The Girl without Hands: From Folktale and Fairy Tale to Contemporary Novel By Melissa Jane Ashley Abstract The major component of the thesis is an extract from the manuscript, The Girl without Hands, a novelised interpretation of the folktale and fairy tale, The Maiden without Hands. The novel is composed of three books, with point of view structured as shifting third person; most of the story is narrated by the central character, Marina Fischer. The manuscript deploys a variety of fairy tale and folktale related literary techniques, including magic realism, intertextuality, framing, and fantasy. Events span a period of eight years, the action set in rural and urban parts of Queensland and Victoria. On an unsupervised picnic with friends, fourteen year old Marina Fischer’s twin sister Sonia suffers a fatal head injury. Grief-stricken and self-blaming, Marina reacts to the trauma by losing all feeling and movement in her hands. Six months following the accident, Marina seems on the verge of recovery; she attends regular therapy and is protected by her loyal friends, siblings Amelia and Sammy Jones. However, the patina of stability begins to crack when Marina is confronted at the year ten formal by Sonia’s former associates, Kylie Bates and Jody Cutter, also present at her death. Distraught and upset, Marina flees the dance in Jody’s older brother’s car. Seven years later Marina meets Matt Soverign, a gifted hypnotist, who tries to help her regain movement in her hands. They sleep together and Marina unexpectedly falls pregnant. Their son Tristram is born while Matt attends an interstate conference. Thinking a child would help her hands to heal, Marina becomes depressed when she continues to suffer from paralysis. She begins to dwell on memories of her sexual assault the night of the school dance, slowly losing touch with reality. But a phone call from her estranged friend, Amelia Jones, shakes Marina out of her stasis. Her close mate Sammy, who now lives in Melbourne, has fallen dangerously ill. With her relationship in pieces, Marina purchases train tickets for herself and Tristram and embarks upon a spontaneous—though much delayed—journey to reconcile the past. The critical component of the thesis is an essay entitled “The Maiden without Hands: From Folktale and Fairy Tale to Contemporary Novel”. Chapter one, “The Tale is Not Beautiful if Nothing is Added to It,” is a literary survey of cross-cultural folktale and fairy tale variants of the 1200 year old narrative, The Maiden without Hands. I explore academic debate regarding the literary fairy tale’s indebtedness to the oral folktale, discussing Susan Stewart’s notion of the ‘distressed text’ and Lewis Seifert’s theory of ‘nostalgic recuperation.’ Chapter two, “Then the Devil Will Take Me Away,” undertakes a close reading of the Grimm Brothers’ influential but controversial 1857 re-write of The Maiden without Hands narrative. I suggest that Wilhelm Grimm’s suppression of the ‘unnatural father’ episode, found in the traditional folktale, aided the story’s survival in and beyond the nineteenth century, when such themes became taboo. I explore how the Grimms’ aesthetic revisions of folk material—to make them appeal to a middle class audience, including children—helped proliferate stereotyped representations of females and femininity in classic fairy tales. These depictions, I argue, often cause ambivalence in contemporary female readers, however they also instigate creative revisionary projects (such as my own), which seek to explore the residual energy contained in fairy tale texts, while at the same time destabilising their sexual stereotyping. In the last chapter, “The Only Thing She Doesn’t Have is Arms,” I discuss how extensive research into the many incarnations of The Maiden without Hands altered my understanding of the narrative’s symbols, tropes and metaphors, leading to significant changes to the plot of my novel. Citing examples from my text, The Girl without Hands, and comparing and contrasting them with excerpts from variants of the folktale and fairy tale, I analyse my creative interpretation of The Maiden without Hands’ major themes: loss and lack; sexual assault and violation; creativity and writing; and, finally, healing and wholeness.

