View Full Version : Hairy Fairy Tales - what's your favorite?
Horsetuna
November 14th, 2009, 10:38 AM
We all know of Rapunzel, but what other sort of hairy fairy tales do you know or other stories?
My two favorites are:
The My Little Pony read-along about the rainbow haired ponies being invited to a tea party at a castle nearby, and they all went but the one pony who didnt have rainbow hair (she wanted it though.) It was a trap and an old witch cut off all the rainbow ponies' hair for her own!
The one who didnt have rainbow hair of course took the Rainbow Ponies' teardrops and found a way to make their hair grow back though :)
The other one was in fairy tale book, a variation of the Little Mermaid. She wanted to be human to fall in love, and the conditions were she would always be in pain and if she went into the ocean, she would turn into sea foam. Of course, the Prince fell in love with the maid who found him on the beach instead of her.
So the Mermaids' sisters went and gave their hair to another witch for a magic dagger. If she killed the prince and his lover, she could return to the sea as a mermaid. She still loved him though and couldnt do it, instead jumping into the sea, and becoming sea foam.
ETA: I forgot about Samson, the biblical character who was strong as long as he never cut his hair, drank wine or fooled around with women. When he did all three, of course, things went bad.
What are yours?
JaneinMarch
November 14th, 2009, 03:05 PM
One of my favorites is The Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry.
GlassEyes
November 14th, 2009, 03:11 PM
That 'variation' is the original version of the Little Mermaid.
Huh. You know, besides Rapunzel (and now the Gift of the Magi--thanks for the reminder aboe poster) I can't really think of any of the stories I've read haing anything serious to do with hair. Usually, from what I've noticed, Fairytales involve one kind of object that's 'sacred' or key to the story-Rapunzel's hair, Cinderella's slippers, The Queen's apple, etc. etc, though that's mostly with Grimm's. I can't think of any others where 'hair' was the key...huh.
Hm. I wonder if I could write a thesis on the disection of symbols and structure of fairy tales...could I get away with that?[/notreallyrelevant]
jera
November 14th, 2009, 04:48 PM
One of my favorites is The Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry.
Oh no. That was like a horror story to me. I can't even read about hair cuts although the woman in the story was selfless. :o
I like the Samson bible story too, and the Begger Girl and the Prince. It's a story of a lame begger girl with floor length hair that wins her the attention, ( and eventually the affection,) of a handsome sensitive prince. Happy ending for all of course.
Loviatar
November 14th, 2009, 05:11 PM
Not fairy tales, but I love Leslie's cloud of floor length blonde hair in the Anne Shirley books, and the Queen's hair in the Brothers Grimm movie.
I seem to recall a fairy tale that I loved about hair but I can't remember it. I am getting it muddled up with Rapunzel. The original version where the prince got blinded by the thorns. I can't remember whether the tale I'm thinking of had thorn elements too. Hmmm.
Speckla
November 14th, 2009, 05:14 PM
It isn't really a hair story but I love the description of Snow White's hair in the storybook.
RecklessCharlie
November 14th, 2009, 05:15 PM
I cannot remember a specific title of a story, but I used to have this old book of Celtic myths and legends when I was young. I recall it had amazing and vivid illustrations filled with long flowing hair on many of the characters. The imagery was wonderful.
Thinking of it makes me want to hunt down the title of that book!
Aer
November 14th, 2009, 05:23 PM
I don't know if this a fairy tale, but it's sort of a Yule one.
There was a young newly wed couple that loved each other very much, but they were poor. The wife beautiful long hair, probably classic, and the husband had a pocket watch he treasured (besides his wife's hair!). Yule/Christmas was coming up, and it was their first one as a couple. Both broke, but desperate to get each other a nice gift, they sell the things they are fond of. She sell her hair to a wig maker for cash, and he sells his watch. On the morning of the holiday they give each other their gifts. She gives him a gold chain for his pocket watch,(that he no longer has) and he gets a beautiful jeweled barrette for her hair (And she doesn't have enough hair left to use the barrette!). I guess the point is they love each other so much that they would sacrifice their most favored things for each other.
My husband wouldn't of felt so warm about this. He would been really mad if I did that, but it'sweet story. I wouldn't of done it, but it's still nice.
pinkbunny
November 14th, 2009, 05:38 PM
I'm not sure about fairy tales...but books, I know of a few.
