Today I Learned

151 readers

3 users here now

Post direct links to interesting facts that you just learned about today

founded 1 year ago

TIL of a folk tale named "Death of the Seven Dwarves" (www.digitale-sammlungen.de)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

4 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Basically, in this tale a farmer's girl lost her way in the forest and stumbled across a hut inhabited by seven dwarves. She asked them for a place to stay for the night, and received it (after the dwarves argued about who would get the honor of giving up his bed for the girl).

A short term later, a farmer woman arrived. When the girl opened the door and explained that there was no more space, the farmer woman suspected her of being the lover of all seven dwarves, called her a slut ("Lumpenmaitschi" in the local dialect), and then fetched two men who killed the dwarves in the same night, buried the corpses in the dwarves' garden, and burned down the hut (the girl, however, had managed to escape).

This tale is from an obscure 19th century folk tale collection from the Aargau Canton in Switzerland, and I don't think it has ever been translated into English. But I think I shall do so at the earliest opportunity.

top 2 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Ooh, dark and interesting! Please do!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

A lot of the source material for Disney hits is much darker....

In the little mermaid, she doesn't lose her voice she just feels like she is walking in knives. The prince however admits he cant marry the mermaid but must marry his arranged marriage princess. The Sea witch gives the mermaid a dagger and if she lets the prince blood drip on her feet she will regain her mermaid tail.. while over his and new wife's sleeping bodies, she can't do it and instead throws herself into the sea and becomes the foam on the waves.

In the original little red riding hood often red dies at the jaws of the wolf, somtimes after slipping naked into bed and others after sharing a unbeknown meal of the grandmother first.

The original cinderella, Brothers Grimm version, the step-sisters chop off their feet to fit the glass shoe. When this trickery is uncovered, the little birds that follow Cinderella around, peck the evil stepsisters’ eyes out.

Peter Pan in the original book is much more morally ambiguous, he actively takes pride in killing hooks crew, and even worse it is implied he keeps lost boys young by murdering those that grow up

And in the original sleeping beauty she was pregnant by the time she awakened...

load more comments