Vikings and Wizards Northern Myth and Fairy Tales in Western

Culture:
The Brothers Grimm and Their Cultural Legacy

GERMAN 219 Fall 2016 MWF: 2:00 2:50 pm Burnham Hall 304

Professor Patrick Fortmann Email: fortmann@uic.edu

1514 University Hall Office Hours: WF 3:00-4:00pm
Teaching Assistant: Adrian Chubb Email: achubb2@uic.edu
1526 University Hall Office Hours:

COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course examines the cultural legacy of the Brothers Grimm, renowned nineteenth-century
collectors and editors of Germanic fairy tales, legends and myths. The Brother Grimms life-long
pursuit of fairy tales launched a tidal wave of folkloric collecting throughout Europe and led to
significant advances in research. Their search for the origins of German cultural material drove
groundbreaking studies of newly discovered Old Norse and Old Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, as
well as of Germanys national myth, The Song of the Nibelungen. The questions they posed
about oral and literary transmission later gave rise to the oral-formulaic model and continues to
shape modern scholarship. The course will consider various interpretive strategies developed to
classify and read this new material, from Propps morphology and Aarne-Thompsons typology
to feminist, historical and animal studies approaches. Through close readings of literary tales, the
course provides basic tools for narrative interpretation and critical argumentation.

REQUIREMENTS & GRADING

Participation (in class and on-line) 15 %
Homework Assignments 5%
Paper #1 (3-4 pages) 20 %
Midterm Exam 20 %
Paper #2 (4 pages) 20 %
Final Exam 20 %

REQUIRED READINGS (BOOKSTORE)

Anonymous and Cyril Edwards. The Nibelungenlied. The Lay of the Nibelungs. Oxford: Oxford
UP, 2010.
Zipes, Jack. The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. New York: Bantam, 2003.
Referred to as BG on the syllabus.

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COURSE READINGS (BLACKBOARD)

Anonymous and Jesse L Byock. The Saga of the Volsungs. London: Penguin Classics, 1999.
Anonymous and Andrew Orchard. The Elder Edda: A Book of Viking Lore. London: Penguin
Classics, 2011.
Daniel Donoghue (Editor), Seamus Heaney (Translator). Beowulf: A Verse Translation. New
York: Norton Critical, 2002.
Gilbert, Sandra M. and Susan Gubar. Snow White and Her Wicked Stepmother. The Classic
Fairy Tales. Ed. Maria Tatar. New York: Norton, 1998, 291-7.
Lthi, Max. The Fairytale as Art Form and Portrait of Man. Trans. Jon Erickson. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1984.
Mller, Jan-Dirk. Contagious Violence. The New History of German Literature. Ed. David E.
Wellbery. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004, 87-91.
Neumann, Siegfried. The Brothers Grimm as Collectors and Editors of German Folktales. The
Great Fairy Tale Tradition. Ed. Jack Zipes. New York: Norton, 2001, 969-980.
Propp, Vladimir. From Morphology of the Folktale. The Classic Fairy Tales. Ed. Maria Tatar.
New York: Norton, 1998, 382-387.
Rowe, Karen. To Spin a Yarn: The Female Voice in Folklore and Fairy Tale. The Classic
Fairy Tales. Ed. Maria Tatar. New York: Norton, 1998, 297-308.
Schnwerth, Franz Xaver von. The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales.
Ed. Erika Eichenseer. Trans. Maria Tatar. New York: Penguin Books, 2015.
Tatar, Maria. The Hard Facts of the Grimms Fairy Tales. 1987. Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 2003, 85-105.
Uther, Hans-Jrg. The Types of International Folktales. A Classification and Bibliography.
Based on the System by Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson. Helsinki: Academia
Scientiarum Fennica, 2004.
Tale Type. The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairytales. Ed. Donald Haase.
Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008.
Ward, Donald. The German Legends of the Brothers Grimm. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study
of Human Issues, 1981.
Zipes, Jack. The Golden Age of Folk and Fairy Tales. Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett, 2013.
___ The Complete First Edition: The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014. Referred to as OBG on the syllabus.

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 COURSE CALENDAR

WEEK 1: The Brothers Grimm and Their Cultural Legacy

Monday, August 22
Introduction: The Brothers Grimm and Their Cultural Legacy
In class read: The Wolf and the Seven Kids

Wednesday, August 24
For class have read through the website: http://www.grimms.de/en/content/virtual-
museum
In class read: Jacob Grimms Circular-Letter Concerned with Collecting of Folk
Poetry (1815).

