The Harvard Classics - Folk-Lore and Fable: Aesop, Grimm, Andersen

by Charles William Eliot (Editor)

1909. Many tales have been collected and they are represented in the present volume by the household tales preserved by Grimm. Far earlier written down, but less primitive in kind, are the Aesopic Fables. Still more recent, both in kind and in date, are the Wonder stories of modern manufacture represented here by the tales of Hans Christian Andersen. Andersen had a marvelous knack of entertaining children by repeating old folk tales of the type collected by Grimm; and his success in this led him on to attempt inventing new ones.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Literature, Fantasy, Childrens, Reference, Mythology

361 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1909

About the author

Charles William Eliot was an American academic who was selected as Harvard's president in 1869. He transformed the provincial college into the preeminent American research university. Eliot served the longest term as president in the university's history.

Reviews

[David Redden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read many of these as a kid, but they were dumbed down and easier to read. Here the prose is pretty. I particularly enjoyed the stories written by Andersen. He could really pack a lot of action and imagery into a sentence.

The originals vary pretty significantly from the Disney movies made out of them. I read The Little Sea-Maid (Mermaid) to my two youngest, and about two paragraphs from the end when the Mermaid chooses to die and turn to sea foam over murdering the prince, my 6-year-old daughter cried inconsolably for about 10 minutes. She finally let me finish, and we had a nice conversation about hard choices and how really everything turned out okay.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of these folk and fable tales were BEAUTIFUL but I was not expecting some of them to be SO MUCH about Christianity. Who was gonna tell me that Anderson and Grimm’s works were almost all centered around Christianity???

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read these a few pages a day - fun!

[Corim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hans was the darker and more vivid of the three. The best ones to read: The Little Sea-Maid, The Nightingale, The Red Shoes, The Angel, Little Idas Flowers, The Garden of Paradise.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always liked Aesop's fables, many more stories which were older versions than I remember. I had a book of these as a kid. Grimm's tales were interesting and longer, including two versions in some cases. My sister had a book of these stories, which I read, too. Anderson's imagination is different yet, and even though my mother read these to us as kids, I can't say I remember any.

Aside, I had a book of Mother Goose rhymes, too, the biggest and longest book I owned at the time. Later, in high school, I had a book called "Mots D'Heures: Gousses, Rames", which was a kind of spoof of the original, but with nonsensical French words that sounded like the rhymes as spoken with a heavy French accent. I'm just sayin'.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book in one the areas I served in during the course of my LDS mission in Kentucky. This was originally apartment treasure when I found it, and then I decided to take it with me until I was able to return home at the end of my two-year mission.

[D. Landers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved reading again.

[Mackenzie Friel · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

[leo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairy tales equivalent to shrek

[Roger Peters · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

[Mulhollandj · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can tell a lot about a culture by their stories because it shows what they value. Grimm's stories showed that the culture was very different than today. Andersen's stories showed a different culture with a set of value.

One thing I loved about Aesop's fables was that he didn't talk about the way things should be but the way things are. I think the use of animals and other objects in his stories made this easier for him to do.

[Pastor Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these are great stories most readers will recognize from childhood storytime, cartoons, movies, etc. And some of these are HORRIBLE. Less than half of this book was enjoyable. But that's my opinion. Give it a try... because if you don't, you will miss hundreds (possibly thousands) of references to these stories in everyday conversation, speeches, movies, books... life. That's why you read things like this.

[J.H. Everett · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is wonderful to revisit this collection. It reminds me just how much things have been adapted and changed from the original written versions of these works.

More importantly, it reminds me just how pliable these story structures are when creative people get a hold of them. There are infinite possibilities in folklore and mythology.

[Reichen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good selection of each of greatest fairytale authors.

[H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of classic fables that have been transformed into different stories throughout the the world. It’s worth it if you wanna find the original version of those stories.