Developing Story (bibliography)

What the hidden relationships of ancient folktales reveal about their evolution—and our own

Researchers have long been fascinated by the strong continuities evident in the oral traditions associated with different cultures. According to the ‘historic-geographic’ school, it is possible to classify similar tales into “international types” and trace them back to their original archetypes. How…

In 1598 a man named Jacques Raollet was tried as a werewolf in Angers, Touraine. In the 15th to 17th centuries there were numerous werewolf trials in France ~ it was the masculine counterpart to t…

Ah, a tale as old as time: The Smith and the Devil. Haven’t heard of it? What if we told you that this European fairytale is way older than those Brothers ...

(Phys.org)—A pair of researchers has conducted a phylogenetic analysis on common fairy tales and has found that many of them appear to be much older than has been thought. In their paper published in Royal Society Open Science, Sara Graça da Silva, a social scientist/folklorist with New University o…

“The Wolf Dives Into the Water for Reflected Cheese,” and other highlights of folktale categorization.

The translator of a newly discovered trove of 150-year-old tales on the gender-bending surprises found there

‘It is time for parents and publishers to stop dumbing down the tales for children,’ says editor of uncut edition