The girls got the point that the brothers were interested in tales. The brothers had already started collecting folk tales from old literature and it took them no time to realise that the tales that flowed from the mouths of the girls were fresher and ‘fuller’ than those penned in ancient days by men. The brothers Grimm heard about the circle from their sister when she was invited to join and, since they would contribute with their knowledge of literature, ancient lore, and mythology, they were allowed to listen to the girls’ songs, talk and especially the tales they were telling one another. She belonged to a circle of girls and unmarried young women who would get together and while away the hours, days, weeks, months and years until Prince Charming would pass by on his white horse, cast his eye on the bevy and fall in love with the most beautiful maiden in their midst, proclaim her to be his true bride and take her away to the land of everlasting married bliss. The protagonist is Dorte Wild, a girl in Kassel in the Kurfürstentum of Hesse in Germany. We are back in the times of the Napoleonic wars. In her lively book, Kate Forsyth takes readers for a ride on several tracks and at various levels. Good fairy tales appeal to widely different audiences and can be interpreted at different levels.
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