What fairytales mentioning hair gives you inspiration and that you loved to read?

[Dreamkitty]

Im 22 years old and but ive always had a soft spot for fairytales. As a little girl, I would read stories of these "Once Upon a Time".... and I got to admit I still love reading them, and books with beautiful illustrations too.

I think that is where I got my long hair inspiration from, every little girl loves princesses when they are young.

Snow White's raven black hair in contrast with her porcelain pale skin, Rapunzel's golden long hair that is the longest and a story focuses on hair, The Twelve dancing princesses long hair, Jasmine thick exotic hair, I read folk tales of Japanese/Indian princesses with long hair. Hmm the list goes on but Ive read fairytales that are less well known and from different countries that I have also love to read:D.

[MonaMayfair]

I used to have a book with a story called the Hair Tree. I don't remember the details, but there was a tree made of hair (I imagined it as looking like a weeping willow tree) and the outside was black, with the layers of hair getting lighter and lighter until the inner tree was "pure gold"
I used to love that story, but I don't know now which book it was.

[QMacrocarpa]

Don't forget the Goose Girl! I love the illustrations of her in this fairy tale collection:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15145

[jacqueline101]

I like rapunzel.

[vintage88]

I still love sleeping beauty's hair, and Jasmin from Aladdin, oh and Aerial from the little mermaid!:)

[A. Correira]

My inspiration is the mermaid I was named after: Ariel!! I used to love sleeping beauty when I was little because I had long blonde hair, but now I am more of a red head and I figured I should embrace the name I was given!

[*Rose Red*]

of course I love Rapunzel (and the Disney film is too funny), and I always wanted to look like Snow White, with that black hair, but I´m just strawberry blonde.

[RileyJane]

Ahhh! you sound like me and my friends haha ... i think im secretly jealous of all the princesses' long perfect hair, which is kind of like motivation to me to be patient and just wait for my hair to be that length... i hope my hair looks just as lovely as snow white's, since my skin is unnaturally white too (or seems like it to me) and my hair seems to just be getting darker and darker every year

[spirals]

For me it has always been Aurora's long waves in the Disney version of Sleeping Beauty. I'm not blonde, but it goes from curls to waves.

[Mamiberisha]

The little mermaid :) love her

[Mamiberisha]

I actually named my daughter Odette after the swan princess, and my hubby and I decided that if we have a girl for the next baby that we will name her Aurora <3

[oktobergoud]

I love everything with red! My favourite is obviously Little Red Riding Hood ;) And Snow White.. I actually wrote my graduation thesis about Snow White! (I did study at art school so you could basically pick 'everything' ;))

[DancingQueen]

I remember part of a fairytale I was told as a child, but I don't remember all of it. If anyone knows, please tell me the name of it.

It was something about a woman (maybe a princess?) cutting off her golden hair to save her lover from a creature who kidnapped him. (I think it was some kind of giant eagle or something, or maybe a troll?) The woman looked terrifying, like a troll after she cut her hair, but her lover didn't care. They chose to live the rest of their lives in a mountain, and lived happily ever after.

I could be mixing this up with other fairytales, but if anyone remember a fairytale similar to this, I would love to get the name of it. I kind of want to read it again. I don't know why, because I can't remember a lot of details, but i remember it as such a beautiful story.

[melusine963]

I used to have a book with a story called the Hair Tree. I don't remember the details, but there was a tree made of hair (I imagined it as looking like a weeping willow tree) and the outside was black, with the layers of hair getting lighter and lighter until the inner tree was "pure gold"
I used to love that story, but I don't know now which book it was.


I remember part of a fairytale I was told as a child, but I don't remember all of it. If anyone knows, please tell me the name of it.

It was something about a woman (maybe a princess?) cutting off her golden hair to save her lover from a creature who kidnapped him. (I think it was some kind of giant eagle or something, or maybe a troll?) The woman looked terrifying, like a troll after she cut her hair, but her lover didn't care. They chose to live the rest of their lives in a mountain, and lived happily ever after.

I could be mixing this up with other fairytales, but if anyone remember a fairytale similar to this, I would love to get the name of it. I kind of want to read it again. I don't know why, because I can't remember a lot of details, but i remember it as such a beautiful story.

I would love to read these stories, if anyone can remember what they are called. I heard and read a great many fairytales as a child, but sadly I don't remember much focus on hair in any of them. Maybe such details just went in one ear and out the other when I was that age. :(

[Nedertane]

Hmm, I guess I liked the classic fairytale/Disney princesses' hair when I was younger? I just don't really remember fawning over the princesses from those particular stories, or anything.

I always loved, however, how various goddesses of the world were portrayed, including their hair. I loved the wurly styles of the Greco-Roman goddesses, the plaits of the Egyptian ones (yes, I know they wore wigs lol), the intricate, decorated buns of East Asian goddesses, the loose locks of Norse, Celtic and Slavic deities... I could go on. Their hair made them look pretty yes, but also elegant and powerful, which I think is more important than prettiness alone, and is why I like having my hair long - at the risk of sounding cheesy, I feel that power, and occasionally the elegance (I'm not ladylike enough to feel that all of the time lol). Lol I guess I should also state that I thought male deities with long hair were awesome too, especially Viking and Native American gods!

I also always loved the way the hair of various supernatural creatures made them look ethereal, wild, or creepy. Elves and fairies had pretty loose styles or braids, nature spirits had these crazy, but still lovely locks, and creatures like trolls or demons had long, disheveled manes that covered their faces and bodies until they pounced on unsuspecting humans. I loved all that, I wanted to be that! Hahaha.

