RELIGIOUS MOTIFS IN THE GRIMMS’ FAIRY TALES

Abstract

Gutenberg or Luther’s Bible (1534) and the fairy tales of the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, titled Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children’s and Household Tales, 1812), are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List (2005). In the process of literary reception, the collection of 210 fairy tales received the popular name of Grimms’ Fairy Tales, from the first publication in 1812, and in the international space and literary science and folkloristics also the acronym KHM (Kinder- und Hausmärchen). The Brothers Grimm were brought up in the spirit of the Protestant ethic and used religious motifs, motif fragments and blind motifs and values (e.g. purity, diligence, duty, honesty, order and care) in legends, sagas (Doctor Luther at the Wartburg, 1521) and fairy tales, e.g., in Cinderella (asceticism), Little Red Riding Hood (decency), Snow White (mastery), The Frog King (duty). Criticism of the Pope can also be found, namely in the fairy tale The Fisherman and His Wife, in which, among others, the topic of the male or female Pope is discussed.

Keywords: Grimm Brothers, fairy tale, Bible, folklore, ATU, motifs, values in fairy tales, etc.