Romantic Fairy Tales


Book Description

The four works collected in this volume reveal the fascinating preoccupations of the German Romantic movement, which revelled in the inexplicable, the uncanny and the unknown and, especially, the mysterious world of the fairy tale. Goethe's richly imaginative Fairy Tale (1795) depicts an ethereal underground realm and the marriage of a beautiful man and woman, whose union heralds a new age. In Tieck's Eckbert the Fair (1797) two outsiders seek refuge in the solitude of dark woods to conceal their incestuous passion from the world, while in Fouque's Undine (1811) a water nymph falls in love and acquires a soul, and so discovers the reality of human suffering. And Brentano's Tale of Honest Casper and Fair Annie (1817) portrays the tragedy of a young couple, destroyed by a false sense of honour and pride.




Love, Power, and Gender in Seventeenth-Century French Fairy Tales


Book Description

Love is a key ingredient in the stereotypical fairy-tale ending in which everyone lives happily ever after. This romantic formula continues to influence contemporary ideas about love and marriage, but it ignores the history of love as an emotion that shapes and is shaped by hierarchies of power including gender, class, education, and social status. This interdisciplinary study questions the idealization of love as the ultimate happy ending by showing how the conteuses, the women writers who dominated the first French fairy-tale vogue in the 1690s, used the fairy-tale genre to critique the power dynamics of courtship and marriage. Their tales do not sit comfortably in the fairy-tale canon as they explore the good, the bad, and the ugly effects of love and marriage on the lives of their heroines. Bronwyn Reddan argues that the conteuses' scripts for love emphasize the importance of gender in determining the "right" way to love in seventeenth-century France. Their version of fairy-tale love is historical and contingent rather than universal and timeless. This conversation about love compels revision of the happily-ever-after narrative and offers incisive commentary on the gendered scripts for the performance of love in courtship and marriage in seventeenth-century France.




The Sleeping Beauty


Book Description

MERCEDES LACKEY'S magical A Tale of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series continues with a captivating new adventure… Heavy is the head—and the eyelids—of the princess who wears the crown… In Rosamund's realm, happiness hinges on a few simple beliefs. For every princess there's a prince. The King has ultimate power. Stepmothers should never be trusted. And bad things come to those who break with Tradition…. But when Rosa is pursued by a murderous huntsman and then captured by dwarves, her beliefs go up in smoke. Determined to escape and save her kingdom from imminent invasion, she agrees to become the subject of one of her stepmother's risky incantations—thus falling into a deep, deep sleep. When awakened by a touchy-feely stranger, Rosa must choose between Tradition and her future between a host of eligible princes and a handsome, fair-haired outsider. And learn the difference between being a princess and ruling as a Queen.




A Tangled Web


Book Description

Kidnapping Persephone should have been an easy task. But in the Five Hundred Kingdoms, nothing's ever simple—and the wrong blonde goddess is stolen by mistake, leaving Prince Leopold without his new bride. At least until he braves the realm of the dead to get her back... A Tale of the Five Hundred Kingdoms novella. Previously published in the Harvest Moon anthology.




The Celestine Vision


Book Description

Based on his personal experiences, the author of"The Celestine Prophecy" and "The Tenth Insight" shares his vision for--and explains how to achieve--a new era of global peace and understanding.




Beyond the Glass Slipper


Book Description

Some fairy tales everyone knows-these aren't those tales. These are tales of kings who get deposed and pigs who get married. These are ten tales, much neglected. Editor of Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine, Kate Wolford, introduces and annotates each tale in a manner that won't leave novices of fairy tale studies lost in the woods to grandmother's house, yet with a depth of research and a delight in posing intriguing puzzles that will cause folklorists and savvy readers to find this collection a delicious new delicacy.Beyond the Glass Slipper is about more than just reading fairy tales-it's about connecting to them. It's about thinking of the fairy tale as a precursor to Saturday Night Live as much as it is to any princess-movie franchise: the tales within these pages abound with outrageous spectacle and absurdist vignettes, ripe with humor that pokes fun at ourselves and our society.Never stuffy or pedantic, Kate Wolford proves she's the college professor you always wish you had: smart, nurturing, and plugged into pop culture. Wolford invites us into a discussion of how these tales fit into our modern cinematic lives and connect the larger body of fairy tales, then asks-no, insists-that we create our own theories and connections. A thinking man's first step into an ocean of little known folklore.




