Mrs K’s Fairy Tale Quiz Winners

After two weeks, we finally have a winner for Mrs K’s Fairy Tale Quiz.  Thank you so much to everyone who took part!  The response to this fun half-term quiz was overwhelming as is your response to all things ‘FAIRY’!  I’ve received emails – snailmail – comments and texts with answers and responses.  I’m so proud of you for having such knowledge!  But for now… here are our fairy tale extraordinaire winners and runners up…  Where were you Welbourn Staff!!!

WINNER – HARRY  –  Congratulations Harry – you nearly got them all right!

RUNNERS UP – KATIE, LIBBY, ELISE  –  well done all – there were only a few points between you all!

Prizes are on their way.  Here are my answers to the quiz.

 

1. In the tale of ‘Three Billy Goats Gruff‘, what lives under the bridge?

The Three Billy Goat’s Gruff is a famous Norwegian folktale that will charm any child.  A mean and hungry troll lives under a bridge. He’s hungry for a meal and would love to snatch and eat any goat attempting to cross his bridge.

2. ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is set in what country?

‘Beauty and the Beast’ was originally written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740.  This original tale was initially influenced by the Ancient Greek story of Cupid and Psyche.  It has been rewritten many times, therefore there are many versions of it but all of them have been set in France.  In the most familiar, contemporary version of Beauty and the Beast, we meet Belle in a small provincial French town.

3. Who said ‘The sky is falling, the sky is falling’?

Henny Penny, who is sometimes known as Chicken Licken or Chicken Little, is a European folk tale.  The phrase “The sky is falling!” features prominently in the story, and has passed into the English language as a common saying indicating a hysterical or mistaken belief that disaster is about to happen.

4. Who did the three bears find in their house?

Golidilocks and the Three Bears is an English 19^th Century fairy tale.  There have been three versions of this story.  The original version tells of a badly-behaved old woman who enters the forest home of three bears whilst they are out.  She sits in their chairs, eats their porridge and sleeps in their beds.  When the bears return and discover her, she wakes up, jumps out of the window, and is never seen again.  In the second version the old woman is replaced with a little girl called Goldilocks, and in the third version and by far the most well-known version the bears are replaced with Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear.  Therefore, what was originally a frightening oral tale became a cosy family story with only a hint of menace.

5. In ‘The Three Little Pigs’, which pig made his house out of sticks?

The Three Little Pigs dates back to 1840 but the story itself is thought to be much older.  All the pigs built their houses out of different materials.  The first built his out of straw, the second built his out of sticks and the third, cleverly, built his out of bricks.  The ‘Big Bad Wolf’ blows down the first two pig’s houses made of straw and sticks but is unable to destroy the third pig’s house.

6. In ‘The Shoemaker and the Elves’ what gift do the Shoemaker and his wife give the elves?

This German story was originally split into three different stories.  They are all about a poor shoemaker who receives much-needed help from three young and helpful elves.  In return for their help the shoemaker and his wife make and gift the elves clothes and shoes.

7. What happens to ‘The Ugly Duckling’ at the end of the tale?

‘The Ugly Duckling’ published in 1843, is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish poet and author Hans Christian Anderson.  The popular tale has been adapted into operas, musicals and animated films.  By the end of the story, the ugly duckling has grown into a magnificent white swan.

8. Who first penned and published ‘The Little Mermaid’?

 ‘The Little Mermaid’ was written by the Danish author Hans Christian Anderson.  It was first published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children.  The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a human soul.

9. What did ‘Hansel and Gretel’ leave as a trail, in order to find their way home on the second time they were left in the woods?

 ‘Hansel and Gretel’ also known as ‘Little Brother and Little Sister’, is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812.  The story is set in medieval Germany.  Being the children of a poor woodcutter, their stepmother decides to take the children into the woods and leave them there to fend for themselves as they have no food or money to feed or clothe them.  The first time they are taken into the forest, Hansel leaves a trail of pebbles so that they can find their way home.  But the second time he leaves a trail of breadcrumbs, which the birds eat and they do not find their way home.

10. From what tale does this quote come from….

 “The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it.” —

J.M. Barrie – Peter Pan (Mrs Kinton’s favourite story of all time!)

Peter Pan is a free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up.  He spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on a mythical island called Neverland as the leader of the Lost Boys.  He has fairy, mermaid and red-Indian friends, pirate enemies and occasionally ordinary children from the world outside of Neverland!

11. (Pop question) Who sang… ‘Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?’

1970’s rock legend band ‘Queen’

12. Who said …

‘If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales.  If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.’

