Märchen

[German, from Middle High German merechyn, short verse narrative, diminutive of mære, narrative, from Old High German māri, famous, narrative.]

Märchen [mairh‐yen], the German term for tales of enchantment and marvels, usually translated as ‘fairy tales’ despite the absence of actual fairies from most examples; also for a single such tale (the singular and plural forms being the same). Märchen have been divided into two categories: the Volksmärchen are folktales of the kind collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in their celebrated Kinder‐ und Hausmärchen (1812), while Kunstmärchen are ‘art tales’, that is, literary creations like the uncanny tales of E. T. A. Hoffmann.

Märchen, a fairy-tale in the wider sense, containing a supernatural element, but not necessarily introducing fairies. When such stories derive from popular oral tradition they are termed Volksmärchen. Many of these are of oriental origin. Its basic structural features include a simple plot of mythic or moral import, with archetypal figures, set in an unspecified time and place. Märchen occur among early printed books, and interest in them, after lapsing in the 17th c., revived in the 18th c. and 19th c., notably in the Romantic period (see Romantik). J. K. A. Musäus published Volksmärchen der Deutschen (1782-6), Benedikte Neubert Neue Volksmärchen der Deutschen (1789-93). The outstanding German collection is Kinder- und Hausmärchen (1812-14) of the brothers J. and W. Grimm. L. Bechstein's collections include Die Volkssagen, Märchen und Legenden des Kaiserstaates Österreich (1848).

Märchen invented or substantially altered by writers since the late 18th c. are styled Kunstmärchen. Examples have been written by Goethe ( Das Märchen), L. Tieck, C. Brentano, F. de la Motte Fouqué, E. T. A. Hoffmann, and W. Hauff, as well as by many others. Mörike's Märchen vom sichern Mann is in verse.