Sarah Viehmann

Hello, I'm Sarah, writer and Ph.D. student. This is my blog for reading, reviews, fairy tales, and content related to my novel, UNROOTED. She/her. Greyro-ace. ISTJ. Ravenclaw.

[sarahviehmann]

Hi there! I’m back in for my fourth re-read of ACOWAS and cannot find the accompanying one-shots anywhere. I was wondering if there was any way to still access them? I absolutely loved your fanfic and it truly is the third book in the series for me. If there is any way to still read them I would be immensely grateful! xx

Hi! You can find them at @svfanficarchive or on Ao3! I’m glad you’re still enjoying it after all this time!

[sarahviehmann]

First Friday Fairy Tales: June ‘19 Edition (Wrap-Up)

Thank you all once again for joining me on First Friday Fairy Tales! This is the last edition that will be posted on this blog, but if you become a patron, you’ll continue to view the posts AND receive extra FFFT features for future installments, including an audio recording and access to behind-the-scenes information about The Iridia Series. 

And don’t forget . . . click here for First Friday Fairy Tales merchandise!

I hope you enjoyed this month’s edition of First Friday Fairy Tales! If you’d like to go back and visit posts from 2017 or 2018, you can head to the First Friday Fairy Tales 2017 tag or the First Friday Fairy Tales 2018 tag. Below is the list of new fairy tales that we’ll be covering in 2019!

On the Blog

January 2019 - The Steadfast Tin Soldier

February 2019 - East of the Sun and West of the Moon

April 2019 - Rapunzel

June 2019 - Cinderella

On Patreon

July 2019 - The Golden Goose

August 2019 - Sleeping Beauty

September 2019 - Snow White Revisited

October 2019 - Koschei the Deathless

November 2019 - The Tinderbox

December 2019 - Jorinda and Joringel

Thanks again for joining me, and I’m looking forward to seeing you over on my Patreon for future editions!

[sarahviehmann]

First Friday Fairy Tales: June ‘19 Edition (Art)

Click below for a collection of illustrations and art depicting the story of “Cinderella”!

Anne Anderson, illustrator. Anne Anderson's Old, Old Fairy Tales. Racine, Wisconsin: Whitman Publishing Company, 1935.

Quiller-Couch, Sir Arthur. The Sleeping Beauty and Other Tales From the Old French. Edmund Dulac, illustrator. New York: Hodder & Stoughton, 1910.

Cinderella. Illustrated by Kinuko Y. Craft

Les Contes de Perrault, dessins par Gustave Doré. Paris: J. Hetzel, 1867.

Cinderella by Kay Nielsen

Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Grimm's Fairy Tales. Charles Folkard, illustrator. London: Adam and Charles Black, 1911.

Cinderella by Ruth Sanderson

Evans, C. S. Cinderella. Arthur Rackham, illustrator. Philadelphia: Lippincott; London: Heinemann, 1919.

“Cinderella” by Frédéric Theodore Lix

[sarahviehmann]

First Friday Fairy Tales: June ‘19 Edition (Pop Culture)

Obviously, “Cinderella” has been a part of Western culture for such a long time that it’s a common source material for contemporary pop culture. Below are some short clips of films or television shows from the past couple of decades which depict different interpretations of the story. 

“On the Steps of the Palace” from Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine (1986)

The Slipper and the Rose (1976)

Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1997)

Ever After (1997)

A Cinderella Story (2004)

These represent only a handful of film adaptations, though there have of course been several others in the past fifteen years. Ever After is my favorite movie of all time, and so many of these are very high quality adaptations. Even if they’re not, they are still a great deal of fun! 

[sarahviehmann]

First Friday Fairy Tales: June ‘19 Edition (Reading Recommendations)

Reading Recommendations

Original Tale/Folklore Variants

*Cinderella Tales from Around the World by Heidi Anne Heiner

Beauty and the Beast and Other Classic French Fairy Tales by Jack Zipes

The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm by Jack Zipes

Mother Goose Refigured: A Critical Translation of Perrault’s Fairy Tales by Christine A. Jones

The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang

Fiction Books (Retellings)

