Here you will find adaptations of the original Grimm Fairy Tales. These include adaptations of collections of tales, Cinderella, Little Snow White, Little Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty), Little Red Cap (Little Red Riding Hood), Hansel and Gretel, Rose-Red and Snow White, Rapunzel, and Frog Prince.
Clicking on the title of each tale will take you to a plethora of sources that retell that story!
Clicking on the title of each tale will take you to a plethora of sources that retell that story!
Collected Tales
Here you will find adaptations of multiple Grimm Fairy Tales. These retellings use various characters and settings within the universe of Grimm's tales to create new stories. These adaptations come in different formats, including plays, poetry, novels, illustrated tales, television shows, and websites.
Cinderella
“Cinderella” was the Grimms' take on the already-popular rags-to-riches tale. In this story, Cinderella’s mother had died, and her new step-mother and step-sisters treat Cinderella very poorly, doing things like taking away all of her nice clothing and forcing her to perform chores like a servant in her own home. Cinderella endures this humiliating treatment, but bemoans her fate at her mother's grave. When the king holds a festival for his son, Cinderella’s stepmother forbids her to go on the grounds that she has no nice clothing and would be an embarrassment. However, Cinderella has spent her life befriending the birds that live in the tree growing out of her moths grave. These birds take pity on her and bring her a gold dress and slippers so that she can go to the festival. The prince becomes enamored with Cinderella and wants to see her home, but she demurs and escapes. This process repeats each of three nights of the festival, and Cinderella loses a slipper the last evening. Having discovered where she lives, the prince visits Cinderella’s home, attempting to find the slipper’s owner. Each of the two daughters claim the shoe belongs to her, and they cut their feet in an attempt to fit inside the shoe. The prince notices that there is blood in the shoe when the same birds that helped Cinderella sing to him, and so he rejects the step-sisters. When Cinderella puts on the shoe, there is no blood, and that is how the prince knows he has found his true love. The birds that helped Cinderella pecked out the step-sisters eyes and blinded them for the rest of their lives as punishment for their wickedness.
A fulltext version of the tale can be found at: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm021/html.
A fulltext version of the tale can be found at: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm021/html.
Little Snow White
In “Little Snow White,” a queen’s daughter grows up to be very beautiful. The queen dies, and the King’s new wife, who is very vain, spends all of her time admiring her own beauty. She has a magic mirror that tells her she is the most beautiful woman in all the land. One day, the looking glass tells her that Snow White is more beautiful, so the new queen orders her servant to take Snow White to the woods to kill her. However, the servant takes pity on her and leaves her to be killed by the wild animals. Snow White finds a house of dwarfs who take her in and care for her. When the new queen again asks the magic mirror who is the most beautiful, the mirror reveals that Snow White, who has taken refuge with the dwarfs, is still more beautiful. The queen disguises herself to try to kill Snow White three times, first in suffocating her with tight clothing, second by putting a poisoned comb in her hair, and third by feeding her a poisoned apple. The dwarfs nurse her back to health during the first two encounters, but Snow White faints and appears dead when she puts a piece of apple in her mouth. The dwarfs put her in a coffin and mourn her for some time, until a prince happens upon the dwarfs’ house and sees Snow White. He picks up the coffin to give it a proper burial, and when he does so the piece of apple falls from her mouth and she wakes up again. Snow White and the prince marry, and the wicked queen becomes enraged when the mirror tells her of the wedding. The wicked queen visits Snow White to find out whether it is true, and upon seeing that it is, she falls down dead.
A fulltext version of the tale can be found at: http://www.pitt.edu/&dash/grimm053.html
A fulltext version of the tale can be found at: http://www.pitt.edu/&dash/grimm053.html
Little Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty)
In “Little Briar Rose,” a King and Queen become so happy that their daughter has been born that they throw a festival to celebrate. In their land were thirteen “Wise Women” with magical powers, and the King, desiring that they would look kindly on his daughter, invited twelve of them. At the festival, the twelve Wise Women who attended bestowed blessings on the girl. After eleven of them had bestowed blessings, the uninvited Wise Woman bursts in and curses the girl, saying she would prick her finger on a spindle at age fifteen and die. However, the one Wise Woman who had not blessed the girl yet said that she would not die, only sleep. When the girl was fifteen, she pricks her finger, and not only she but every living thing in the castle (including animals, servants, and family members) fall asleep. As well, a thick bush of thorns grows over the castle walls. For a hundred years they slept, and young men attempted to brave the castle to rescue its inhabitants, only to get caught in the roes thorns and die. One day, a youth approaches the castle and the rose bushes part for him to enter on their own accord. He sees the girl and is so overcome with love that he kisses her, and everyone in the castle wakes up. The girl and the youth live the rest of their lives together.
A fulltext version of the tale can be found at: http://www.pitt.edu/&dash/grimm050.html
A fulltext version of the tale can be found at: http://www.pitt.edu/&dash/grimm050.html
Little Red Cap (Little Red Riding Hood)
“Little Red Cap” tells the story of a young girl who is beloved by all, especially her grandmother, who has made the young girl a red hat of velvet that the girl wears everywhere. One day, the girl sets out to take some wine and cake to her grandmother, who is sick. As she leaves, a wolf stops by and chats with her, learning her plans. The wolf devises a plan to eat both the girl and the mother. The wolf walks and chats with the girl for a way and then encourages the girl to detour off of her path to pick flowers for her grandmother in a beautiful meadow. While the girl does this, the wolf goes to the grandmother’s house, imitates the girl to gain entry, and then eats the grandmother. When the girl arrives at the grandmother’s house, the wolf pretends to be the sick grandmother in her bed, and lures the girl close enough so that he can eat her, too. He does, and then falls asleep. A local huntsman walks by the house and hears the wolf snoring loudly, and worries something might be wrong with the grandmother. He finds the wolf and, rather than shooting the wolf in its sleep, cuts open his belly carefully, getting the girl and the grandmother out. The girl fills the wolf’s belly with stones and when the wolf wakes up, it tries to run away but cannot because it’s belly is too heavy. It falls down dead.
