Still wrestling with Christmas leftovers? Ever wonder why food is such a common element in fairy
tales? It isn’t difficult to find a mention, particularly in the original,
uncensored versions. Food is not only frequently featured, but may also be the
catalyst to the action. Goldilocks without the porridge would be just another tale about a simple breaking and entering gone horribly awry. Why did a
little girl feel the need to sit down in a stranger’s home and help herself to
a meal? Where were her parents? Could it be they left Goldilocks to forage on
her own and she simply took advantage of an opportunity?
Everyone has felt a hunger pang or two, but not the tearing
misery of a slow death by starvation. Not so in the Middle Ages. Fairy tales
originated as oral folktales from the lower classes. Food was featured
prominently because dying from hunger was a constant threat for the peasantry.
On the other hand, tales to entertain the gentry were romantic quests for adventure.
Dinner wasn’t a concern. The poor survived on a meager diet of items such as
bread, root vegetables like turnips and onions, peas, and an occasional egg or
apple. Pease porridge was not only served hot and then cold, but also in the
pot nine days old. You can imagine the smell. Meat was rare since the nobility
owned most of the hunting and fishing grounds, not to mention taxes were often
collected in foodstuffs or livestock. It was good to be the king.
Famine was common, but even in good years life was often brutish
and short, especially for children. Fairy tales can tell a lot about life in the
Dark Ages. Children were commonly left unsupervised and expected to shoulder adult
burdens at a very young age. Little Red Riding Hood’s mother sent her though a
wild, predator infested woods with nothing more than a basket of goodies for
granny. No camouflage gear or even a good stout club for protection. If she got
eaten, oh well. There were plenty more hungry mouths at home to take her place.
Often, an empty belly set a fairy tale in motion, and hunger
went hand-in-hand with child abandonment. In Grimm’s tales if you happened to
be a stepchild, your happy days were numbered. Hansel and Gretel didn’t traipse
into the woods on a carefree lark. They were willingly dumped by their father
and stepmother—not once, but several times before they finally got lost. Gretel
was even suspicious about the old “What a lovely day to take a family stroll
through the woods” thing and she packed her pockets with stones for the first
outing. Too bad she used breadcrumbs in the second. The birds were starving
too.
As if the threat of starvation didn’t hang in the air, characters
in fairy tales also had to watch out for cannibalism. The witch in Hansel and
Gretel wasn’t planning to enslave the children. She was planning to munch on them
with, perhaps, a tasty béarnaise sauce on the side. Little Red Riding Hood and
Tom Thumb actually were ingested for a time. Fortunately fairy tales often ended
well. Little Red Riding Hood and Tom Thumb were rescued. Gretel saved her
brother. Not surprisingly, the happy ending often came with a feast. The
children who had been turned into gingerbread didn’t require psychological
counseling to get over the trauma. They simply ate the witch’s house (and
probably the witch, too, who was roasting in the oven.)
Nothing dulls a good appetite. I’ll bet those Christmas leftovers
are looking better than ever now.
L. A. Kelley writes sci-fy/fantasy adventures with
humor, romance, and a touch of sass and is only occasionally tempted to eat children.
4 comments:
Love this post, L.A. Fairy tales and nursery rhymes are not for the faint of heart. The story behind the stories is always entertaining. Unfortunately, the real background is so foreign to us, who live in a land of surplus. Those poor children.
Wow- I'll never read a fairy tale the same again- or frown at the christmas leftovers, lol. I enjoyed the post- very educational! It's so interesting to learn about the root of old stories, rhymes and fairy tales.
No, strangely I'm not as hungry as I might have been any more. LOL! How about a rousing chorus of Ring-Around-the-Rosey to get us over worry about the flu? Loved the post.
Fun post! I was just thinking at Christmas time how weird it is that all celebrations seem to revolve around food. :)
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