Children’s/Middle Grade

*Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

*Cinderellis and the Glass Hill by Gail Carson Levine

Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China by Ai-Ling Louie

Cendrillon: A Caribbean Cinderella by Robert D. San Souci

Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwood

Smoky Mountain Rose: An Appalachian Cinderella by Alan Schroeder

*The Egyptian Cinderella by Shirley Climo

*Cinderella by Kinuko Y. Craft

The Rat Prince by Bridget Hodder

*The Cinderella Penguin: or, The Little Glass Flipper by Janet Perlman

Disenchanted: The Trials of Cinderella by Megan Morrison

If the Shoe Fits by Sarah Mylnowski

Cinder Edna by Ellen Jackson

Young Adult

*Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George

*Ash by Malinda Lo

Before Midnight: A Retelling of Cinderella by Cameron Dokey

The Captive Maiden by Melanie Dickerson

Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Five Glass Slippers by Elisabeth Brown

*Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Bound by Donna Jo Napoli

Ash & Bramble by Sarah Prineas

Moonlight and Ashes by Sophie Masson

What is Hidden by Lauren Skidmore

*The Stepsister’s Tale by Tracy Barrett

Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell

Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley

Cinder and Ella by Kelly Oram

Gilded Ashes by Rosamund Hodge

*Cindy Ella by Robin Palmer

Cinderella: Ninja Warrior by Maureen McGowan

Ella by Jessilyn Stewart Peaslee

At Midnight by Jennifer Baker

*The Wish by Gail Carson Levine

The Blood Spell by C.J. Redwine

Damsel Distressed by Kelsey Macke

A Curse of Ash and Iron by Christine Norris

Wayfarer by Lili St. Crow

*My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison

*If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where’s My Prince? by Melissa Kantor

Bewitching by Alex Flinn

Cinderella’s Dress by Shonna Slayton

Cinders: The Untold Story of Cinderella by Finley Aaron

My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen by David Clawson

The Cinderella Society by Kay Cassidy

New Adult

*A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Adult

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire

The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey

Phoenix and Ashes by Mercedes Lackey

All the Ever Afters: The Untold Story of Cinderella’s Stepmother by Danielle Teller

Cinderella and the Colonel by K.M. Shea

The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin

Ashes of Roses by Christine Pope

The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines

Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett

Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story by Carolyn Turgeon

A Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James

If the Shoe Fits by Amber T. Smith

Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins by Emma Donoghue

Non-Fiction/Reference

Cinderella Across Cultures: New Direction and Interdisciplinary Perspectives by Martine Dutheil de la Rochère

Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture by Peggy Orenstein

Channeling Wonder: Fairy Tales on Television by Pauline Greenhill, et. al

The Cinderella Bibliography at the University of Rochester 

*The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales by Jack Zipes

*Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies from Wayne State University Press

[sarahviehmann]

First Friday Fairy Tales: June ‘19 Edition (About)

When I was putting together the special for today, I realized that “Cinderella” is one fairy tale that I have never written a term paper on since leaving undergrad! I’ve certainly mentioned it from time to time, but most of my efforts have been focused on other stories. I did teach “Cinderella” and “Aschenputtel” this past semester when I taught Into the Woods, though, so today’s About post will get to the basics and the history of “Cinderella.” Click below the cut for more! 

About “Cinderella”: An Essay by Sarah Viehmann

Ancient to Medieval

Cinderella is one of the fairy tales that has been in the cultural psyche the longest, along with animal bridegroom stories such as “Beauty and the Beast.” What makes “Cinderella” especially interesting is that the story did not begin in Western culture. Although it’s very recognizable in the West now, its earliest variants came from China and Egypt. Granted, these variants don’t map exactly onto the story we know today, but many scholars and fairy tale experts will name “Rhodopis” by Strabo as the earliest Cinderella story, and it appeared in Egypt in the first century. A Chinese variant about Yeh-Hsien appeared in the ninth century A.D., written by Tuan Ch’êng-shih (Heiner).

Stories similar to “Cinderella” abounded in the European Middle Ages, taking forms in lais, romances, and ballads. One example is one of the Lais of Marie de France, titled “Le Fresne” (The Ash Tree), written in the late twelfth century. This lai features a woman who judges her neighbor for having twin boys as evil and adulterous, so when she bears twin girls herself, she abandons one of them in an ash tree. The baby is raised in a convent and later falls in love with a nobleman. This nobleman is pressured to marry a noblewoman, however, and Le Fresne must prepare their marriage bed. Only when she lays her brocade blanket over the bed does the new bride’s mother realize that Le Fresne is her abandoned daughter, and the noblewoman her twin sister. The family is reunited and Le Fresne allowed to marry her love. There are some recognizable motifs--a daughter rejected by her mother figure, a rise from poverty to power, and material clues to identity most prominently among them. 