The Black Swan


Book Description

After his wife's untimely death, a powerful sorcerer dedicates his life to seeking revenge against all womankind. He turns his captives into beautiful swans--who briefly regain human form by the fleeting light of the moon. Only Odette, noblest of the enchanted flock, has the courage to confront her captor. But can she gain the allies she needs to free herself and the other swan-maidens from their magical slavery?A monumental tale of loyalty and betrayal, of magic good and evil, of love both carnal and pure, and of the duality of human nature, The Black Swan is a rich tapestry which is sure to become an all-time masterpiece of fantasy.




Paladin's Strength


Book Description

From two-time Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes Paladin's Strength, the perfect blend of cosy fantasy romance and classic fantasy adventure featuring an order of secretive nuns, a swashbuckling paladin and a strange hive of rabbits. He's a paladin of a dead god, tracking a supernatural killer across a continent. She's a nun from a secretive order, on the trail of the raiders who burned her convent and kidnapped her sisters. When their paths cross at the point of a sword, Istvhan and Clara will be pitched headlong into each other's quests, facing off against enemies both living and dead. But Clara has a secret that could jeopardize the growing trust between them, a secret that will lead them to the gladiatorial pits of a corrupt city, and beyond... Praise for T. Kingfisher: 'T. Kingfisher solidifies her place as natural and inevitable heir to the greats of her genre, while remaining clearly and unquestionably a unique voice in fantasy' Seanan McGuire 'Exciting, deeply wise, sad, brutal and compassionate all at once. And beautifully written, with a plot as cunning as fine embroidery' Catriona Ward 'Creepy, funny, heartfelt, and full of fantastic characters I absolutely loved' Melissa Caruso, author of The Tethered Mage "Nettle & Bone brings Kingfisher's signature honesty and authenticity to a fairy tale setting: the result is refreshing, earnest but not naive, and deeply satisfying. I devoured it. This is one that's going to stay with me for a long time' Sarah Gailey, author of Magic for Liars 'A delight throughout' Louisa Morgan, author of A Secret History of Witches 'T. Kingfisher uses the bones of fairy tale to create something entirely her own, written in gloriously clear and transparent prose' Emily Tesh, author of Some Desperate Glory 'Funny, frightening, and full of heart; I loved it' Alix E. Harrow, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January 'Charming and macabre, often both at the same time' A. K. Larkwood, author of The Unspoken Name 'Absolutely delightful and full of charm and truth' Naomi Novik, on Thornhedge




Princess of the Silver Woods


Book Description

When Petunia, youngest of the dancing princesses, is ambushed by bandits in wolf masks on her way to visit an elderly neighbor, the line between enemies and friends becomes blurred as she and her sisters get a chance to end their family's curse once and for all.




Fables and Fairy Tales to Cross Stitch


Book Description

Create lovely new "once upon a time" keepsakes with these 44 cross stitch patterns, blending the traditional style of France with a charming contemporary simplicity. The designs are eye-catchingly lovely with their subtle colors, gentle humor, and delicate lines. They're all here: wily foxes, big bad wolves, city mice and country mice . . . not to mention princesses, enchanted worlds, and fun rhymes. Many include multiple scenes and motifs, offering you dozens more components to use in a myriad of ways. Along with the patterns, enjoy instructions for 22 projects to show off your stitchwork: luggage tags, mobiles, cookie tins, quilts, a cuddly toy with its own sleeping bag, and more.