Folk-Lore
TRANSACTIONS OF THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.
FAIRY TALES FROM INEDITED HEBREW MSS. OF THE NINTH AND TWELFTH CENTURIES.
By M. Gaster, Ph. D.
It may sound paradoxical and not at all complimentary to the students of folklore, but it is none the less true, that we know now just as little about the origin of fairy tales, as was known half a century ago. Theories we have plenty and to boot, and faddists not a few; but one cannot say that there is wisdom in the multitude of counsel. I for my own part may be considered as representing one set of faddists, probably consisting of one single individual; but no other theory has as yet been able to solve the difficulties of origin sufficiently; and until a better explanation is forthcoming I stick to my view, the result of many years of research and study.
I hold that tales appear only at a certain stage of intellectual development, and after the time of previous literary achievements. They do not stand at the beginning of literature, but at its acme. The words "tale" and "fairy tale" are elastic terms, which often do duty for many a peculiar string of events, true or imaginary, bound together. Take any collection you like, and you will find in it fairy tales and simple jokes, beast-parables, and cumulative puzzles. The