Friday, August 26
For class have read carefully: The Frog King (# 1) OBG 13
To get a sense of the collection, also read tales 2-8 in OBG
Post an example of folk poetry (collected orally) to Blackboard (Homework)

WEEK 2: The Original Tales of the Brothers Grimm

Monday, August 29
For class have read the Preface to Volume I OBG 3
For class have read carefully: Little Brother and Little Sister (#11) OBG 34
Also have read (to get a sense of the collection) tales 12-14
Memorization and Recitation of lines from Beowulf (UH 1514)

Wednesday, August 31
For class have read carefully: The Fisherman and His Wife (#19) OBG 56
As historical background have read: Jack Zipes: The Golden Key to Folk and
Fairy Tales: Unlocking Cultural Treasure (Blackboard).
Memorization and Recitation of lines from Beowulf (UH 1514)

Thursday, September 1
Memorization and Recitation of lines from Beowulf (UH 1514)

Friday, September 2
For class have read carefully: The Juniper Tree (#47) OBG 148 and Jorinda
and Joringel (#69) OBG 227.
For class have read as background information: Neumann, The Brothers Grimm
as Collectors and Editors of German Folktales (Blackboard)

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WEEK 3: The Ideal Fairy Tale

Monday, September 5
LABOR DAY; NO CLASS

Wednesday, September 7
(Dorothea Viehmanns tales)
For class have read carefully The Clever Farmers Daughter (#8) OBG 313
Also have read tales from volume 2: The Goose Girl (#3) OBG 283, The
Devils Sooty Brother (# 14) OBG 333, and The Lazy Spinner (#42) OBG 418.

Friday, September 9
For class have read the Preface to Volume II OBG 269
For class read carefully The Golden Key (# 70) OBG 471

WEEK 4: Fairy Tale versus Legend

Monday, September 12
For class read carefully: How Some Children Played at Slaughter (#22) OBG
77
Also have read from volume 1: The Journey of the Straw, the Coal, and the
Bean (#18) OBG 55, The Singing Bone (#28) OBG 89, The Elves, (#39)
OBG 132. From volume 2 have read: The Stubborn Child (#31) OBG 386, and
The Children of Famine (#57) OBG 456.

Wednesday, September 14
For class have read carefully Mother Holle (#24) OBG 81
For class have read carefully from the German Legends of the Brothers Grimm,
vol. 1, numbers 4-8 on Mother Holla.
Also have read legends 13 (on the Snake Maiden), 16-18 (on giants), 22-23 (on
Barbarossa), 30-34 (on dwarves), 214-215 (on werewolves) and 217-220 (on
dragons).

Friday, September 16
For class have read Advice from Odin, excerpts from Sayings of the High One
from the Elder Edda. (Blackboard)

Paper # 1 due on Blackboard by midnight of Sunday, September 18, posted to SafeAssign

WEEK 5: Discovering Manuscripts: Beowulf et al

Monday, September 19
For class for background information have read Old English Language and
Poetics xv-xix (Blackboard)
For class have read in Beowulf lines 836-1069

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 Wednesday, September 21
For class read carefully in The Elder Eddas: Regins lay (pp. 154- 160).
In class as theoretical background look at: Alfred B. Lord, Singers: Performance
and Training and the first four stanzas of the first song of Helgi.

Friday, September 23
For class read carefully in The Elder Eddas: Ffnirs lay (pp. 160-168) and
Sigrdrfa's lay (pp. 168-171).
Compose a stanza in Old Norse verse and post to Blackboard (Homework)

WEEK 6: The Eddas and Volsungen: Fan Fiction

Monday, September 26
For class read in The Elder Eddas the fragment of the song of Sigurd (pp 176-
178) and the first song of Gudrun (pp. 179-183). Read the song of Sigurd with
special care.

Wednesday, September 28
For class have read in The Saga of the Volsungs chapters 13-20. Read chapter 18
with special care.

Friday, September 30
For class have read in The Saga of the Volsungs, chapters 28-30 and 32-33. Read
chapter 32 with special care.

WEEK 7: Nibelungen: Chivalry

Monday, October 3
For class have read from Anonymous and Cyril Edwards, The Nibelungenlied The
Lay of the Nibelungs, Adventures 1 and 3. Read stanzas 1-5 and 106-111 with
special care.

Wednesday, October 5
For class have read Adventures 7 and 10. Pay attention to stanzas 439-460 and
630-637.

Friday, October 7
For class have read Adventures 14, 15, and 16. Read stanzas 814-819 and 978-
990 carefully.

WEEK 8: Nibelungen: Contagious Violence

Monday, October 10
For class for a scholarly interpretation have read: Jan-Dirk Mller, Contagious
Violence

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 From The Nibelungenlied read Adventures 33 and 39. Pay attention to stanzas
1958-1966 and 2369-2379.

Wednesday, October 12
Midterm Review.

