DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FAIRY TALE AND FOLKKTALE

ABSTRACT

In this article there are initiated some particular differences between fairy and folktales.

Keywords: folktale, fairy tale, differences, language features.

Here we are going to speak about the differences between fairy tales and folktales.

I find this subject really interesting, because everybody reads literature, but not many people can clearly define the genres they read. As I have already noticed, people think that a folktale and a fairy tale is just the same thing. But in fact it is not!

So, let’s start from the very beginning and have a look at definitions of a fairy tale and a folktale.

Here are several definitions, so as we could read all of them, define particular features and generalise them.

«Fairy tale is a traditional story, usually written for children, which often involves imaginary creatures and magic» [Cambridge Dictionary].

«Fairy Tale is a story about fairies or other mythical or magical beings, esp. one of traditional origin told to children» [Collins English Dictionary].

«Fairy Tale is a story, usually for children, about elves, hobgoblins, dragons, fairies, or other magical creatures» [www.dictionary.com].

Summing up, we can say that fairy tale is a short story set in a typically magical realm, with human characters as well as magic beings, such as elves, dragons and fairies.

Now let’s have a look what information we can find about folktales.

«Folktale is a traditional story that people of a particular region or group repeat among themselves» [Cambridge Dictionary].

«Folktale is a characteristically anonymous, timeless, and placeless tale circulated orally among a people» [Merriam-Webster Dictionary].

«Folktale is a tale or legend originating and traditional among a people or folk, especially one forming part of the oral tradition of the common people» [www.dictionary.com].

Defining common features of a folktale, we can say that it is a traditional story or a tale that people from a particular region transmit among themselves orally. And what’s more, it has no time and place reference and no author.

Turning now to more particular features of fairy and folk tales let’s have a look at this table.

What differentiates a folktale from a fairy tale has long been the subject of debate. While there is no definitive consensus among scholars, there are some basic differences between the two. In short, folktales were tales spun orally and passed down. The term fairy tale grew out of folktales once they were written, beginning with Perrault’s Tales of Mother Goose.

Table 1.

Particular differences between folktales and fairy tales.

To understand these differences more clearly, let’s pass to the examples of both folk and fairy tales.

Here are the most popular British folk tales:

1. “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” – a story about a girl who broke into the three Bears’ house, she got everything in a mess, and then she was afraid of the bears and ran away.
2. “The White Elephant” – an Asian folktale about a white elephant. He was very kind and people treated him with love
3. “Anansi the Spider” – an Ashanti folk tale about the trickster. Anansi transforms into a spider and scares all of the African people.
4. “The Ant and the Grasshopper” – an Aesop’s fables. The grasshopper sang, jumped, played and did nothing all summer. And the ant worked hard and prepared a lot for the hard winter. The grasshopper wanted the ant to help her to survive the cold winter.

And these are examples of fairy tales:

1. “Cinderella” – a story about a poor girl who was treated badly by her step-mother and step-sisters. She went on a ball and became a real princess thanks to her auntie’s fairy magic. The prince fell in love with her and they were happy together. In fact, it was first published in France by Charles Perrault. But now there are many different versions of this fairy tale all over the world.
2. “The Golden-Headed Fish” – a Middle Eastern story. A man was presented here as a hero, because he had found a remedy for the King. He found it from the Golden-Headed Fish and saved the King.
3. “The Little Mermaid” – the popular Danish story about a mermaid. She gave her voice for the chance of having real feet, because she loved a prince.
4. “Rapunzel” – a German fairy tale about girl. She was kidnapped and grew up isolated from the world in a tower. She had magic long hair.

Probably, you have read or heard some of them. It will help you to understand the differences better.

Now, we are going to move to exact language features of a fairy tale and a folk tale.

The most common feature is beginning the sentences of a fairy tale with “Once upon a time … There was once a … Long ago in the … And it came to pass …”. Then language often reflects the settings, in the past, using archaic or regional vocabulary and grammar “Say these words thrice! I shall return and take thy gold. He knew not where he was”. Another common feature is using numbers and patterns that usually appear in fairy tales: the numbers 3 and 7.

Almost the same features can be found in folktales. For example, British ones can begin with “Once upon a time, and a very good time too, though it was not in my time, nor your time, nor for the matter of that in any one's time”. Most folktale beginnings are commonly either chronological (Once upon a time there was…) or topographic (In a certain realm, in a certain land...). Also, folktale closings are characterized by rhyming: “Be bow, Bend it, My story's ended. If you don't like it, You can take it to Wales, And buy some nails, And mend it”.

I’d like to conclude by saying that the topic of fairy or folk tales may be interesting for readers of all ages. Even though it’s quite hard to differentiate between them. Fairy tales are widely used in different effective teaching techniques.

References:

1. Cambridge Dictionary [Electronic resourse] // Cambridge Dicrionary. – Electronic data, 2021. – URL: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/ (дата обращения 24.03.2021)
2. Collins English Dictionary [Electronic resourse] // Collins English Dicrionary. – Electronic data, 2021. – URL: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english (дата обращения 24.03.2021)
3. Dictionary.com [Electronic resourse] // Dicrionary.com – Electronic data, 2021. – URL: https://www.dictionary.com/  (дата обращения 24.03.2021)
4. Merriam-Webster Dictionary [Electronic resourse] // Merriam-Webster Dicrionary. – Electronic data, 2021. – URL: https://www.merriam-webster.com/ (дата обращения 24.03.2021)