The Girl without Hands: From Folktale and Fairy Tale to Contemporary Novel By Melissa Jane Ashley Abstract The major component of the thesis is an extract from the manuscript, The Girl without Hands, a novelised interpretation of the folktale and fairy tale, The Maiden without Hands. The novel is composed of three books, with point of view structured as shifting third person; most of the story is narrated by the central character, Marina Fischer. The manuscript deploys a variety of fairy tale and folktale related literary techniques, including magic realism, intertextuality, framing, and fantasy. Events span a period of eight years, the action set in rural and urban parts of Queensland and Victoria. On an unsupervised picnic with friends, fourteen year old Marina Fischer’s twin sister Sonia suffers a fatal head injury. Grief-stricken and self-blaming, Marina reacts to the trauma by losing all feeling and movement in her hands. Six months following the accident, Marina seems on the verge of recovery; she attends regular therapy and is protected by her loyal friends, siblings Amelia and Sammy Jones. However, the patina of stability begins to crack when Marina is confronted at the year ten formal by Sonia’s former associates, Kylie Bates and Jody Cutter, also present at her death. Distraught and upset, Marina flees the dance in Jody’s older brother’s car. Seven years later Marina meets Matt Soverign, a gifted hypnotist, who tries to help her regain movement in her hands. They sleep together and Marina unexpectedly falls pregnant. Their son Tristram is born while Matt attends an interstate conference. Thinking a child would help her hands to heal, Marina becomes depressed when she continues to suffer from paralysis. She begins to dwell on memories of her sexual assault the night of the school dance, slowly losing touch with reality. But a phone call from her estranged friend, Amelia Jones, shakes Marina out of her stasis. Her close mate Sammy, who now lives in Melbourne, has fallen dangerously ill. With her relationship in pieces, Marina purchases train tickets for herself and Tristram and embarks upon a spontaneous—though much delayed—journey to reconcile the past. The critical component of the thesis is an essay entitled “The Maiden without Hands: From Folktale and Fairy Tale to Contemporary Novel”. Chapter one, “The Tale is Not Beautiful if Nothing is Added to It,” is a literary survey of cross-cultural folktale and fairy tale variants of the 1200 year old narrative, The Maiden without Hands. I explore academic debate regarding the literary fairy tale’s indebtedness to the oral folktale, discussing Susan Stewart’s notion of the ‘distressed text’ and Lewis Seifert’s theory of ‘nostalgic recuperation.’ Chapter two, “Then the Devil Will Take Me Away,” undertakes a close reading of the Grimm Brothers’ influential but controversial 1857 re-write of The Maiden without Hands narrative. I suggest that Wilhelm Grimm’s suppression of the ‘unnatural father’ episode, found in the traditional folktale, aided the story’s survival in and beyond the nineteenth century, when such themes became taboo. I explore how the Grimms’ aesthetic revisions of folk material—to make them appeal to a middle class audience, including children—helped proliferate stereotyped representations of females and femininity in classic fairy tales. These depictions, I argue, often cause ambivalence in contemporary female readers, however they also instigate creative revisionary projects (such as my own), which seek to explore the residual energy contained in fairy tale texts, while at the same time destabilising their sexual stereotyping. In the last chapter, “The Only Thing She Doesn’t Have is Arms,” I discuss how extensive research into the many incarnations of The Maiden without Hands altered my understanding of the narrative’s symbols, tropes and metaphors, leading to significant changes to the plot of my novel. Citing examples from my text, The Girl without Hands, and comparing and contrasting them with excerpts from variants of the folktale and fairy tale, I analyse my creative interpretation of The Maiden without Hands’ major themes: loss and lack; sexual assault and violation; creativity and writing; and, finally, healing and wholeness.

The Girl without Hands: From Folktale and Fairy Tale to Contemporary Novel By Melissa Jane Ashley Abstract The major component of the thesis is an extract from the manuscript, The Girl without Hands, a novelised interpretation of the folktale and fairy tale, The Maiden without Hands. The novel is composed of three books, with point of view structured as shifting third person; most of the story is narrated by the central character, Marina Fischer. The manuscript deploys a variety of fairy tale and folktale related literary techniques, including magic realism, intertextuality, framing, and fantasy. Events span a period of eight years, the action set in rural and urban parts of Queensland and Victoria. On an unsupervised picnic with friends, fourteen year old Marina Fischer’s twin sister Sonia suffers a fatal head injury. Grief-stricken and self-blaming, Marina reacts to the trauma by losing all feeling and movement in her hands. Six months following the accident, Marina seems on the verge of recovery; she attends regular therapy and is protected by her loyal friends, siblings Amelia and Sammy Jones. However, the patina of stability begins to crack when Marina is confronted at the year ten formal by Sonia’s former associates, Kylie Bates and