Friday, October 14
MIDTERM EXAM

WEEK 9: The Fairy Tale Hero

Monday, October 17
For class have read (as theoretical background): Max Lthi, The Fairy Tale
Hero (Blackboard)
Have read carefully in The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm: The
Golden Bird (KHM 57) BG 199

Wednesday, October 19
For class have read: The White Snake (KHM 17) BG 61 and The Water of
Life (KHM 97) BG 327
Also read Franz Xaver von Schnwerths tales: The Turnip Princess and The
Enchanted Quill (3-8).

Friday, October 21
For class have read: The Twelve Brothers (KHM 9) BG 32
The Seven Ravens (KHM 25) BG 91
The Six Swans (KHM 49) BG 168
Read KHM 49 with special care.
List Motifs from Stith Thompsons Motif Index (Homework)

WEEK 10: Spinners and Weavers

Monday, October 24
For class for a scholarly interpretation have read: Karen Rowe, To Spin a Yarn
For class have read carefully The Lazy Spinner (KHM 128) BG 419 and
The Leftovers (KHM 156) BG 471

Wednesday, October 26
For class have read carefully: The Three Spinners (KHM 14) BG 50 and
Rumpelstiltskin (KHM 55) BG 193
Also read: Spindle, Shuttle and Needle (KHM 188) BG 545

Friday, October 28
For class have read: Rapunzel (KHM 12) BG 42 and
Brier Rose (KHM 50) BG 171

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WEEK 11: The Many Tellings of a Tale: Cinderella

Monday, October 31
For class have read in The Golden Age of Folk and Fairy Tales: The Revenge
and Reward of Neglected Daughters: ATU 510A Cinderella (313-343)

Wednesday, November 2
For class have read the encyclopedia article, Uther, Tale Type.
For class have read in The Golden Age: Incestuous Fathers and Brothers: ATU
510B (367-393)

Friday, November 4
For class have read: The Maiden Without Hands (KHM 31) BG 109
King Thrushbeard (KHM 52) BG 177
Identify Related Tale Types with the Aarne-Thompson Tale Type Index
(Homework)

WEEK 12: The Beast as Bridegroom

Monday, November 7
For class have read the theoretical article, Propp, Morphology of the Folktale
For class have read in The Golden Age: The Beast as Bridegroom: ATU 425-
425A) The Singing, Springing Lark (1815) (207-211).

Wednesday, November 9
For class have read in The Golden Age: The Beast as Bridegroom: ATU 425-
425A) (205-238).
In class: work with the Propp Tale Type Generator

Friday, November 11
For class have read von Schnwerths tales The Burning Trough, The Kings
Bodyguard, The Scorned Princess (58-67) and Follow Me, Jodel! The
Toad Bride, Prince Dung Beetle (98-103)
Generate a Tale al la Propp (Homework)

Paper # 2 due on Blackboard by midnight, Sunday November 13

WEEK 13: Female Magic

Monday, November 14
For class have read in The Golden Age: Dangerous Wolves and Naive Girls:
ATU 333 Little Red Riding Hood, also Characterized as the Glutton (155-173)

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 Wednesday, November 16
For class have read: Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar, Snow White and Her
Wicked Stepmother (Blackboard)
For class have read in The Golden Age: The Brothers Grimms Snow White
(1808, 1812, 1857), focusing especially on the 1808 version.

Friday, November 18
For class have read: The Robber Bridegroom (KHM 40) BG 141
Fitchers Bird (KHM 46) BG 155
Bluebeard (# 220) BG 610
The Castle of Murder (# 225) BG 618

WEEK 14: The Simpleton and the Brave

Monday, November 21
For class have read (as theoretical background): Maria Tatar, Born Yesterday:
The Spear Side, pp. 85-92 (Blackboard)
For class have read: The Queen Bee (KHM 62) BG 232
The Three Feathers (KHM 63) BG 233
The Golden Goose (KHM 64) BG 236
Read KHM 62 with special care.

Wednesday, November 23
For class have read (as theoretical background): Maria Tatar, Born Yesterday:
The Spear Side, pp. 95-105 (Blackboard)
Read carefully: A Tale About the Boy Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear
Was (KHM 4) BG 11
Also read: The Brave Little Tailor (KHM 20) 73

Friday, November 25

THANKSGIVING; NO CLASS

WEEK 15: The World Upside Down: Fairy Tale Retrospective

Monday, November 28
For class have read: The Magic Table, the Golden Donkey, and the Club in the
Sack (KHM 36) BG 124
The Knapsack, the Hat, and the Horn (KHM 54) BG 189
The Fleshing Flail From Heaven (KHM 112) BG 373
Read KHM 54 with care.

Wednesday, November 30
For class have read: The Sweet Porridge (KHM 103) BG 345
The Tale About the Land of Cockaigne (KHM 158) BG 474

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 The Tall Tale From Ditmarsch (KHM 159) BG 474
A Tale With a Riddle (KHM 160) BG 475
Read KHM 158 especially carefully.

