Classics Considered

by Marian H

J ♦ The Prince Who Feared Nothing

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Marian
in
Using my Lighthouses deck this time!

The Prince Who Feared Nothing is another strange tale from the Grimm Brothers’ collection.  It is about a young prince who, “sick of living in his father’s house,” goes off into the world to end his boredom by having adventures.  As is usually the case in the world of Grimm, his boredom is soon relieved by the equivalence of an R-rated film, when he falls into the path of an evil giant and vies against demons to save a beautiful princess from her spell.

It is hard to find a rhyme, reason, or moral to this story, since the prince is rather dense, not exactly “fearless” in the best sense of the word.  Some reviewers find the princess’s subplot to be a racist statement; it could be, or it could be referring to some kind of disease, I’m not sure.  Either way, the story has a speed of narrative that is typical of Grimm tales.  Maybe after so many generations, the tale lost some of its old morals and meaning, and became simply one child’s imperfect memory passed on to another.

Comments

3 responses to “J ♦ The Prince Who Feared Nothing”

  1. Jay Carr Avatar
    Jay Carr

    A few years back I downloaded Philip Pullman's \”new English edition\” of Grimm's Fairy Tales and I've since visited it several times to rad a tale here or there. I don't think this was one of them, however. Interesting that you mention the typical \”speed of narrative\” of the story, which I also think takes a little time to acclimated to when reading. My edition's introduction also had some really interesting thoughts on the origins and 'purpose' of fairy tales, etc.P.S. I like you card too. What deck does it come from?

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  2. MH Avatar
    MH

    My Grimm edition is pretty bare-bones, which is usually what I like, but yes, some commentary would help out with these particular stories. 🙂 Thanks, I like this deck, too! It's called \”Discover Lighthouses,\” and the packages says it's by a local Pacific Northwest company: http://www.seatoskyphoto.com/photocards.html

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  3. Jay Carr Avatar
    Jay Carr

    Thanks so much for sharing that link! I've started collecting cards since doing this challenge. I see some frivolous spending in my future. 🙂

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