Once Upon a Time, We Told Fairy Tales
A post by Rev. Kyle E. Jones, Pastor of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, New Boston, MI.
Tell all the truth but tell it slant -
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind
Emily DickinsonGrown-ups have been conditioned to think ourselves above fairy tales, if they enter our mind at all. We do not hold them in high regard, though they are never far from our cultural consciousness. As modern Lutherans, we may consider fairy tales with suspicion, not least because of their popular use (or better, distortions) by increasingly spurious entertainment companies. We may simply dismiss them as fancies for children, entertaining and humorous and strange, but not the subject of serious consideration by reasonable adults. In so doing, we have misplaced something that unites our families and communities, fosters character and imagination, inspires curiosity and creativity, reveals the world more clearly, and helps us understand the story of salvation and our place in it. For these reasons, fairy tales are good for children, too. To spurn such stories is to spurn a part of ourselves and the reality of good and evil, virtue and vice, the imminence of death and the hope of resurrection. It is indeed to spurn the stories which spring from the font of the deepest story of Christ’s love and work for his Bride.
What’s more, the stories we tell reveal our depravity. Our current cultural story is nihilistic and materialistic. All you have is right in front of you, so “eat and drink for tomorrow we die” (Is. 22:13; 1 Cor. 15:32) The result is a confused, unscrupulous culture that lauds abortion and perversion of speech, act, and body. But this is not the story the Christian confesses, though it has certainly infected our souls. We have stopped telling and demanding true stories, opting instead to passively receive the crooked tales filling our screens. The antidote to our modern (im)moral formation is simple - tell again true stories that are born from the Truth.
Before probing further, it is fitting to consider what a fairy tale is. This is a challenge because fairy tales defy simple definition. They are often confused with and overlap myths and fables, legends and fantasy. Most attempts to place fairy tales are thwarted. Elements of a German fairy tale may be found in India or Central America. When one scholar thinks he found the earliest version of a fairy tale, another discovers an earlier one. J.R.R. Tolkien quipped that “the history of fairy-stories is probably more complex than the physical history of the human race.”[1]
Compounding the challenge is the term “fairy tale” itself. Most people think of “Grimm’s Fairy Tales,” a 19th c. scholarly work of collected folk-stories by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm; however, their original title does not contain “Fairy Tales” but rather “Home Stories.” Coined in 18th c. France, a “fairy tale” describes an imaginative work by a single author, but the definition has expanded in modern parlance to include folk-tales passed down orally with no author. To complicate matters, a fairy tale might not have any fairies in it, nor any fantastical creatures, though all fairy tales will describe something fantastic. The term refers not only to a genre but is also a pejorative. Indeed, many atheists mock Christians for believing in a “fairy tale.” The atheists are correct, as it happens, though not in the way they think!
Defining our term is not unlike trying to define something transcendent, like trying to say exactly what Beauty is. Such a thing as Beauty also defies definition; you simply know it when you see it. Rather than seek an impossible definition, it is suitable to describe the form of a fairy tale. They happen “once upon a time” in a kingdom, or perhaps a forest. There is variation in the phrasing - such as, “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” – and the effect creates an ambiguous setting. The main character might be an everyman or royalty, an orphan or otherwise displaced child.[2] There is always some tragedy that befalls the main character, and, of course, a fairy tale always resolves with the defeat of evil and the main character living “happily ever after.” The happy ending is not trivial but necessary; otherwise, it is no fairy tale at all, but a cautionary tale.
Therein lies the trouble of the fairy tale. They are not didactic or prescriptive, which means they do not do what modern people want them to do. Hearing fairy tales will not make a child or adult virtuous, though such hearing will play a part in forming one’s character. A fairy tale does not teach you to avoid wolves because they will lie to you and eat your grandmother. Rather, by enjoying it again and again, you may recognize wolfish behavior. Conversely, if a story is only valuable for its utility, you are liable to miss the noble Hunter who slays the wolf and rescues your grandmother from death.
Fairy tales tell a true story in a fanciful way. They do not contain all truth, nor tell it in all its fullness, but are like facets of a diamond, each one reflecting or revealing a little part when turned in the light. Likewise, no single sermon will contain or communicate the whole Counsel of God. The sermon and fairy tale alike tell a part of the Truth, though for different purposes. A sermon is the proclamation of the Word of God applied to the local congregation. It teaches, reproves, corrects, trains, and encourages (2 Tim. 3:16; Rom. 15:4), and so edifies the Saints. A fairy tale edifies as well, primarily by engaging the imagination. In a sermon, the Christian hears of Christ crucified for him, of Law and Gospel, of forgiveness, life, and salvation. In a fairy tale, the Christian sees what sin, forgiveness, folly, wisdom, and salvation look like embodied by the characters and events of the story. The fairy tale does not save like the proclamation of the Gospel saves. Rather, the fairy tale illumines the imagination to what salvation looks like.
