The ATU Index

Most of us are familiar with the stories of Cinderella, Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, but not many know these stories are heavily edited, their original plots lost to history. While we get lost in the "happily ever after," folklorists are hard at work studying these beloved stories and tracking their changes throughout history. That's where the ATU (Aarne-Thompson-Uther) Index comes in. On today's episode of Poko Ponders, SaltWire host Sarah Poko talks to Ian Brodie, a folklorist at Cape Breton University, about the importance of the index and how the idea of "happily ever after" is a matter of location.