Genre of magical story, usually originating in
folklore. Typically in European fairy tales, a poor, brave, and resourceful hero or heroine goes through testing adventures to eventual good fortune.
The Germanic tales collected by the
Grimm brothers have been retold in many variants. Charles
Perrault's retellings include Cinderella and The Sleeping Beauty. The form may also be adapted for more individual moral and literary purposes, as was done by Danish writer Hans Christian
Andersen.
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