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A fairy tale (pronounced /ˈfeəriˌteɪl/) is a type of short story that typically features European folkloric fantasy characters, such as dwarves, elves, fairies, giants, gnomes, goblins, mermaids, trolls, or witches, and usually magic or enchantments. Fairy tales may be distinguished from other folk narratives such as legends (which generally involve belief in the veracity of the events described)〔Thompson, Stith. ''Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology & Legend'', 1972 s.v. "Fairy Tale"〕 and explicitly moral tales, including beast fables. In less technical contexts, the term is also used to describe something blessed with unusual happiness, as in "fairy tale ending" (a happy ending)〔http://m-w.com/dictionary/fairy%2〕 or "fairy tale romance" (though not all fairy tales end happily). Colloquially, a "fairy tale" or "fairy story" can also mean any far-fetched story or tall tale; it is used especially of any story that not only is not true, but could not possibly be true. Legends are perceived as real; fairy tales may merge into legends, where the narrative is perceived both by teller and hearers as being grounded in historical truth. However, unlike legends and epics, they usually do not contain more than superficial references to religion and actual places, people, and events; they take place once upon a time rather than in actual times.〔Orenstein, p. 9.〕 Fairy tales are found in oral and in literary form. The history of the fairy tale is particularly difficult to trace because only the literary forms can survive. Still, the evidence of literary works at least indicates that fairy tales have existed for thousands of years, although not perhaps recognized as a genre; the name "fairy tale" was first ascribed to them by Madame d'Aulnoy in the late 17th century. Many of today's fairy tales have evolved from centuries-old stories that have appeared, with variations, in multiple cultures around the world.〔Gray, Richard. ("Fairy tales have ancient origin." ) Telegraph.co.uk. 5 September 2009.〕 Fairy tales, and works derived from fairy tales, are still written today. The older fairy tales were intended for an audience of adults, as well as children, but they were associated with children as early as the writings of the ''précieuses''; the Brothers Grimm titled their collection ''Children's and Household Tales'', and the link with children has only grown stronger with time. Folklorists have classified fairy tales in various ways. The Aarne-Thompson classification system and the morphological analysis of Vladimir Propp are among the most notable. Other folklorists have interpreted the tales' significance, but no school has been definitively established for the meaning of the tales. ==Terminology== Some folklorists prefer to use the German term ''Märchen'' or "wonder tale"〔 to refer to the genre over ''fairy tale'', a practice given weight by the definition of Thompson in his 1977 () edition of ''The Folktale'': "a tale of some length involving a succession of motifs or episodes. It moves in an unreal world without definite locality or definite creatures and is filled with the marvelous. In this never-never land, humble heroes kill adversaries, succeed to kingdoms and marry princesses."〔Stith Thompson, ''The Folktale'', 1977 (Thompson: 8).〕 The characters and motifs of fairy tales are simple and archetypal: princesses and goose-girls; youngest sons and gallant princes; ogres, giants, dragons, and trolls; wicked stepmothers and false heroes; fairy godmothers and other magical helpers, often talking horses, or foxes, or birds; glass mountains; and prohibitions and breaking of prohibitions.〔Byatt, p. xviii.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fairy tale」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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