A Book of Enchantments and Curses
Encyclopedia
A Book of Enchantments and Curses is a 1977 anthology of 13 fairy tales from around the world that have been collected and retold by Ruth Manning-Sanders
. It is one in a long series of such anthologies by Manning-Sanders.
In her introduction, Manning-Sanders writes: "...[I]f we were to say that a girl was enchanted ... [i]t would mean that the poor thing was under a spell, from which we must do all in our power to free her. ... The word curse is more difficult. We all know what it means, but nobody seems to know just how it came to have that meaning. At any rate, a curse is always a bad thing, never a good. The person upon whom it is laid is in for a very hard time; and it generally takes all the heroic courage and ingenuity of some brave soul to lift it."
Some of tales from this book are recollected in Folk and Fairy Tales
(1978) by Manning-Sanders.
Ruth Manning-Sanders
Ruth Manning-Sanders was a prolific British poet and author who was perhaps best known for her series of children's books in which she collected and retold fairy tales from all over the world. All told, she published more than 90 books during her lifetime. The dust jacket for A Book of Giants...
. It is one in a long series of such anthologies by Manning-Sanders.
In her introduction, Manning-Sanders writes: "...[I]f we were to say that a girl was enchanted ... [i]t would mean that the poor thing was under a spell, from which we must do all in our power to free her. ... The word curse is more difficult. We all know what it means, but nobody seems to know just how it came to have that meaning. At any rate, a curse is always a bad thing, never a good. The person upon whom it is laid is in for a very hard time; and it generally takes all the heroic courage and ingenuity of some brave soul to lift it."
Some of tales from this book are recollected in Folk and Fairy Tales
Folk and Fairy Tales
Folk and Fairy Tales is a 1978 anthology of 25 fairy tales from around the world that have been collected and retold by Ruth Manning-Sanders. In fact, the book is mostly a collection of tales published in previous Manning-Sanders anthologies...
(1978) by Manning-Sanders.
Table of contents
- Introduction
- 1. Sarah Winyan (JamaicaJamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
) - 2. UnfortunateMisfortuneMisfortune is an Italian fairy tale, from Palermo, collected by Italo Calvino in his Italian Folktales.Another telling of the tale appears under the title Unfortunate in A Book of Enchantments and Curses, by Ruth Manning-Sanders.-Synopsis:...
(SicilySicilySicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
) - 3. The Enchanted Candle (SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
) - 4. The Queen's Ring (PomeraniaPomeraniaPomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
) - 5. The Curse of the Very Small Man (GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
) - 6. A Lying Story (PomeraniaPomeraniaPomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
) - 7. Vasilissa Most LovelyVasilissa the BeautifulVasilisa the Beautiful , commonly known as Vasilisa's Doll, is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki....
(RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
) - 8. The Pick Handle (AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
) - 9. The Princess in the Mountain (TransylvaniaTransylvaniaTransylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
) - 10. Black, Red, and Gold (SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
) - 11. The Knights of the FishThe Knights of the FishThe Knights of the Fish is a Spanish fairy tale collected by Fernan Caballaro in Cuentos. Oraciones y Adivinas.Andrew Lang included it in The Brown Fairy Book....
(SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
) - 12. Peter (GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
) - 13. Catrinella, Come up Higher! (RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
)
Note
On the copyright page, is it stated: For permission to retell "Black, Red, and Gold" the author wishes to thanks Messrs Eugene Diederichs Verlag, Düsseldorf and Köln.See also
- CurseCurseA curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...
- Magic (paranormal)Magic (paranormal)Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...