Getting Started (Introduction)
Fairy tales started as an oral tradition many
generations ago, so a lot of the history of fairy tales is more verbal than
physically written. If you're looking for the history of fairy tales and
their origins, it is hard to place because the tales started off in a spoken
form before they were ever written down. However, some of the oldest known
written fairy tales are from circa 1300 B.C. in Egypt, which shows that there
is a long history of written tales as well. (For more on this, see The
Encyclopedia of Fantasy as a good starting place.) Because of
their oral tradition, the written forms of these tales may also have some
differences in the way that they are told, though the core of the tale may be
the same.
For British fairy tales, one of the earliest written tales is Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon epic poem, the best‐known early work in English literature, which was written somewhere around the 8th century. (For more on this, see The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales: British and Irish Fairy Tales.) From there, many other tales have emerged in the culture, often passed along from person to person and eventually, for the most part, ending up in collections of fairy tales amassed by various collectors. Today, fairy tales permeate films, books, music, art, toys, marketing strategies, businesses, childhood experiences, and really, culture in general.
One of the main issues that researchers and students can run into when looking into the topic of British fairy tales is whether or not to search under the country “Great Britain” or “England” as the region is known under both terms. Subject headings that can be searched for fairy tales from this region can be searched using both terms, so searching under both can yield more results than simply searching for one; for example, searching for “fairy tales -- England” and also searching for “fairy tales -- Great Britain” will come up with different results that are both useful.
Another issue with the topic is considering other important fairy tale compilers, like the Grimm Brothers. The Grimm Brothers were important to Germany, but not to Britain, so when searching for British Fairy Tales, it is important to focus on compilers and producers of fairy tales who are from England and not Germany or France or Italy or any of the other countries that major names in the fairy tale field have come from before.
For British fairy tales, one of the earliest written tales is Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon epic poem, the best‐known early work in English literature, which was written somewhere around the 8th century. (For more on this, see The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales: British and Irish Fairy Tales.) From there, many other tales have emerged in the culture, often passed along from person to person and eventually, for the most part, ending up in collections of fairy tales amassed by various collectors. Today, fairy tales permeate films, books, music, art, toys, marketing strategies, businesses, childhood experiences, and really, culture in general.
One of the main issues that researchers and students can run into when looking into the topic of British fairy tales is whether or not to search under the country “Great Britain” or “England” as the region is known under both terms. Subject headings that can be searched for fairy tales from this region can be searched using both terms, so searching under both can yield more results than simply searching for one; for example, searching for “fairy tales -- England” and also searching for “fairy tales -- Great Britain” will come up with different results that are both useful.
Another issue with the topic is considering other important fairy tale compilers, like the Grimm Brothers. The Grimm Brothers were important to Germany, but not to Britain, so when searching for British Fairy Tales, it is important to focus on compilers and producers of fairy tales who are from England and not Germany or France or Italy or any of the other countries that major names in the fairy tale field have come from before.
Resources for Beginning your Research/Looking for Books
Some good starting resources for this topic at the
University of Kentucky can be found online through the library catalogue, located
throughout different regions of Young Library, or possibly in the Science
Library or even in the Education Library.
When first looking for books at the University of Kentucky, it is important to access the catalog, known as InfoKat, though libraries.uky.edu. Once you go to the webpage, you will see this screen:
When first looking for books at the University of Kentucky, it is important to access the catalog, known as InfoKat, though libraries.uky.edu. Once you go to the webpage, you will see this screen:
The search area with tabs towards the top of the screen (with the first tab reading “Books+”) is what you’ll want to use. Here is an explanation of what those tabs can help you do related to locating books:
- “Books+” - This tab searches InfoKat for all of the print materials (books, journals, periodicals, newspapers, plus microfilms and microfiche) that can be found in the library itself.
- “Quick Search” - This tab searches World Cat Local, which can locate books not only in the libraries at the University of Kentucky, but also at other local libraries and libraries all over the world. This is very useful if a search in InfoKat is not turning up any results for a title. If that is the case, search in the Quick Search tab to see if another local library has it.
If they do, you can go to the “Services” tab at the top of the webpage and go to the “Interlibrary Loan” page and request it. If you’ve never used interlibrary loan, going to this webpage will take you to FAQs, instruction pages, and basic information to help guide you through the process of requesting books that the library does not have that you would like to use in your research.
How to Locate Resources
Subject Headings
One of the best ways to search is by using subject headings. These are sets of terms that classify materials related to specific topics, so that when you look in a catalog or database, you can find more articles and books that specifically relate to your field or topic. Here are some subject headings you may want to try for British Fairy Tales in InfoKat:
Keyword Search Terms
Another way to search is by using keywords, like some of the following:
Possible Call Numbers to Browse
If you don't know exactly what you're looking for and just want to go browse in the stacks of books, a good area to start might be the GR141 area, which deals specifically with English folklore and fairytales. This is located on the 4th floor of Young Library in the North Wing.