There are also some readings of some Arthurian texts as “Cinderella” stories, particularly Book IV of Thomas Malory’s “Morte D’Arthur,” which details the adventures of Sir Gareth. In this tale, Gareth arrives at Camelot in disguise, and because he is not trained as a knight and has not seen combat, he is insultingly referred to as “Beaumains” (fair hands) while he works in the kitchen. Eventually he makes a name for himself as a knight and reveals himself as King Arthur’s nephew. The themes of rags to riches, insulting nicknames, and so on are present in this story, so while it is about a boy and not a maiden, it has been identified as a “male Cinderella story.”  

Medieval to Modern

In the early seventeenth century, Giambattista Basile included a “Cinderella” variant in his Il Pentamerone. This story was called “Cenerentola,” or “The Cat Cinderella,” in which the protagonist, Zezolla, is far more clever, conniving, and even murderous than the sorts of characters we typically associate with Cinderella. However, we see both a gifting tree and the loss of a slipper in this Italian version from 1637, and it is clear by whom Charles Perrault was inspired a few decades later.

Perrault’s version is the one most children and adults know best today, in part because it is the version upon which the Disney movie was based. The fairy godmother and the slipper made of glass were Perrault’s inventions, and he included the tale, “Cendrillon,” in his Histoires ou contes du temps passé in 1697. Perrault was part of a vibrant fairy-tale writing culture, and other writers of his time also tried their hand at “Cinderella,” most notably Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy, who wrote “Finette Cindron,” also in 1697. 

It often happens among those who are just engaging with fairy tales and their history for the first time to try and claim that the “real” version of “Cinderella” is far more gruesome. Here, they are thinking of the Grimms’ “Aschenputtel,” but this story was not collected and published by the Grimms until 1812. Theirs is certainly not the earliest variant, nor is it the “real” or “original” one. Instead, this story, which does not have a fairy godmother but a hazel tree, and in which the fate of the stepsisters is far more grim, is really one part of a very long tradition in the development of the “Cinderella” story. 

Modern and Multimedia

“Cinderella” became a story of excitement for creators in the twentieth century, most notably Walt Disney. His full-length animated feature, based largely on Perrault’s version, was released in 1950 and has remained a touchstone in American culture ever since. However, as you’ll see later today, he was far from the only person to adapt it to screen. It also featured heavily in poetry, art, and novelizations, and while I haven’t done a count yet (I may someday), I would not be surprised if it is the most commonly adapted fairy tale in the Western canon. 

Interpretations of “Cinderella” vary widely. It was discarded as regressive by second-wave feminists in the late twentieth century because Cinderella appears to be a very passive character, both in Perrault’s version and in the Disney version. Her lack of apparent drive to escape her family was seen as incompatible with the move toward women’s liberation, particularly where domestic life was concerned. However, in more recent years, third-wave feminists have been taking another look at the story and finding more resonance than was seen before. Instead of seeing Cinderella as a passive heroine, contemporary feminists are more likely to take a trauma-informed approach to reading the story and see that Cinderella is a victim of abuse who, nevertheless, perseveres in every way accessible to her. 

Of course, “Cinderella” is also frequently adapted just for the romance and the rags-to-riches elements, which is evident in adaptations like Another Cinderella Story and A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song in which both Cinderella characters achieve fame for their singing and dancing abilities along with a cute romance. This is one interpretation of “Cinderella,” but there are many more out there that use the story for a variety of ends. 

All in all, Cinderella is one of our cultural hallmarks and has been for two thousand years (pretty impressive)! There’s more to the story than a girl, a ball, and a romance, though, and learning the history of the story provides so much more context and meaning to the story that is so popular today.

[sarahviehmann]

First Friday Fairy Tales: June ‘19 Edition (Intro)

Welcome to the twenty-second edition of First Friday Fairy Tales and the fourth edition of the 2019 calendar year! Today’s edition will also be the last edition found on this blog. For future editions, you can go to my Patreon, where access to posts will be folded into my existing tiers. More information about that later! 

