Jack and the Beanstalk

Another Monday, another post!  Greetings, all.  Today I have another post in my series about fairy tales without dead moms (or wicked stepmothers).  Let's jump right into it!

A fairy tale with its origins in England, Jack and the Beanstalk is fairly well-known in the western part of the world.  Recent movie adaptations and novels have helped keep it in the public eye.  Still, it's one of the few fairy tales where the mother is both decent and alive.

Jack and the Beanstalk is a story about a single mother raising her child. The family is very poor.  Seeking to change their luck, Jack trades their cow for a handful of beans.

When Jack returns with his "magic beans", his mother despairs. She throws the beans outside in her anger. Luckily for Jack and his mom, the beans actually are magical. They sprout a massive beanstalk which climbs the sky into the home of the giants.  Jack climbs the beanstalk during the night.

At the top he finds a castle, in which he meets the giant's wife. She helps him hide when her husband returns home. Once the male giant is sleeping, Jack steals his treasure and makes a run for it. The next night he returns to the giants' domain and steals again. On the third night Jack is spotted. The boy flees, climbing down the beanstalk and calling for his mother to bring an axe. With her help the beanstalk is chopped down. The male giant falls to his death (which is justified in some stories by the excuse that the giant had killed Jack's father).

Though his mother doubted him about the magical beans, she helped Jack when it most mattered. The two live happily ever after on the riches gathered from the giant's home.  Yay for happy endings!

I'll be back next week with a special post, before returning with another story of a good fairy tale mom!

The Story of Bensurdatu

Greetings all!  Before we get started, I wanted to drop a note that I've created an official Facebook page, where I'll be posting updates about this blog, my books, appearances, and more!  You can find it here.

Today I'm continuing in my series about fairy tales without dead moms (or wicked stepmothers).  The Story of Bensurdatu is an Italian fairy tale which was included in Andrew Lang's The Grey Fairy Book.

Our story begins with a king and queen who have three beautiful daughters. They love the princesses very much, and dote upon them constantly. When the girls request a picnic, their parents are only too happy to oblige. Unfortunately, dark magic strikes during the family outing. The princesses disappear in a dark cloud, and no one in the kingdom knows where they are.

Their parents are devastated by their loss. They offer a great reward to anyone who can find their daughters and return them home. Two mighty generals set off in search of the princesses, but are unable to find them. Only when a loyal family servant named Bensurdatu teams up with the generals are they able to locate the girls.

Unfortunately, they discover that a terrifying monster holds the princesses hostage. The youngest princess aids Bensurdatu.  With her help, he is able to slay the monster and rescue the girls. The youngest falls in love with him, and swears to marry no man save Bensurdatu.

However, the generals are filled with jealousy at Bensurdatu's successful rescue. They betray him and leave him stranded in the monster's lair, with no way to escape. The girls are threatened into silence. The generals return to the king and queen, claiming credit for the rescue. The two eldest girls are married to them, while the youngest silently grieves.

Within the lair of the monster, Bensurdatu eventually finds a magical purse which grants his wishes. 

(Huzzah for convenient magical items!)

With its help he arrives in the kingdom aboard a mighty ship, bedecked in fine clothing. No one recognizes the humble servant. He is invited to dine with the king's family. During dinner, Bensurdatu declares himself in love with the youngest princess, and asks for her hand in marriage. The girl declines, saying that she is sworn to marry no man save Bensurdatu.

He reveals himself then, and the girl is overcome with joy. The king and queen listen to Bensurdatu's story. They punish the generals by banishing them from the land. Moved by the courage of their loyal servant, the king and queen let him marry the princess.

The queen in this story is shown to be a loving mother.  She dotes upon her daughters, but they are not spoiled.  She mourns when they are taken.  Along with the king, she searches for someone to rescue her girls.  She is overjoyed at their return.  And, when the mother learns that the princess is in love with a servant, she is willing to set aside tradition to allow them to marry.  All in all, she's a pretty rockin' mom.

I hope you guys enjoyed!  I've always liked The Story of Bensurdatu.  If you're interested, you can read the full version of the story here.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next week!

Fairy Tales Without Dead Moms (Or Wicked Stepmothers)

Hey everyone!  I have returned from both my hiatus and my sojourn in Japan (which was absolutely gorgeous!).  Thanks for bearing with me while I took a much-needed vacation!

I'm diving back into things with a series of posts about fairy tales.  For two years on Mother's Day, I've taken a brief look at some of the decent mothers within fairy tales and mythology.  However, the list of moral moms in these stories is rather appallingly short.  I dug a little bit deeper - and then a lot deeper - and then I threw myself into obscure stories I had never read before.  It took a LOT of research, but I found ten fairy tales in which the mother is kind, caring, and doesn't die - or turn out to be a wicked stepmother!

Because really, dead moms and wicked stepmothers are kind of a hallmark of fairy tales.  It's difficult to find a fairy tale that isn't riddled with stereotypes, and the most popular archetypes which surround the main character seem to be the dead mother and the wicked stepmother. This is especially true of the more popular fairy tales. The Little Mermaid? Dead mom. Cinderella? Wicked stepmother. Beauty and the Beast? Dead mother again. Snow White? Evil stepmom.

So for the next several weeks, I'm going to be shining a light on fairy tales which break this mold.  These stories come from all over the world, from Greece to Japan to France.  If you can't wait and want to look up and read the stories now, here's the list:

Little Brier-Rose
Issunboshi
Snow-White and Rose-Red
The Little Green Frog
The Story of Bensurdatu
Jack and the Beanstalk
Rosanella
Rumpelstiltskin
The Enchanted Snake
The Sunchild

The first four of these stories I've talked about in previous posts, albeit without focusing on the mothers.  Let's take a quick look at them now:

Little Brier-Rose is perhaps better known by the name Sleeping Beauty.  Throughout the story, Brier-Rose's mom is shown to be a loving mother. She is sorrowful before the birth of her daughter, joyous upon her arrival into the world, and protective when the curse is placed. The story ends with her rejoicing in the wedding of Brier-Rose to the prince.

Issunboshi's mother wanted a child so badly that she prayed to the gods to grant her a baby.  She promised to love the child even if it was as small as the tip of her finger.  She kept that promise when the minuscule Issunboshi was born.  From the moment of his birth to his departure from their home, his parents loved and supported him with all of their hearts.

Snow-White and Rose-Red is an interesting fairy tale, in that it is the father who never makes an appearance.  Instead, the two girls are raised by only their mother.  The woman teaches her daughters to be loving and kind, and respectful of all.  She opens her home to a strange travelling bear and befriends him.  When the bear turns out to be a prince, and the two girls marry into royalty, the mother goes with the girls to their new castle.  She lives with them to the end of her days.

The Little Green Frog is an incredibly convoluted story, and is difficult to sum up briefly.  It follows two families, both of which have wonderful mothers.  (Spoiler!  Though one of the moms appears to die, she turns out to be alive and well in the end.)  One rules after her husband dies, and loves her daughter with all of her heart.  The other was such a joy to her son and her husband that when she is taken by the fairies, the king grows dreadfully ill without her.  Both moms rejoice with their families when reunited with them in the end.

I'll be back next week with The Story of Bensurdatu!  See you then.