One of the best ways to search is by using subject headings. These are sets of terms that classify materials related to specific topics, so that when you look in a catalog or database, you can find more articles and books that specifically relate to your field or topic. Here are some subject headings you may want to try for British Fairy Tales in InfoKat:
- Fairy tales -- England
- Folklore -- England
- Fairy tales -- Great Britain
- Folklore -- Great Britain
- Fairy tales -- Great Britain -- Early works to 1800
- Fairy tales -- Great Britain -- Juvenile literature
- Fairy tales -- England -- Juvenile literature
- Fairy tales -- England -- London -- Early works
to 1800
- Fairy tales -- England -- history and criticism
- Fairy tales -- Great Britain -- history and criticism
Keyword Search Terms
Another way to search is by using keywords, like some of the following:
- Search using the term “fairy tales” and “England,” connecting them with the Boolean operator AND so that both are linked together in the search.
- Search using “folklore” and “England,” linking the two together. Since fairy tales are a part of folklore, this is also a good search term.
- You can also search for the same things,
substituting “Great Britain” for “England”:
“fairy tales” AND “Great Britain”
“folklore” AND “Great Britain”
Possible Call Numbers to Browse
If you don't know exactly what you're looking for and just want to go browse in the stacks of books, a good area to start might be the GR141 area, which deals specifically with English folklore and fairytales. This is located on the 4th floor of Young Library in the North Wing.
Topic Overview Resources to Consider
Consider looking at these texts for information on the tales and what you could study in regards to the genre of British fairy tales:
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“British and Irish Fairy Tales.” The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales. Ed. Jack Zipes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Electronic Access.
InfoKat Record with link to electronic access: http://infokat.uky.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=3123093 This entry provides a great overview of the topic of British and Irish Fairy Tales, breaking the topic down into four sections, including “the medieval period,” “the banishment of the fairies,” “the return of the fairies,” and “the 20th-century revival.” Here, readers will find out more about each period, including example tales and authors for each section. |
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Clute, John and John Grant, eds. The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1997. Print.
Library of Congress call number: PN3435 .C55 1997 (Young Library, 5th floor) This is the first comprehensive encyclopedia of the fantasy field. It covers fantasy-literature, film, television, opera, art, and comics, including fairy tales in these fields. This is a large and rather detailed source that can be rather useful when writing about fairy tales in general (that entry is over three pages long) or how they intersect with other areas, for example, science fiction. The fairy tale entry does a great job of connecting fairy tales to other areas and to different time periods and places and giving examples of important people and texts that readers could use from those references. |
Heiner, Heidi Anne. Sur La Lune Fairy Tales. Web. 2012. <http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/ >
Sur La Lune Fairy Tales is a website created by a former student that started as a class project and continued long after the class ended. Here, you can find annotated fairy tales, their histories, illustrations, similarities across cultures, modern interpretations, and more to help with your research. It is a great resource and easy to navigate.
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Jacobs, Joseph. English fairy tales; and, More English fairy tales. Ed. Donald Haase. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2002. Print.
Library of Congress call number: GR141 .J33 2002 (Young Library 4th Floor) You can also view the 1890 version of Joseph Jacobs’s English Fairy Tales on Wikisource at: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/English_Fairy_Tales Here, you can find fairy tale collections from Victorian England, originally published in 1890 and 1894 by Joseph Jacobs, a folklorist, literary critic, and historian. These collections include 87 tales, along with original illustrations, reprinted in a newer volume in the printed version. This collection is a great starting place for researchers and students to see a collection of tales, whether they read one or two or the whole collection to see what they are like. The illustrations also offer another perspective of the time, as they present a viewpoint through the eyes of someone who has experienced reading the tale. |
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Zipes, Jack, ed. Victorian fairy tales: the revolt of the fairies and elves. New York: Routledge, 1991. Print.
Library of Congress call number: PR1309.F26 V5 1991 (Young Library 5th Floor) This source is an anthology of fairy tales written by some of the most notable writers of the Victorian period. Twenty-two tales are presented chronologically by authors like Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, and Edith Nesbitt, presenting British fairy tales from the 19th century. Most of the tales are printed with their original illustrations. Jack Zipes adds an introduction to the collection as a whole and to each tale individually, presenting background material on the authors and the roles that the fairy tale played in Victorian society. |
For more information:
Click on these links to see more information on how to find these types of sources and examples of good sources under each category.
Research Assistance
If you would like further assistance after going through this research guide, please feel free to contact me or to drop by the Reference Desk on the 2nd floor of the Young Library. There are reference librarians on staff at different times throughout the year, so be sure to check the William T. Young Library website for hours: http://libraries.uky.edu/WTYL
Holly Jackson
Young Library Reference Graduate Assistant
[email protected]
Holly Jackson
Young Library Reference Graduate Assistant
[email protected]
