Fairy-Tale Files: The Flies

Unlikely to star in a fairy tale anytime soon, flies nonetheless play a role in the Grimm Brothers’ “The Brave Little Tailor.” A breakfast annoyance, seven flies are felled by the meek clothier with a single swat, his personalized belt which reads “seven in one blow”...

Fairy-Tale Files: The Storytime Reptilian

Saint George slew one. The X-Men’s Kitty Pryde fostered one. Hiccup of the Cressida Cowell series trained one. Literary staples of the scaliest order, dragons have loomed since the time of Beowulf and Gilgamesh. The Greek δράκων (“serpent of huge size, water-snake”)...

Special Report: The Enchanted Quill

In “The Enchanted Quill,” a recently-discovered Bavarian fairy tale from the 1850s, a crow enlists the help of a woman, the youngest and most open-minded of her sisters. She migrates to the city; employed as a royal servant, it is implied her work will help him return...