Fairy Tale True/False Answers: The History of Fairy Tales

Fairy tales are not always about fairies, though they are

always full of strange and wonderful happenings.

Question 1

The first known Fairy Tale is from Egypt around 1300 A.D.

True or False?

False

The first fairy tale was found written down on

papyrus and is from Egypt around 1300 BC.

Question 2

Fairy tales are stories that were first written down then shared

with others.

True or False?

False

Fairy tales have been told for thousands of years throughout all cultures and continents. They were first told orally and passed from one generation to the next.

Question 3

The term “fairy tale” comes from the French phrase

“contes de fee.”

True or False?

True

The French writer Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, or Madame d’Aulnoy, coined the phrase “contes de fee” which translates to “fairy tales” around 1697. Madame d’Aulnoy first translations were meant more for adults than children. These stories are more sinister, dark, and eerie than the Disney versions we know today.

Question 4

Sleeping Beauty was first told by Walt Disney.

False

Charles Perrault (12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was a French author who collected and retold these stories and help create a new “genre” or type of literature: the Fairy Tale. His best known translations are Le Petit Chaperon rouge (Little Red Riding Hood), La Belle au bois dormant (Sleeping Beauty), Le Maître chat ou le Chat botté (Puss in Boots), and Cendrillon ou la petite pantoufle de verre (Cinderella).

Question 5

The first authors of Fairy Tales were the Brother’s

Grimm.

False

Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm (aka The Brothers Grimm) are known as the first collectors of German fairy tales, or Marchen. The Brothers Grimm wanted to target a younger audience, so they retold the stories to make them more appropriate for children. Their first collection of fairy tales for children is called Kinder- und Hausmarchen, known in English as Grimm’s Fairy Tales, a collection of over 200 tales taken mostly from oral sources.

Question 6

Fairy tales must include fairies and other mythical beings.

False

Fairy tales may include fairy tales, but not all fairy tales do include fairies or other mythical beings.

Question 7

Fairy tales were used to tell children how to behave.