Hounds of the Morrighan by Pat O'Shea - one character had extremely long flowing blue hair (yes blue!) that would trail behind her as she whipped by on her loud motorcycle!
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier - has a housemaid who reminisces about brushing her dead mistress' gorgeous long hair...
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - but the hair-cutting incident always deeply upset me... :(
The Thornbirds by Colleen McCullough - I don't recall the length, but I liked the part about how Meg's mother would spend so much time wrapping her hair in rags & creating perfect sausage curls for school the next day...
Ann of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery - I know Anne got picked on throughout the entire series because she had long, bright red hair, but her willpower to be herself is inspirational!
Redheaded Raven
November 14th, 2009, 06:54 PM
I know that some of these are not fairy tales, But Dealing With Dragons, Fairest, The Inheritance, by Louisa May Alcott, The Tenth Kingdom, when she has the Curse put on her hair :shocked:
I will put more in when I can think of them.... :D
klcqtee
November 14th, 2009, 09:48 PM
I seem to recall a fairy tale that I loved about hair but I can't remember it. I am getting it muddled up with Rapunzel. The original version where the prince got blinded by the thorns. I can't remember whether the tale I'm thinking of had thorn elements too. Hmmm.
The original Rapunzel did end up with the prince being blinded. The witch found the prince in Rapunzel's room and blinded him. He was then left to wander around in the forest for years on his own, until one day Rapunzel finds him, and her love for him brought back his sight (or something like that).
Since we're on the topic of blindness:
In Oedipus, Oedipus blinds himself with his mother's broach.
In Jane Eyre, Mr. Rochester is blinded during a fire. (hair is a symbol throughout Jane Eyre)
Just thought I might suggest some possible other books/stories that could be muddling up your Rapunzel memory.
JaneinMarch
November 14th, 2009, 10:14 PM
Aer, the story you speak of is a lot like The Gift of the Magi, except the woman receives a set of tortoise-shell combs (decorative) instead of a barrette. There is a short film version of it, black and white, which I saw on tv once. It's something that should definitely be played around Christmastime every year.
:)
marikamt
November 14th, 2009, 10:34 PM
One of my favorites is The Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry.
OH! I LOVE that story... I literally cry every time I read it.......
marikamt
November 14th, 2009, 10:38 PM
slightly (okay, very) off topic... but talking about Gift of the Magi reminded me of this...
Has anyone heard the tale of The Weinsberg Wives? Another tear jerker (for me)....
Demetrue
November 14th, 2009, 10:42 PM
I love the hair imagery in the Goose Girl when she takes down her long golden hair to comb it. Also, I love the grandmother's long silver and gold hair in The Princess & The Goblins by George MacDonald.
marikamt
November 14th, 2009, 10:50 PM
I love the hair imagery in the Goose Girl when she takes down her long golden hair to comb it. Also, I love the grandmother's long silver and gold hair in The Princess & The Goblins by George MacDonald.
Another book I love... and The Princess and Curdie......
jera
November 15th, 2009, 01:33 AM
:)
I don't know if this a fairy tale, but it's sort of a Yule one.
There was a young newly wed couple that loved each other very much, but they were poor. The wife beautiful long hair, probably classic, and the husband had a pocket watch he treasured (besides his wife's hair!). Yule/Christmas was coming up, and it was their first one as a couple. Both broke, but desperate to get each other a nice gift, they sell the things they are fond of. She sell her hair to a wig maker for cash, and he sells his watch. On the morning of the holiday they give each other their gifts. She gives him a gold chain for his pocket watch,(that he no longer has) and he gets a beautiful jeweled barrette for her hair (And she doesn't have enough hair left to use the barrette!). I guess the point is they love each other so much that they would sacrifice their most favored things for each other.
My husband wouldn't of felt so warm about this. He would been really mad if I did that, but it'sweet story. I wouldn't of done it, but it's still nice.
Aer, that's the story that The Gift of the Magi was based upon.