Friday, December 2
For class have read carefully Hansel and Gretel (KHM 15) BG 53
Review Session for Final Exam

FINAL EXAM: TBD

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CLASS PARTICIPATION
The class will be run as a lecture with discussion, partner work, and in-class writing components.
You are expected to attend class fully prepared, with your course packet in hand (we will look
closely at passages from the reading), and willing to participate and contribute. Our class will
profit from well-prepared ideas, a free exchange of opinions and a spirit of mutual academic
respect, and your contribution to this venture and thus your active participation will be
rewarded. In the same spirit, you are asked to switch off and put away all cell phones during
class. Because research has shown that computers in the classroom prove an enormous
distraction to both the students using them and those around them, we will ask you not to use
computers during class. Taking notes by hand has been shown to significantly enhance your
retention of material, so we ask that you hone this valuable skill over the course of the semester.

PARTICIPATION ON BLACKBOARD
Each week a discussion question will be posted and introduced in class, and you can gain
participation points by writing a response to that question, responding to another students post,
or elaborating on a point that came up in lecture. Some students prefer writing to speaking in
class, and you should use this opportunity to have your voice heard. The postings are not
mandatory but can significantly improve your overall participation grade, and (more importantly)
encourage your active engagement with the course material.

HOMEWORK
Your first homework assignment will be to memorize lines from Beowulf and recite it to your
instructor. Throughout the semester you will also be asked to post creative material to
Blackboard (collect an oral tale, compose an Old Norse verse, generate a tale using Propps
functions, etc.) that will count towards your homework grade.

ATTENDANCE
Attendance will be taken every day. You are allowed to miss two class sessions without penalty.
Beginning with your third unexcused absence, one percentage point will be deducted from your
final grade for each class missed. Excessive absence, one quarter of the course and above, is
grounds for failing.

PAPERS
You will be asked to write two short (3-4 page) papers over the course of the semester.
Responding to prompts posted on Blackboard, you will propose an original thesis and develop
your argument using evidence from the assigned text. We will discuss paper-writing strategies in
class, and, before the first paper is due, you will participate in class essay-writing exercises,
including reading and responding to a partners thesis. Your best effort is expected with written
assignments, and students who find the task challenging are strongly encouraged to work with a
tutor at the Writing Center http://www.uic.edu/depts/engl/writing/. Papers should be posted to
Blackboards SafeAssign by the due date. Late papers will be graded down one third of a grade
per day.

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NOTE TAKING
In contrast to some courses, German 219 does not use a textbook. We read primary texts and
articles, but much of the information you learn is imparted in class. You are responsible for this
material so you want to make sure to create an accurate record of the lectures and discussion that
you can refer to in studying for the midterm and final. Power point slides will be posted before
class so that you can use them for taking notes.

MIDTERM AND FINAL

The format of the midterm will consist of a section requiring brief identification of terms and
historical figures and a section requiring the analysis of passages from the readings. You are
asked to demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of the material covered in lectures and
reading, but also to show creativity and independent thinking. The final exam will consist of the
same two components, stressing material from the second half of the course, as well as an essay
that will ask you to synthesize material from the entire semester.

A NOTE ON EMAIL ETIQUETTE

Consider your email correspondence as a part of your production as a student in this class and, as
such, remember to practice the same principles of etiquette you would in any professional
interaction: civility, courtesy and respect. Be clear and concise, and, as in a written letter, be sure
to open your email with a formal greeting. (For example: Dear Ms. Schultz, or Dear Dr.
Fortmann).

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Academic integrity is expected of all students at UIC. Violations will be reported and may result
in a failing grade for the class, academic probation, or expulsion. Of course neither you nor I
would like to go through this, so please be attentive. Guidelines Regarding Academic Integrity
from the University Catalogue: As an academic community, the University of Illinois at
Chicago is committed to providing an environment in which research, learning, and scholarship
can flourish and in which all endeavors are guided by academic and professional integrity. All
members of the campus communitystudents, staff, faculty, administratorsshare the
responsibility of insuring that these standards are upheld so that such an environment exists.
Instances of academic misconduct by students, and as defined herein, shall be handled pursuant
to the Student Disciplinary Policy which is available online
http://www.vcsa.uic.edu/NR/rdonlyres/ C10B0B31-31AD-4386-9A7A-
17CA7A579C2D/962/Student_Discipline_Book.pdf. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not
limited to: Cheating; Fabrication; Facilitating Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism; Bribes, Favors,
Treats; Examination by Proxy; Grade Tampering; Non-original Works.

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Students with disabilities who require accommodations for access and participation in this course
must be registered with the Office of Disability Services (ODS). Please contact ODS at 312-413-
2103 (voice) or 312 413-0123 (TTY).

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