Fairytales much older than previously thought, say researchers

[icymist]

Fairy stories such as Beauty and the Beast and Rumpelstiltskin can be traced back thousands of years to prehistoric times, with one tale originating from the bronze age, academics have revealed.

Using techniques normally employed by biologists, they studied common links between 275 Indo-European fairy tales from around the world and found some have roots that are far older than previously known, and “long before the emergence of the literary record”.

While stories such as Beauty and the Beast and Rumplestiltskin were first written down in the 17th and 18th century, the researchers found they originated “significantly earlier”. “Both tales can be securely traced back to the emergence of the major western Indo-European subfamilies as distinct lineages between 2,500 and 6,000 years ago,” they write.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jan/20/fairytales-much-older-than-previously-thought-say-researchers

[Behind the Aegis]

1. It isn't very surprising, but this was still a good read!

I am not all that surprised by the ancestral roots of fairy tales, but it was certainly interesting to read about it, especially with factual info. This was a really good find! Thanks!

[icymist]

2. You are very welcome!

I love finding stuff like this. And it's nice having a fairly decent ISP again. Two days now...