Fairy Tales Never Change

In fairy tales, some things never change.  Some examples of this would be big hairy trolls or small bearded dwarves.  In The Hobbit, elves are tall graceful creature that are very beautiful, they are also described as being this way in the book Eragon.  Another comparison is in The Hobbit,  that dwarves are described as short and hairy and they are miners and black smiths, they also like gold.  Another place these same characteristics are shown is in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.  Another common fairytale stereotype is that trolls are large and ugly and brutish, this description can be found in The Hobbit, Ella Enchanted, and The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Another stereotype about trolls is that they live under bridges, this can be found in The Three Billy Goats Gruff and Snow White and The Huntsman.   The theme of magic swords is shown not only in The Hobbit, but also in King Arthur.  The idea that dragons are large scaly creatures with sharp teeth, talons, and spines is a common conception in fairy tales, and can be seen in ones such as The Hobbit, Eragon, and the Fablehaven series.

Folk-Tale Variations

I read the folklore "The Snake and the Princess," then I read the other variations of this text and found that while some are similar, others vary greatly.  One i found that was very different from the others was "The King Lindorm."  In this variation, a queen who wants children eats a rose petal to have a baby daughter but gets greedy and also eats the rose petal that would give her a baby boy.  When her child is born it is a lindorm.  The lindorm threatens to eat the kingdom if his father doesn't give him a bride and when the lindorm gets the bride, he eats her.  This happens two more times, except the third bride talked to a witch and the witch told her to beat the lindorm until he was submissive and then he would be nice and not eat her.  This worked and the lindorm and the bride had two children.  They sent a letter to the lindorm's father but they got mixed up and the father thought she had given birth to two dogs and he said they could stay until he got back but they got mixed up again and she thought he said she had to burn them so she sent them away to be safe and went off into the woods.  When the lindorm returned, he was dismayed his wife had gone and after fetching his children, he went off to get his wife and when he found her, he explained everything and they were happy again.  This was very different from the other texts, because in most of them, the mother promised her daughter to the snake to be married and the snake married the daughter and then he either turned into a handsome prince, or stayed a snake and the family lived happily.  Another common ending was the mother and her children turning into birds after a tragedy, usually involving the death of the snake.  While all the stories were different, they all had a snake marrying a human girl and then they had children and there was almost always magic involved.

Russian Folk-Tale

I read the Russian folk tale "The Serpent and the Princess" (http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/snake.html#snakeandprincess).   This story is about three daughters whose father, the emperor, falls ill and needs water from their well to get better.  He sends his older daughter and when she gets there, she sees a snake that asks her to marry him and when she says no, he won't given her any water.  The same thing happens with the middle daughter, but when the youngest and beautiful daughter goes to get water, she says yes to the snake and he gives her water which she takes back to her father and he recovers.  The next day the snake comes back as a person and takes her away with him and they have a daughter.  They brought a godmother with them from the palace but she was wicked, the child died and soon after, the mother.  The Princess is buried at the palace and the next night the wicked godmother goes and cuts off the princess' hands and takes them back to the house and steals the ring.  Then the princess' ghost comes and kills the godmother but nobody cares and her body is thrown in a hole.

Some motifs I found were the serpent, represented by the snake the princess married, and the beautiful princess, represented by the emperor's youngest daughter.  Other motifs where illness, which was when the emperor was sick and needed the water, and consequences of greed, when the godmother stole the princess' rings and was killed and her body thrown in a ditch.  Also, there was revenge, when the princess killed the godmother for desecrating her dead body, and meeting the supernatural, when the princess' ghost showed itself to the godmother.

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares Picture Summary

I just finished reading the novel Dash and Lily's Book of Dares and I can honestly say it was one of the best, if not the best, books I have read in a very long time.  I enjoyed the way the characters grew as the story progressed, as well as the witty and sarcastic humor.  However not just the humor had me hooked from the first chapter, it was also the author's deep philosophical thoughts on many different topics of everyday world that often get overlooked.