[humble_knight]

The best present I ever received was a book of world fairytales. It had the story of Rapunzel of course and the other one that sticks in my mind is about Dorani [Indian fairytale]. One year later, when I was 8, I met my mum's sister-in-law who had floorlength hair. A few years later, there was a children's programme I was addicted to, called The Storyteller [John Hurt played the Storyteller and introduced each story] which further increased my interest in folk tales. Before I knew anything about pre-Raphaelite art, I always connected long hair with fairytales - I still do :mrt:

[Tapioca]

Don't forget the Goose Girl! I love the illustrations of her in this fairy tale collection:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15145

The Goose Girl is my favorite fairy tale, and a painting of her used to be my avatar picture.

[Dizzy_zzz]

I don't know if the hair inspiration link is totally obvious to everybody with this, but, for me, it's the brothers Grimms' "The Goose Girl"

[MonaMayfair]

I would love to read these stories, if anyone can remember what they are called. I heard and read a great many fairytales as a child, but sadly I don't remember much focus on hair in any of them. Maybe such details just went in one ear and out the other when I was that age. :(

I wish I COULD remember which book that was! It could have been anything, as I inherited all my (over 30 years older) half brother and half sister's books.
I still have lots of my childhood books (and they're still my favorite things to read too ) but not that one :(

[Aredhel77]

I wish I COULD remember which book that was! It could have been anything, as I inherited all my (over 30 years older) half brother and half sister's books.
I still have lots of my childhood books (and they're still my favorite things to read too ) but not that one :(

Every Christmas as a child I looked forward to the books I would receive, very often fairy/ world folk tale compendiums. I particularly liked Russian/Slavic folk tales. One I remember (only vaguely) was where the heroine went on a perilous journey to save someone and collected 3 hairs that were red, black and gold. I don't remember if it was her own hair that was 3-coloured or if she took a hair from three different wise women/fairies (or indeed if it was one fairy with multicoloured hair) -anyway, at a time of need each hair transformed into something that aided her. I think the golden hair became a staff of gold.

I loved the idea of three-coloured hair, and I wish I could remember what the tale was called. I've searched online for it, no luck yet. The Three Hairs maybe? (:eyebrows:)

Interestingly, my hair is naturally a bit of a mix of all of the three colours. I've always found that funny.

And I too wrote a dissertation about fairytales/folklore at uni LOL.

[DancingQueen]

Every Christmas as a child I looked forward to the books I would receive, very often fairy/ world folk tale compendiums. I particularly liked Russian/Slavic folk tales. One I remember (only vaguely) was where the heroine went on a perilous journey to save someone and collected 3 hairs that were red, black and gold. I don't remember if it was her own hair that was 3-coloured or if she took a hair from three different wise women/fairies (or indeed if it was one fairy with multicoloured hair) -anyway, at a time of need each hair transformed into something that aided her. I think the golden hair became a staff of gold.

I loved the idea of three-coloured hair, and I wish I could remember what the tale was called. I've searched online for it, no luck yet. The Three Hairs maybe? (:eyebrows:)

Interestingly, my hair is naturally a bit of a mix of all of the three colours. I've always found that funny.

And I too wrote a dissertation about fairytales/folklore at uni LOL.

Could it be the devils 3 golden hairs by the brothers grimm?

[chen bao jun]

Not a fairy tale exactly, but Howard Pyle did some King Arthur books with beautiful illustrations that I used to read as a child. His version of Queen Guinevere had beautiful, knee-length black hair. I've still never seen knee-length hair on someone in real life, but it's my favorite length because of those lovely illustrations.

[chen bao jun]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arthur-Pyle_King_Arthur_meets_Lady_Guinevere.JPG

[Dreamkitty]

Interesting thoughts everyone. Keep them coming:) a couple of fairytales/folktales and illustrations I actually did not hear of so I got excited and looked them up!, I would love to read and sit down with a good old book.

I know most people like things like vampires, goblins like Harry Potter, Twilight and Lord of Rings but for it was always about the fairytales. I wish more movies were made that did not have a comedic element but stayed true to the classic fairytales.

In my University there is a children books on fairytales, also adult folktales from different countries that are used by students studying teaching courses and other things. I couldn't help but peek at the books and thinking of actually getting one from the libary to read them when I have time, especially the kiddy books with big beautiful illustrations with ridiculously beautiful hair:o

[LadyCelestina]

I believe I know an alteration of the three hair story and it's a pretty common fairytale here in Slovakia...But here it features a male hero collecting three golden hairs of an old wise man and sun,wind and some other element is helping him...I don't know why he was collecting them,though.

While we are discussing golden hair,did anyone love the Goldielocks tale? I don't mean the one with three bears,but the one about a girl with golden hair who has to go live with a witch queen in a mysterious castle once she hits I believe 12 years of age? She then had to clean 12 chambers,but the 13th was forbidden,and of course she looked into the chamber and yadda yadda :D

[Shepherdess]

Not a fairy tale exactly, but Howard Pyle did some King Arthur books with beautiful illustrations that I used to read as a child. His version of Queen Guinevere had beautiful, knee-length black hair. I've still never seen knee-length hair on someone in real life, but it's my favorite length because of those lovely illustrations.

I'm not sure if I had the same book as a child or not, but I remember I used to have a book about King Arthur and on every page on the sides of the paragraphs were little pictures of ladies and knights, and the ladies hair were in pretty thick braids down to their knees, completely lovely! It really inspired me, although I never thought that would be possible until I came across real life pictures of people with hair that long on the internet! :D

George MacDonald books always inspired me as a child, although I am no longer into Fairy-tales.
Some examples from his books:
http://onceonatyme.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/grandmother-collage.jpg
http://www.mainlesson.com/books/macdonald/goblin/zpage030.gif
http://www.mainlesson.com/books/macdonald/goblin/zpage144.gif