Posted by ravali
Jan 17, 2010 10:23 am

Replies (3)

Posted by

• My reply was too long so I have had to split it into 2 parts...
  
  In the version of Sleeping Beauty I have the princess does not have a name. She is just referred to as "the princess" throughout the story. This is taken from Andrew Lang's 'Blue Fairy Book' collection.
  
  The name Briar Rose was mentioned in Grimm's Fairy Tales. However, the brothers often re-wrote stories and changed details about them (for example adding the happy ending the Red Riding Hood) so the name may have originated with them.
  
  Although Lang's book was published after Grimm's he collected his stories from sources that had written the stories down when they were still being passed on by oral tradition. This could mean that his is closer to the original.

  Jan 17, 2010 12:38 pm
  by cresswga

• Of course, being that they all originated in an oral tradition perhaps it could be argued that both versions were equally valid variations.
  
  Some research shows that Charles Perrault had the earliest published version of the story in 1967. This page contains his version of the story (translated into English).
  
  http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/perrault01.html
  
  This is very similar to Lang's version that I have. From that I would conclude that the Grimm's invented the name and used it to name a character that was previously not given one.

  Jan 17, 2010 12:38 pm
  by cresswga

• Sorry, that date should have been 1697 not 1967 :) Perhaps the capability to edit posts would be handy.

  Jan 17, 2010 12:39 pm
  by cresswga

• More about Briar Rose:

  • View the book detail page.
  • Learn more about the author.