To illustrate, permit me to share the story of Sleeping Beauty. Once upon a time, a Queen longing for a baby receives a promise from a frog that she would conceive. The frog’s word comes true, and Little Brier-Rose is born. At her Christening, all the kingdom comes to celebrate, and twelve wise women give her magic gifts - virtue, beauty, wealth, etc. But a thirteenth woman was not invited, and, interrupting the festivity, curses Brier-Rose to prick her finger on a spindle and die in her 15th year. The twelfth wise woman has not yet bestowed her gift on the princess. Unable to undo the curse, her gift softens it: 100 years of sleep. The King expends much effort to prevent the curse, but in her 15th year, the princess pricks her finger on a spindle and she and all the kingdom falls into a deep sleep. Time passes, and the story of Sleeping Beauty fades from history to legend. Many princes sought the kingdom only to find it covered in deadly thorns. In the fullness of time comes a prince who, dissuaded not by the stories of failed quests, desires to seek the kingdom and lift the curse. Coming to the kingdom, he finds not thorns but flowers that open to him. He explores the sleeping kingdom, unchanged over the century, and makes his way to the tower where he finds the slumbering Brier-Rose. Enchanted by her beauty, he leans over to kiss her, and at his touch, she awakens and all the kingdom with her. Brier-Rose and the Prince are wedded, the wakeful kingdom rejoices, and they live happily ever after.[3]
A brief summary hardly does justice, but if we turn the diamond, the beauty in this fairy tale begins to sparkle.[4] Sleeping Beauty, like many fairy tales, begins with a mother pining yet unable to have a baby. Sarah comes to mind, one of several barren women who bears a child of promise (Gen. 17 & 18). In the same vein, we see another similarity between Sarah and Sleeping Beauty. In her folly, Sarah cajoles Abraham to impregnate Hagar, though that was not in keeping with Yahweh’s promise (Gen. 16). Likewise, the futility of works righteousness is displayed in the King outlawing and destroying all the spindles in the kingdom to prevent the curse. The inevitable curse comes to pass and the kingdom is subjected to death. Of course, “in the day you eat of the fruit you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17). We cannot by our own reason or strength rescue ourselves.
Fear not, dear reader! For you know that though we are cursed, God promised the offspring of the woman to lift the curse (Gen. 3:15). In the fullness of time, the Bridegroom comes to rescue his Bride from death. Under the curse, Creation produces thorns and briers for Mankind (Gen. 3:17-19), but for Christ, Creation rejoices, the mountains and hills sing, the trees clap their hands, instead of thorns and briers are cypress and myrtles (Isaiah 55:12-13). The restoration of Creation begins with Christ’s word, touch, and saliva healing the blind, lame, infirm. In Sleeping Beauty, the kingdom awakens with Brier-Rose, celebrates the wedding, and closes with the requisite happy ending. Indeed, when our Prince comes, “no longer will there be anything accursed” (Rev. 22:3), “the dead in Christ will rise first” and “we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:16, 17). Like the end of the 100 sleepy years, Christ will come on the Last Day, raise the dead, and establish his everlasting kingdom. We will celebrate the Marriage Feast of the Lamb, and the King and his Bride and their kingdom will forever be free of the curse. At its heart, Sleeping Beauty reflects the story of the Bride of Christ falling to the curse of death and the Bridegroom seeking and finding His beloved.
God’s Word itself is captivating, reasonable, and requires no assistance. Fairy tales seek not to improve the story of salvation, nor make it palatable to a hostile world. They do not speak directly to current events nor specifically address matters such as abortion. Instead, they enrich everything - the imagination, family, and community - by portraying good and evil, wisdom and folly correctly. Better, they kneel in service of the Gospel, not shining on their own but reflecting the true Light, which gives light to everyone.
Fairy tales are strange and unpredictable, taking their cue from God made flesh. Christ is confounding: He teaches, heals, and forgives, but “is he not the carpenter’s son?” The Baptizer asks, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” On the mount, He is transfigured before Peter, James, and John, but His glory and beauty is on full display in His crucifixion. Fairy tales tell this very Truth, but they tell it slant. No single fairy tale will give you the whole thing full on, for “the Truth must dazzle gradually / Or every man be blind.”[5] The reading and rereading of fairy tales impresses on the mind the Truth hidden therein. Like the drip, drip, drip of water that carves a rock, the repeated enjoyment of a beloved story shapes and forms the imagination, speech, and character of the hearer. They are not trivial. On the contrary, fairy tales belong to the Church and tell her story. And a good story it is: though all seems dark and drear, Christ is coming soon, and his Bride and his kingdom will live happily ever after.
[1] Tolkien, J.R.R., “On Fairy-Stories,” in Tree and Leaf (London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 2001), 21.
[2] You will notice many wicked Stepmothers who disdain the children of a deceased mother.
[3] Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, "Dornröschen," Kinder- und Hausmärchen, gesammelt durch die Brüder Grimm, 7th ed., vol. 1 (Göttingen: Verlag der Dieterichschen Buchhandlung, 1857), no. 50, pp. 252-54. Accessed on 1 March 2023 at https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm050.html
[4] The following interpretation of Sleeping beauty is attributed to Angelina Stanford, “Fairy Tale Pattern 1a.” (Class lecture, How to Read Fairy Tales, House of Humane Letters, 8 July, 2021).
https://houseofhumaneletters.com/product/how-to-read-fairy-tales
[5] Emily Dickinson, “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant –,” in The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Reader’s Edition, ed. by Ralph W. Franklin. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press). Accessed on 1 March 2023 at https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56824/tell-all-the-truth-but-tell-it-slant-1263
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