Christian Themes in German Fairy Tales

Abstract

This research attempts to locate and identify Christian motifs in German fairy tales based on the research of Ronald Murphy in The Owl, the Raven and the Dove (2002). We selected 12 stories from the famous book by the Brothers Grimm, Kinder und Haus Märchen, and analyzed them in order to find direct and indirect Christian values and morals. The Germanic culture is historically grounded in Christian ideology; therefore, folk tales throughout the centuries included Christian themes as a means of infusing the culture with Biblical concepts, and to serve as a conduit for teaching Christian values. This is apparent in the fairy tales that we analyzed. Our research reveals various and varied Christian and moral motifs

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