 

http://smalltalkbigresults.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/my-new-best-friend-a-moleskine-notebook/
The first image I chose to represent this book was a red moleskin notebook with writing in it.  I chose this because for the majority of the book, Dash and Lilly commune only through a red moleskin notebook that is left at different drop spots throughout the city.



http://www.perpetualpageturner.com/2010/12/dash-and-lilys-book-of-dares.html
The next image i chose to represent this incredible book was a girl standing in front of a bookshelf.  This is because Lily feels very at home in the Strand which is an immense used book store.  This is where she secrets away the red moleskin notebook and where Dash, who also loves the Strand, finds it.  This is the beginning of their communications.




http://www.nycinsiderguide.com/NYC-Hidden-Secrets-Dec09.html#axzz2CJlj6rU2
I chose the Rockefeller Christmas Tree for my next picture because it is the symbol for Christmas in New York, which is when this story takes place.  A lot of the things that they tell each other to do revolve around Christmas, such as getting something from Santa, or going to Macy's on Christmas eve.



http://fungang.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-holiday-skills.html
This picture from the movie Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer was the Christmas movie that Dash sent Lily to see on Mommy and Me Movie Day and Lily hid the notebook behind a cutout of the grandma from the movie.



http://dc.about.com/od/photosofmuseums/ss/MTussaudsPics_11.htm
This picture of the Jonas Brothers with their wax counterparts was chosen because Lily made Dash go to Madam Tussuad's Wax Museum to get the notebook and Dash wondered if people like the Jonas Brothers think about how some day their fame will fade and their wax figurines will be moved to a back storage room with all the other forgotten superstars.



http://guydavis.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/review-the-muppets/
Dash set up something that allowed Lily to create her own Muppet and, unknowingly, allowed her to complete one of her dreams by allowing her to create her own version of a toy company's design right in their very own store.  Lily made a snarly Muppet like she imagined Dash might look.




http://guestofaguest.com/hamptons/nightlife/the-best-2k-i-ever-spent-degenerate-hipsters-invade-yacht-club
This is a club scene like Lily saw when she went to the club on Christmas eve like Dash told her to.  Lily was intimidated because she doesn't often do things like this.  Lily is so nervous that she forgets to leave the notebook and just runs away.  She thinks this means she she will never talk to Dash again.




http://www.overstock.com/Clothing-Shoes/Boots/2747/subcat.html
These boots are like the one that Lily accidentally left at the club when she ran away.  This is what Dash uses to find her again.



http://treebeard31.wordpress.com/2008/04/30/large-dogs-of-the-planet/dog2/
This is like the large dog that Lily was walking when she ran into Dash in the park.  They might not have met again after a bad first meeting in a bar, but when they met again in the park they decide to forget the bar incident.

 

http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/3463
This is like the jail Dash and Lily where in while they were being held for questioning because people thought they were trying to kidnap a baby.  Dash and Lily bonded a lot during their stay in the holding cell.

Create a Goddess

If i could create my own goddess, I would create Wilona, the goddess of human whims.  Her sacred animal is a butterfly because of the butterfly's bright and colorful wings and it apparent lack of purpose, it just floats around on the breeze landing wherever it pleases, like human whims.  Wilona does fight because sometimes humans become violent, her weapon of choice are the bow and arrow as well as throwing knives because of their ability to get the job done from a safe distance.   Wilona has long dark brown, almost black, hair, this contrasts with her pale complexion and bright blue eyes.  Wilona even has a light dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks, to make her appear more childish and whimsical.  Wilona rarely gets angry but when she does she gets angry quickly and violently to show human's volatile personalities.  When angered,Wilona uses her knives to cut out the joy part of the offender's mind so they will have only seriousness in their life.

Once, when Wilona was very young and still learning to control her temper, a village neglected to give her her sacrifice due to a mass famine and no food being available, so Wilona took the whole countries joy from them.  Eventually, Wilona's parents, Hephaestus and Aphrodite, calmed her down enough to return the joy, but not until decades after the incident, the citizens were so grateful that that year and every year after, an immense sacrifice is given to commemorate the day they were returned their joy.

Blog Intro

Hi, this is my first time trying to blog!
I love to read and can more often than not be found with my nose in a book.  My favorite series are the Ranger's Apprentice series and the Brotherband Chronicles but my new favorite book is Dash and Lily's Book of Dares.  I also like to watch television and hang out with friends.  I enjoy watching Perception, but my all time favorite television show is Leverage.  I really like One Direction, Cher Lloyd, Ed Sheeran, and Luke Benward.

I am interested to re-read the Odyssey because my class read a different interpretation last year and I am interested in how the two vary.