• Albert Einstein –

Albert Einstein, the physicist behind the Theory of General Relativity and other great theories of the 20th century, is often considered one of the greatest scientists of all time.  But did you know that he also loved folklore and fairy tales?

13. In which popular tale would you find a talking cricket?

 ‘The Adventures of Pinocchio’ is an Italian fairy tale written in 1883, by Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany.  Pinocchio was a puppet carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto.  Geppetto always dreamed of having a real boy not just a puppet.  So, when the puppet did become a real boy, Geppetto named him Pinocchio.  Pinocchio had a frequent tendency to lie which caused his nose to grow!  In the original book, the cricket was simply known as the ‘Talking Cricket’, who had been living in Geppetto’s house for more than 100 years.  Pinocchio actually kills the cricket in the original tale but when Walt Disney created the film of Pinocchio the cricket was named Jiminy Cricket and becomes Pinocchio’s sidekick and conscience.  (Phew!  I like Walt’s version better.)

14. In Grimm’s German version of the tale of ‘Rapunzel’, what is the name of the witch who imprisoned her?

In the German fairy tale Rapunzel collected by the Brothers Grimm, the name of the witch who imprisoned Rapunzel was Dame Gothel or Mother Gothel.  Dame Gothel means ‘godmother’!

15. Which of these is not one of ‘Snow White’s’ seven dwarfs…

          Sneezy, Dippy, Doc, Grumpy, Dopey, Happy

 ‘Snow White’ is a 19^th Century German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812.  The seven dwarfs did not have names in the original fairy tale, again it was Walt Disney who individualised them and gave them names and character.

1. Doc
2. Grumpy
3. Happy
4. Sleepy
5. Dopey
6. Bashful
7. Sneezy

Therefore Dippy is not one of Disney’s dwarf names.

16. In the story of the ‘Snow Queen’ by Hans Christian Anderson’ where does the Snow Queen live? 

 ‘The Snow Queen’ first published in 1844, was written by the Danish author Hans Christian Anderson.  The story is one of Andersen’s longest and most highly acclaimed stories.  It is regularly included in selected tales and collections of his work and is frequently reprinted in illustrated storybook editions for children.  The Disney film ‘Frozen’ is based on this fairy tale and it was based in Norway.

17. In the original tale, how is the ‘Little Mermaid’ made to suffer?

Written by Hans Christian Anderson – ‘The Little Mermaid’ is deeply in love with a human prince and begs the sea-witch to make it possible for her to walk on land.  The sea-witch advises ‘The Little Mermaid’ not to go after the prince, because if it doesn’t work out between them, and the prince does not fall in love with her, the mermaid will die.  But the mermaid is determined: she gives up her voice, and heads to the surface, to ‘walk on legs that cut like knives at every step’ (OUCH!).

18. What do you think is the lesson taught in ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears?’

This is a classic cautionary tale about the dangers of going off and exploring unknown places. But where does curiosity give way to downright rudeness?  To me, Goldilocks is not a particularly nice child.  She’s allowed to wander off on her own (where are her parents?) and when she finds a home which is clearly not hers she walks right in and helps herself to whatever she can find.   Readers are often relieved to discover Goldilocks makes a quick escape out of the window, running back into the forest, saving her from what could have otherwise been a devastating conclusion!   Therefore, the moral of the story is possibly self-preservation (keeping yourself safe) and transgressive social rule-breaking.

19. What does ‘Rumpelstiltskin’ want from the miller’s daughter?

This fairy tale was collected by ‘The Brothers Grimm’ in 19^th Century Germany and published in 1912.  The miller’s daughter gives up hope of ever being able to spin straw into gold as the King and her father have demanded when an imp-like creature appears and does it for her.  Initially, he does it in return for her necklace.  Then a ring.  On the third day, the miller’s daughter has nothing left to pay with so promises that she will give Rumpelstiltskin her firstborn child.

20. (Gross, final question) In the original tale of ‘Snow White’, what does the evil queen do with (what she thinks is) Snow White’s heart?  (This fairy tale used to really scare Mrs Kinton when she was a child)

Snow White is a 19^th Century German fairy tale collected by ‘The Brothers Grimm’ and published in 1812.  In the original tale the huntsman is ordered by the wicked queen to take Snow White into the forest to be killed and as proof that Snow White is dead, the queen demands that he returns with her lungs, liver and heart.  The wicked queen then plans to eat the organs so that she can become as beautiful as Snow White.  The huntsman, however, does not kill Snow White and returns with a bore’s lungs, liver and heart instead.  Phew!