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5 types of fairy-tale retellings
Most children (and adults) love fairy-tales. Oftentimes they follow a simple structure, which makes them easy to remember and repeat. Almost as long as there have been fairy-tales, we’ve had retellings. Cinderella alone has a dozen different versions all over Europe, and Hans Christian Andersen has written some of the most beautiful retellings, such as “The Wild Swans” (Original: The Six Swans). The simplistic elements of fairy-tales are the perfect mould for bigger stories, wider themes, and current issues. They can be easily adapted to transport new ideas. Keeping with Hans Christian Andersen for example: almost all his tales are deeply religious (the little mermaid becomes an air spirit that…
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Retelling the worn-out dancing shoes
Like all Märchenspinner, I chose the “contemporary interpretation” type of retelling, when I started to write “Under the Spell of the worn-out Dancing Shoes”. Personally, I love to incorporate as many elements of the original tale as possible. Some of them are barely mentioned and there are those that didn’t fit in the interpretation, but in the end, the original “The Worn-out Dancing Shoes” is well recognisable and the plot stays is pretty true to the original one. Nevertheless, it is also completely different and the fairy-tale provides the mere skeleton for the actual story. What if? Like most retellings, my story began with this all deciding question. In my…
