Living Folklore

The thing about fairy tales is that they're about fairy tales.  That almost goes without saying.  One can't study a fairy tale without encountering the nature of fairy tales--a certain meta-fiction interwoven that lends to the tale longevity.  The journey of the lass in East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon exists on two levels as the journey in the narrative and the journey the listener takes, how he grows and is affected, how he takes away something from the hearing and is never quite the same again.

Mercer Mayer, source

Fairy tales were only recently committed to writing.  Before then, their amorphous nature was much clearer.  But even in the age of electronic texts and instant publication, the discourse about fairy tales which, in turn, is appropriated into the tales themselves, goes on.

Myth & Moor is a great example of that.  What I've tried to say here is poorly expressed, but perhaps better understood by the recent discussion under this topic (art and magic).  Here's where words leave off, and one can only show.

Also, see Mr. Pazdziora.