We have another example of a game based on folktales; this one, “Fairy Tale Families,” was published by Piatnik, in Vienna. The deck includes such old favorites as Red Riding Hood and Cinderella; I’ve chosen an image from this less familiar Grimms’ tale.
(Posted by Doug Skinner)
6 responses so far ↓
1 Lisa // Feb 9, 2009 at 12:35 pm
That’s wonderful!
“Here I am!” has a slightly “Abrahamic” slant, doesn’t it? (When God calls out to Abraham, to ask him to sacrifice his son Isaac like a goat, Abraham answers “Here I am!,” and Isaac says the same thing when Abraham calls him.)
Maybe it’s just an association taken out of context, but it leads me to wonder if there is any correlation between Old Testament stories and Grimm’s tales. They’re certainly both dark and strange.
2 Doug // Feb 14, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Well, the context is that the hare jeers at the hedgehog’s crooked legs; so the hedgehog bets a bottle of brandy on a race. The hedgehog then enlists his wife to pop up at the end of the track, convincing the hare that he’s lost. They run several races this way until the hare collapses and dies. The explicit moral given in the Grimm is that “hedgehogs should marry hedgehogs”: that one should marry within one’s own class. However, there seems to be an implied moral on the value of gambling, lying, cheating, murder, and brandy.
3 Lisa // Feb 16, 2009 at 11:40 am
I see, so it’s basically a fable warning against taking an existential leap of faith into the void, because God made a world full of cheaters.
4 mamie // Feb 16, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Yuk! I didn’t know the fairy tale. Looking at the gorgeous card, I thought “Here’s an example of how I want to live – peace love and understanding – the joyous hare running to his friend, Mr. Hedgehog!” Joke’s on me!
5 Gail // Feb 18, 2009 at 9:42 pm
I grew up with a series of German Hedgehog dolls that were produced by Gund in the 1950’s. They were called “Igels”, I think, and there was a mother father brother & sister. They all had names and all were dressed identically like the character in this card.
6 Gail // Feb 18, 2009 at 9:48 pm
I just checked and the toy company was Steiff, not Gund. One of the family’s name was “Mecki”…….