Angharad
November 15th, 2009, 03:19 AM
Well, it is not really a hairy story but I often read the fairytales of illustrator John Baur and my favourite story is of Alvida's Window and just the illustration that goes with it makes me stare for at least 5 minutes: sooooo beautiful:
http://img5.glowfoto.com/images/2009/11/15-0154284204T.jpg (http://www.glowfoto.com/viewimage.php?img=15-015428L&y=2009&m=11&t=jpg&rand=4204&srv=img5)
He has a number of gorgeous longhaired women in his drawings so the whole book is very appealing!
My favourite fairytale is the little mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen; not only for her long hair and beauty but also her being true to her will and giving her life for the man she loves. I have bought it as a book, but also on DVD as a fairytale movie (a seventies movie from Tsjechoslowaky)
shrimp
November 15th, 2009, 03:42 AM
I was going to say pretty much the same as Angharad. I love the illustrations in this book so much that I always forget to actually read the stories :oops:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Swedish-Folk-Tales-Polly-Lawson/dp/0863154573/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258281226&sr=8-1
A couple of favourites
http://www.artsycraftsy.com/bauer/jb_tuvstarr.html
http://www.artsycraftsy.com/bauer/jb_lena_key.html
http://www.artsycraftsy.com/bauer/jb_princess.html
Norman
November 16th, 2009, 03:17 AM
The Vikings had a goddess called Sif. She was the wife of Thor. She was famed for her long hair which covered her like a golden cloak. The evil god Loki coveted the hair and snipped it off ! Not the kind of tale for here ! An interesting story of the old Norse gods. You can see more here on the topic;
http://www.thorshof.org/sifpic.htm
http://www.wyrdwords.vispa.com/goddesses/sif/index.htm
Another story closely connected to the Rapunzel one is that of Melisande. The story was written by E.(ethel) Nesbit . She was an Edwardian writer in Britain and is best known for "the Railway Children" book. She lived at a time when long hair was worn as the norm especially among ladies of her class. Her story about Melisande is a sweet tale about a young lady whose hair grows too quickly. Needless to say, a prince saves the day by making sure it stops growing at her ankles.
The story is availiable at a very good site which also goes into detail about many fairy stories.
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/rapunzel/shortstories/melisande.html
Othala
November 16th, 2009, 03:26 AM
The Three Incestuous Sisters by Audrey Niffenegger.
Here is the cover.....
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k298/simiyusef/TIS.jpg
JaneinMarch
November 16th, 2009, 07:51 AM
Hair issues pop up in the Little House Books. In The Little Town on the Prairie, Laura is getting ready to cut bangs in her hair in preparation for a party (she's about 15). She marvels at its lustre and how it hangs to her knees. She has to stop herself from being vain. She also laments the brown color of her hair (she believed as a girl that golden hair, like her sister Mary's, was prettiest).
Mary had to have her hair shaved because of sickness, what they called scarlet fever then. Laura's rival Nellie has blonde hair and appears in On the Banks of Plum Creek and Little Town on the Prairie. Laura's hair would come loose from its braids as she trampled hay for her father in The Long Winter.
JamieLeigh
November 16th, 2009, 09:34 AM
I'm actually starting to like the Barbie animated version of "Rapunzel". The main character has, of course, super-long hair, but everyone is not obsessed with it to the point of being annoying. She only has one dream in the whole movie where the Prince yells "Let down your hair!" and towards the end, the bad witch chops it off to trick the Prince.....yet it's magically restored to floor-length by the time Rapunzel gets married. Go fig. Gosh, if ALL haircuts were like that..... :p
On a non-hair-related note, I like this version of "Rapunzel" better than the original version, because there is not a dark sexual undertone and the Prince doesn't keep hopping up into the tower every time the witch's back is turned. :)
halo_tightens
November 16th, 2009, 09:53 AM
I've been in love with Anne and her carrot-red hair since I was a little girl...
But to be kind to Anne's feelings, we must all remember that since she has grown up, her hair has deepened to AUBURN. Very important distinction, to Anne, anyway. :)
I also loved the bits from the Little House series that JaneinMarch mentioned! I seem to also recall Laura's hair coming loose and flying in her face on other occasions-- like when trying to chase the cattle away from the haystacks after Johnny (was that his name?) let them get loose, and when running back and forth with water and wet rags to help fight the fire that was threatening their property.... It's been years, so my details are fuzzy! :)
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