Since this is the final version of FFFT to be found on this blog, I wanted to go out with a bang and do a popular fairy tale: “Cinderella.” It was originally planned for August, which is why the banners aren’t dated correctly, but I hope you’ll enjoy and come check out future editions on my Patreon. 

Read the Tale: Cinderella | Aschenputtel 

Listen to the Tale (Patreon): Click Here

Schedule of Posts:

10am - Introduction

12pm - About the Fairy Tale

2pm - Reading Recommendations

4pm - Depictions in Pop Culture 

6pm - Art Collection

8pm - Wrap-Up

I hope you enjoy this final edition of First Friday Fairy Tales, and I’m so excited to share new and exclusive content on my Patreon. I’d always love to hear your thoughts. Keep a look-out for the wrap-up post for a list of the other fairy tales we’ll be covering in 2019!

[snovyda]

It has always made me laugh how in Russian, Sunday is called “воскресенье”, or literally “Resurrection”. In Ukrainian, it’s “неділя”, literally “no work”, i.e. the day when there is no work to do and everyone should have rest. But in Russian, the entire week is “неделя”. Which would mean there should be no work all week long?

It’s interesting how the logic often gets lost as a language evolves.

[seasickdolphin]

The Mouth-Feel of Languages (According to Me)

Spanish (one language I’m most familiar with)

Mostly heavy in the mouth, like cotton

Sounds sleepy sometimes

But full of energy at the same time

Tastes like home cooked food

Latin

Brittle

Could break in your mouth and cut you

Tastes like dust on a forgotten bookshelf

German

Rushed, but very precise

Feels like cold winter air

Sharp

Tastes like winter’s first snowflakes

French

Like peanut butter on the roof of your mouth

Smooth but sticky

Tastes very sweet, almost too sweet

Italian

Rough, almost like coughing

Like a warm drink

Tastes like sawdust in the air

[sarahviehmann]

Russian

Like a brook skipping over stones

Sharp edges, soft middle

Tastes like water that’s almost too cold to drink

Middle English

Feels like balancing a marble on your tongue

Skipping through a meadow that may or may not be a battlefield

It’s dark in here with my one (1) candle

[hello-coraline-deactivated20260]

In Spanish, French and Italian, “decisions” are something you “take” like a train that leads you somewhere new, whereas in English you “make” them like little pieces of your own creation. But in German you “meet” them, like friends. Aren’t languages beautiful?

[homunculus-argument]

Apparently almost all cultures have some form of the saying “speak of the devil and he comes”, and in yiddish, if I’ve understood correctly, it roughly goes “it’s a pity we weren’t talking about the messiah.”

 Really, it’s no wonder why there are so many great jewish comedians, when being fucking hilarious is just a part of the culture they grew up in.

[randomduolingo]

[Image transcription: “Russisk er nesten umulig” translating to “Russian is almost impossible”]

Duolingo, an app for teaching languages like Russian, hates Russian.

[fusdoq]

Lisān al-ʿArab  (لسان العرب, “Tongue of Arabs”) was completed by Ibn Manzur in 1290. Occupying 20 printed book volumes (in the most frequently cited edition), it is the best known dictionary of the Arabic language, as well as one of the most comprehensive. It follows the Ṣiḥāḥ in the arrangement of the roots: The headwords are not arranged by the alphabetical order of the radicals as usually done today in the study of Semitic languages, but according to the last radical, which makes finding rhyming endings significantly easier. 

[aeniith]

[nordic-language-love]

Teaching yourself a language is weird because you’ll have no trouble reading news articles on politics and health and world news but then someone will ask you about your daily routine and you’ll realise you don’t know the verb “to get up”

[tiny-loudness]

useless Russian fact #17

The Russian writer Nabokov once mentioned an anecdote about a misprint in a newspaper article on the coronation of Russian tzar: instead of “корона” [crown], they wrote “ворона” [crow]. On the next day they apologised for the misprint, correcting it to “корова” [cow]. 

But the interesting thing is that against all odds the word play works in English as well as in Russian:

корона → ворона → корова

crown → crow → cow

[aspire-langua-deactivated201912]