#FolkloreThursday: The Ceasg

Stories of the ceasg tell that it is not uncommon for them to come to land and take a human lover. It is believed that they are able to shed their mermaid skin and become human while on land, which allows for these assignations. If any children should be born from these unions, the ceasg, even once she has returned to the water, will continue to watch over her her children and their descendants by protecting their boats from storms and guiding them to the best fishing areas.

In Which We Once Again Revisit the Myth of Library Neutrality

**Disclaimer-While I have my MLS, I am not currently a librarian. I'm a PhD student in Rhetoric and I'm a graduate research assistant in the TWU library, where I've worked for 5 years. I also happen to be taking a library school class as an elective. These posts are part of a weekly reading response. … Continue reading In Which We Once Again Revisit the Myth of Library Neutrality

#FairytaleTuesday: The Three Little Men in the Forest

This story came to the brothers by way of Wilhelm Grimm's future wife, Dortchen Wild. It is believed that Charles Perrault's The Fairies was a source of inspiration, given that similar punishment/reward systems were used for the kind and unkind girls. Some variants have the queen asking the king that mercy be shown to her stepmother and stepsister, who are then banished instead of executed.

#FairytaleTuesday: Rapunzel

[CW: child abuse, attempted suicide] One of the most well known fairytales in the world, this one was published by the Grimm brothers in 1812 but it first appeared several centuries earlier. Giambattista Basile’s Petrosinella is the oldest written version, dating back to 1634. Mademoiselle de la Force published Persinette in 1698 and Johann Gustav Büsching published Das Mährchen von der Padde in 1812, shortly before the Grimm's published their version.

#FairytaleTuesday: Little Brother and Little Sister

[CW: child abuse, violence against women] This is a relatively old tale which was first seen in print in Giambattista Basile's Pentamarone in the mid-17th century. It can be seen in various forms all over Europe and was told to the Grimm brothers by Marie Hassenpflug. A shortened version was included in the first edition of their tales but the story was later expanded for subsequent editions. This one contains obvious similarities to tale type 451: The Nurse Looking for Her Brothers, which we touched on in #FairytaleTuesday: The Twelve Brothers.