#134 The Fisherman and The Stonecutter

Episode Description: #134 In this episode, Geoff and Katrina tackle a sticky question that comes up time and again when talking about and defining the genre of fairy tales. Are fairy tales supposed to teach a moral? Or are the morals something that readers bring into the tales for themselves? Geoff and Katrina test the theory while looking at a tale type that really lends itself to moralizing, ATU 555 The Fishman and His Wife. While Geoff and Katrina agree that these tales might be easier than others to bookend with some moralizing, what does our time, place, and culture bring to the discussion? Regardless of whether the storytellers of the past meant for us to get any meaningful life lessons out of these stories, we're gonna do it anyway. It's our right as listeners and consumers of tales.   Stories Told: The Fisherman and His Wife by Grimm Brothers The Stonecutter as found in The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew and Leonora Lang   Books and Essays Cited: Teaching Fairy Tales edited by Nancy L. Canepa Morals and Miracles: The Case of ATU 555, “The Fishman and His Wife” by Victoria Somoff The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm Translated by Jack Zipes The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew and Leonora Lang   Other Episodes Mentioned:  #82 Disability in Fairy Tales: Riquet of the Tuft #119 Tales of the French Salon