and yes, isn't Adele's poem wonderful?Katherine Langrishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12529700103932422873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-52352772962111593202010-09-27T12:51:38.190-07:002010-09-27T12:51:38.190-07:00er.. knusper, knusper Knaeuschen,
wer knuspert an ...er.. knusper, knusper Knaeuschen,<br />wer knuspert an meinem Haeuschen.<br />There should be umlauts over the a's, but adding e is an acceptable way round.<br />Knuspern means 'crunch' or maybe even 'munch' rather than nibble. You're right about it being hard to translate, though, Kath. I have often wondered over 'Der Wind, der Wind, das himmlische Kind'. I think one of the difficulties is that 'das himmlische Kind' also means the child Jesus, or it certainly did to me in my childhood, so in a way the kids seemed to be invoking Christian protection. And it is hard to replicate the sounds, the witch's 'kn's and u's (pronounced like foot) and 'aeu' (pronounced like oi) are creaky and sound like an old woman, whereas 'wind, himmlische, kind' are all clear and sound like kids talking. 'Adele, I knew I recognised 'zissaleh', and of course it's like German suess, which means sweet. I thought it was a fascinating post, and read it with enormous interest, and the poem is really powerful and disturbing! Thanks for writing it.Leslie Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15105465949970430998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-75498053993364072092010-09-25T02:27:22.850-07:002010-09-25T02:27:22.850-07:00One thing I've always liked about this story i...One thing I've always liked about this story is when the children are nibbling at the house, and the witch calls out 'nibble, nibble, gnaw - who's nibbling at my little house?' and the chilrren reply, 'only the wind, the child of heaven' - but in the German, it rhymes:<br /><br />"Knupper, knupper, kneischen -<br />wer knuppert an meinem Hauschen?"<br /><br />and the children's answer is:<br /><br />"Der Wind, der Wind,<br />das himmlische Kind!"<br /><br />It's often hard to translate the little rhymes which were handed down in the oral tradition - and would be looked out for by the listeners and even chanted together. And it shows the children's resourcefulness too!Katherine Langrishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12529700103932422873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-16079834495650358192010-09-24T14:27:10.526-07:002010-09-24T14:27:10.526-07:00'let's call the bloodstains flowers'
F...'let's call the bloodstains flowers'<br />Fabulous!<br />and<br />Adele Geras <i>Rocks</i> The Fables.Ann ODynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01159263330547329077noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-45955776191747910352010-09-24T10:26:04.663-07:002010-09-24T10:26:04.663-07:00Thank you for this post. I'm looking forward t...Thank you for this post. I'm looking forward to all of the posts in this series.<br /><br />I find it interesting that we live in an era of unbridled fear for our children. We worry about them being snatched by candy-dangling strangers. Is this fear universal? Is it timeless?<br /><br />Times are tough now, too, with many homeless people and numerous charities trying to help. In the part of Canada where I was raised, there are "villages" of people living in the deep, wooded ravines. I ran wild in those ravines as a child, but I would never allow my children to do the same. The "woods people" are still with us. But were they ever not?Cathrinhttp://www.cathrinhagey.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-59587041417588251482010-09-24T08:12:49.702-07:002010-09-24T08:12:49.702-07:00... and Jane, I must find that book!... and Jane, I must find that book!Katherine Langrishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12529700103932422873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-59395324400659174482010-09-24T08:11:50.071-07:002010-09-24T08:11:50.071-07:00Yes, what a wonderful poem, and a wonderful insigh...Yes, what a wonderful poem, and a wonderful insight into the fairytale!Katherine Langrishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12529700103932422873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-91777959631694593062010-09-24T07:53:22.442-07:002010-09-24T07:53:22.442-07:00That poem gave me chills. So evocative! "Gree...That poem gave me chills. So evocative! "Green pears to blacken" "lick and suck the white hours until you ripen". Love it!Jo Treggiarihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02417288480274268189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-4912409782262076362010-09-24T07:30:24.497-07:002010-09-24T07:30:24.497-07:00I love your witch poem. The last stanza in particu...I love your witch poem. The last stanza in particular is deliciously chilling.Sue Purkisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09084528571944803477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-19802262508690700842010-09-24T07:03:15.894-07:002010-09-24T07:03:15.894-07:00A brilliant look at Hansel and Gretel. I love the ...A brilliant look at Hansel and Gretel. I love the focus on hunger and desperation here. Issues like this are what I tend to enjoy about fairy tales and their retellings--these are not simple stories at all, and have very human emotions underneath.Anniehttp://palegirlinthecity.tumblr.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-58401432742637236252010-09-24T04:16:08.232-07:002010-09-24T04:16:08.232-07:00I am so honoured to be commented on by Jane Yolen....I am so honoured to be commented on by Jane Yolen...thank you, Jane for your kind words. What you say, as always is most illuminating.adelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15826710558292792068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-53459314882818514772010-09-24T03:22:36.946-07:002010-09-24T03:22:36.946-07:00Wow, Adele nails it.
I would like to add there i...Wow, Adele nails it. <br /><br />I would like to add there is a book called THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS about the dumping of children (and the running away into the woods of adults) during that period. It's when churches in Europe began orphanages and the woodwose communities of wild people in the woods became part of the culture, and the story of Hansel & Gretel sits comfortably/uncomfortably within that historical context,. <br /><br />Oh yes, and witches WERE burnt, of course. So the punishment of the story witch--while metaphoric and wildly satisfying (consummed by her own hot greed)--is within historic context as well.<br /><br />--Jane Yolenjaneyolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15396863710083180775noreply@blogger.com