Section II of 5

Tale Variants

Fairy tales and folktales traced version by version: their tale types, the earliest dated texts in the original languages, and where the versions part ways.

3 entries

Image credit
"Snowdrop-Rackham-053" by Arthur Rackham (ill.); Brothers Grimm — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Snowdrop-Rackham-053.jpg — Public domain (illustrator Arthur Rackham d. 1939 (Commons creator data: 1867-1939); US: published before 1931 (the plate is signed and dated 1909, and the file page gives a 1909 New York edition); EU: 70 years after the artist's death)

Cinderella Around the World: 7 Dated Versions of ATU 510A

Seven dated Cinderella texts compared, from Ye Xian's gold shoe, written before 863, to Perrault's glass slipper (1697) and the Grimms' 1812 and 1857 texts.

Deep dive · October 20, 2026
Image credit
"Le Petit Chaperon Rouge, RP-P-OB-33.985" by Gustave Doré and Adolphe François Pannemaker; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, RP-P-OB-33.985 (CC0) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Le_Petit_Chaperon_Rouge,_RP-P-OB-33.985.jpg — CC0 1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)

Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index: Same Number, Not Same Ancestor

The Aarne–Thompson–Uther index numbers folktale plots, from Aarne's 1910 list to Uther's 2004 revision. A shared number like 510A marks a plot, not an ancestor.

Deep dive · October 20, 2026
Image credit
"Russian Wonder Tales 081" by Ivan Bilibin — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Russian_Wonder_Tales_081.jpg — Public domain (artist Ivan Bilibin d. 1942; US: published before 1931 (picture dated 1899, printed in Post Wheeler's Russian Wonder Tales, New York, 1912); EU: 70 years after the artist's death)

Baba Yaga: Afanasyev's Witch Is Also the Hero's Helper

Baba Yaga threatens to eat Vasilisa, then gives her fire. Seven Afanasyev tales show her as villain, tester and giver; the sources checked record no cult.

Catalogue entry · October 20, 2026

Tale Variants

Cinderella Around the World: 7 Dated Versions of ATU 510A

Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index: Same Number, Not Same Ancestor

Baba Yaga: Afanasyev's Witch Is Also the Hero's Helper