A fulltext version of the tale can be found at: http://www.pitt.edu/&dash/grimm026.html
A fulltext version of the tale can be found at: http://www.pitt.edu/&dash/grimm026.html
Hansel and Gretel
“Hansel and Gretel” is the story of two poor young children who get lost in the woods after their parents try to kill them. The children’s stepmother, fearing that the whole family will starve, persuades the husband to take the children into the woods and leave them so that the couple will have enough food for themselves. The children overhear of the plan, and as they are being led out into the woods, Hansel leaves shiny stones along the way to provide a path back, which they follow in the moonlight. The stepmother, outraged, again leads the children to the woods, and this time Hansel leaves bread crumbs to form a path. They cannot follow this path, however, and become lost in the woods, finally finding a house made of bread with a rook of cake. The woman who lives there tricks the children to coming in, and locks them up, intending to cook and eat them. The children trick and kill the woman who lives there and rob her precious stones. They wander for a few hours and find a duck, who agrees to let them ride on its back across a large lake to their home.
A fulltext version of the tale can be found at: http://www.pitt.edu/&dash/grimm015.html
A fulltext version of the tale can be found at: http://www.pitt.edu/&dash/grimm015.html
Snow-White & Rose-Red
“Snow-White and Rose-Red” is unrelated to “Little Snow White.” It is the story of two sisters who, one summer, develop a friendship with a bear who comes into their home every winter night to sleep by the fire. When winter turns to spring, the bear leaves, saying that he must protect his treasure from a wicked dwarf. Afterward, the girls develop a relationship with an old dwarf in the woods who repeatedly gets his beard caught in things and must have the girls cut it so he can escape. The dwarf verbally abuses the girls each time they help him before leaving with a sack of precious stones. Nevertheless, the girls take pity on him each time. One time, the dwarf is being attacked by a bear and the girls flee, but the bear calls out to them. It turns out to be the same bear that they helped so long ago, and the bear explains that it is this dwarf who has cursed him and stolen his treasure. The bear kills the dwarf and transforms into a handsome prince. Snow-White marries the prince, Rose-Red marries his brother, and they recover the prince’s treasure from the dwarf’s cave.
A fulltext version of the tale can be found at: http://www.bartleby.com/17/2/42.html
A fulltext version of the tale can be found at: http://www.bartleby.com/17/2/42.html
Rapunzel
“Rapunzel” is a tale of a young girl who becomes trapped by a sorceress. Before the girl is born, her mother becomes very sick and desires a salad made from the herbs in a sorceress’s garden. The husband retrieves the herbs, but the wife’s appetite for the herbs grow each day, so the husband must steal more and more each day. The sorceress catches the husband one day, and rather than punish him, makes a bargain with him: that he can have as many herbs as he wants in exchange for their firstborn child. The child, named Rapunzel, was locked in a tower. She grew into a beautiful woman, and a prince eventually became exchanged with her singing. The girl’s hair was long, so the prince climbed up her hair to visit her often. The couple plan Rapunzel’s escape and their eventual marriage. The sorceress learns of the plan and cuts off the child’s hair in a rage. When the prince came back again, the sorceress lowered down the hair she had cut off. Once the prince realizes what has happened, he flings himself from the tower and lands in thorns that blind him. Rapunzel gives birth to twins and lives miserably for many years. The two reunite years later in the forest where the prince has been wandering for many years after he hears her voice. They live together satisfied.
A fulltext version of the tale can be found at: http://www.pitt.edu/&dash/grimm012.html
A fulltext version of the tale can be found at: http://www.pitt.edu/&dash/grimm012.html
Frog Prince
“The Frog Prince” (which has been translated into a few different titles), is the story of a young girl who marries a prince. The girl enjoys playing with a golden ball. One day, she loses the ball while playing with it, and it rolls in some water and sinks to the bottom. The girl is distraught, but a frog offers to help. The girl says she will give the frog anything if he helps, but he says he wants nothing other than her companionship. The girl agrees. The frog retrieves the ball, and the girl leaves the frog, forgetting her promise. Later, the frog knocks on the door to the castle, and the princess rebuffs him. The princesses father, the king, orders the princess to tell him what is happening, and then he rebukes her for not keeping her promise, especially to someone who helped her in a time of need. The princess is disgusted, and keeps the frog at arms length. When the frog asks to sleep in the same bed as the princess, she throws the frog against the wall with all of her might, trying to kill it. However, by the time it hits the wall, it has transformed into a handsome prince. He explains that he was a prince who had been cursed by a witched. As they leave to go to the prince’s kingdom to be married, they believe that their carriage is falling apart. However, they learn that the prince’s faithful servant had put three iron bands around his heart out of despair that his master had been transformed into a frog. Upon seeing his master happy again the iron bands snap, and the couple mistake the sound of their snapping for the carriage breaking.
A fulltext version of the tale can be found at: http://www.pitt.edu/&dash/grimm012.html
A fulltext version of the tale can be found at: http://www.pitt.edu/&dash/grimm012.html