Publisher's Synopsis
Within the 226 pages of this book you will find 16 "Hairy" Fairy Tales. Here you will find tales with characters who are literally known for their hair. Tales like THE HAIRY MAN, the perennial RAPUNZEL and the less well known ZLATOVLASKA THE GOLDEN-HAIRED and more. In these tales the defeat of the evil protagonist is implied, but not articulated. Then you will find tales where a figurative interpretation of hairy has been applied i.e. where something hair-raising occurs; not usually befitting a typical Western fairy tale. Tales like THE STORY OF SIGURD where Sigurd's dies after being cursed by the dwarf Andvari. THE DEATH OF KOSHCHEI THE DEATHLESS where Prince Ivan has to defend the honour of Princess Marya Morevna from the dreaded Koschei - with a predictable outcome. The fight is usually played out by sword-wielding knights and inevitably blood is spilled. The evil protagonist is defeated in a way similar to which he, or she, treated good and innocent people. Fairy tales were originally told to teach the young the lessons of life. In olden times it was often necessary to teach that good people had to make a stand against evil, or else evil would rule. Sometimes this meant following a path that paralleled that of the forces of evil - and this HAD to be taught. Herein you will find both, the more sanitised and popular fairy tales, and the less P.C. fairy tales where evil is smote in no uncertain terms and removed from the scenario. For it would seem that the forces of evil have not yet learned from history that Good always wins. "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
