The Medieval Origins of Fairy Tales

Gone Medieval

History Hit

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 2 July 2022

⏱️ 36 minutes

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Summary

When we think of fairy tales, we think of imprisoned maidens, turreted towers, magic spinning wheels, wicked witches and demonic dwarves and dragons. Much of the iconography of these stories, particularly those from Europe, dates back to Medieval times. Some of them, such as the story of Hansel and Gretel, are even rooted in specific events.

In today’s edition of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis meets author Nicholas Jubber whose book The Fairy Tellers reveals the surprising origins and people behind the world’s most influential magical tales.

The Senior Producer on this episode was Elena Guthrie. It was produced by Rob Weinberg and edited by Thomas Ntinas.

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1:36.8	Welcome to this episode of Gone Medieval, I'm Matt Lewis. The stories we tell our children
1:42.3	often endure because they speak to something at the very core of being human. They're timeless,
1:48.0	they're instructive, they're designed to highlight what is often right and wrong with the world.
1:53.8	And frequently they're actually pretty terrifying if you listen to them too closely. So when and
1:58.3	where does some of our most famous fairy tales come from? Well fortunately Nick Jobber is here to tell
2:04.0	us a bit more. Nick's latest book The Fairy Tellers takes us on a journey into the secret history
	...

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