This study takes five of the Grimm brothers' best-known tales and argues that the Grimms saw them as Christian fables. The author examines the arguments of previous interpreters of the tales, and demonstrates how they missed the Grimms' intention.

"Today ravens are black. Read this tale to find out why!"--Page 4 of cover

This study takes five of the Grimm brothers' best-known tales and argues that the Grimms saw them as Christian fables. The author examines the arguments of previous interpreters of the tales, and demonstrates how they missed the Grimms' intention.

Author of Legend of the Dead, Coyote Returns, The Shadow Catcher, The Dark Canyon, and The Mutes New Mexico State Penitentiary in Santa Fe—a murder. A tormented Benedictine Monk. A new teacher at Las Palmas Middle/High School escaping her past. A Cartel Drug Lord out for vengeance. Sheriff Cliff Lansing meets a mysterious woman who disappears. His only proof she existed—a silver necklace with a turquoise stone called Lagrima de la Madre: Tear of the Mother. What follows is a series of tragedies and death. San Phillipe County is set ablaze as the Owl—the Apache Omen of Death—orchestrates her revenge. To understand what’s happening, Lansing must enter the realm of witchcraft and terror. As forces beyond his control converge on the high desert, Lansing—increasingly alone—finds unlikely allies in a desolate canyon. On the steps of an isolated monastery the agents of Good and Evil gather to fight their ultimate battle—as the Raven watches—biding his time.

The fairy tales collected by the brothers Grimm are among the best known and most widely-read stories in western literature. In recent years commentators such as Bruno Bettelheim have, usually from a psychological perspective, pondered the underlying meaning of the stories, why children are so enthralled by them, and what effect they have on the the best-known tales (Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty) and shows that the Grimms saw them as Christian fables. Murphy examines the arguments of previous interpreters of the tales, and demonstrates how they missed the Grimms' intention. His own readings of the five so-called "magical" tales reveal them as the beautiful and inspiring "documents of faith" that the Grimms meant them to be. Offering an entirely new perspective on these often-analyzed tales, Murphy's book will appeal to those concerned with the moral and religious education of children, to students and scholars of folk literature and children's literature, and to the many general readers who are captivated by fairy tales and their meanings.