Grimms' Fairy Tales

Grimm's Fairy Tales, classic and influential collection of folklore by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Grimm's Fairy Tales comprises some 200 stories, most of which were adopted from oral sources. The best-known tales include "Hansel and Gretel," "Snow White," "Little Red Riding Hood," "Sleeping Beauty," "Tom Thumb," "Rapunzel," "The Golden Goose," and "Rumpelstiltskin." The universal appeal of these stories-whether they are considered as psychological archetypes or as fantasy narratives-inspired a myriad of print, theatrical, operatic, balletic, and cinematic adaptations. Brothers Grimm, German folklorists and linguists best known for their Grimm's Fairy Tales, which led to the birth of the modern study of folklore. Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm and Wilhelm Carl Grimm together compiled other collections of folk music and folk literature, and Jacob in particular did important work in historical linguistics and Germanic philology, which included the formulation of Grimm's law. They were among the most important German scholars of their time.