Jody Cutter, also present at her death. Distraught and upset, Marina flees the dance in Jody’s older brother’s car. Seven years later Marina meets Matt Soverign, a gifted hypnotist, who tries to help her regain movement in her hands. They sleep together and Marina unexpectedly falls pregnant. Their son Tristram is born while Matt attends an interstate conference. Thinking a child would help her hands to heal, Marina becomes depressed when she continues to suffer from paralysis. She begins to dwell on memories of her sexual assault the night of the school dance, slowly losing touch with reality. But a phone call from her estranged friend, Amelia Jones, shakes Marina out of her stasis. Her close mate Sammy, who now lives in Melbourne, has fallen dangerously ill. With her relationship in pieces, Marina purchases train tickets for herself and Tristram and embarks upon a spontaneous—though much delayed—journey to reconcile the past. The critical component of the thesis is an essay entitled “The Maiden without Hands: From Folktale and Fairy Tale to Contemporary Novel”. Chapter one, “The Tale is Not Beautiful if Nothing is Added to It,” is a literary survey of cross-cultural folktale and fairy tale variants of the 1200 year old narrative, The Maiden without Hands. I explore academic debate regarding the literary fairy tale’s indebtedness to the oral folktale, discussing Susan Stewart’s notion of the ‘distressed text’ and Lewis Seifert’s theory of ‘nostalgic recuperation.’ Chapter two, “Then the Devil Will Take Me Away,” undertakes a close reading of the Grimm Brothers’ influential but controversial 1857 re-write of The Maiden without Hands narrative. I suggest that Wilhelm Grimm’s suppression of the ‘unnatural father’ episode, found in the traditional folktale, aided the story’s survival in and beyond the nineteenth century, when such themes became taboo. I explore how the Grimms’ aesthetic revisions of folk material—to make them appeal to a middle class audience, including children—helped proliferate stereotyped representations of females and femininity in classic fairy tales. These depictions, I argue, often cause ambivalence in contemporary female readers, however they also instigate creative revisionary projects (such as my own), which seek to explore the residual energy contained in fairy tale texts, while at the same time destabilising their sexual stereotyping. In the last chapter, “The Only Thing She Doesn’t Have is Arms,” I discuss how extensive research into the many incarnations of The Maiden without Hands altered my understanding of the narrative’s symbols, tropes and metaphors, leading to significant changes to the plot of my novel. Citing examples from my text, The Girl without Hands, and comparing and contrasting them with excerpts from variants of the folktale and fairy tale, I analyse my creative interpretation of The Maiden without Hands’ major themes: loss and lack; sexual assault and violation; creativity and writing; and, finally, healing and wholeness.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:25:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-02-27Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:13:44Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 guesse_eb_me_arafcl.pdf: 471308 bytes, checksum: b402e5c3d415016b023c29747a10fc6e (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A presente pesquisa tem por objetivo apresentar uma proposta de análise de um grupo de onze contos populares brasileiros de origem indígena, coletados por Silvio Romero e publicados no volume Contos populares do Brasil (1883), que reúne contos populares brasileiros de origem européia, indígena e africana. A dissertação aborda basicamente quatro tópicos. O primeiro deles trata das características fundamentais da literatura oral brasileira, com enfoque especial para as tradições orais indígenas, além de apresentar um levantamento de informações biobibliográficas sobre Silvio Romero. O segundo tópico consiste em um estudo da teoria proposta por Alan Dundes, em Morfologia e estrutura no conto folclórico, que serve de ferramental teórico para a leitura estrutural dos contos (uma vez que Dundes parte das funções de Propp e dos estudos do antropólogo/lingüista Kenneth L. Pike para chegar a um modelo de análise específico para narrativas de origem indígena). No terceiro tópico, são realizadas as análises das narrativas que compõem o corpus. As análises mostram que a maioria dos contos indígenas coletados por Romero pode ser analisada a partir dos esquemas estruturais de Dundes, embora algumas adaptações sejam necessárias devido às especificidades das narrativas brasileiras. Por fim, no quarto tópico, desenvolvemos um quadro comparativo que concentra os principais resultados das análises. A partir desse quadro, apresentamos algumas possíveis interpretações dos dados coletados, vistas como perspectivas que complementam as análises estruturais realizadas. / This research aims at presenting a proposition for analysis of a set of eleven Brazilian folktales with indigenous origins, gathered by Silvio Romero and published in the Contos populares do Brasil (1883) volume, which collects Brazilian folktales with European, indigenous and African origins. This work approaches basically four topics: the first is about fundamental characteristics of oral Brazilian literature having a special focus on oral indigenous traditions, besides presenting a collection of bibliographical information about Silvio Romero; the second topic is a study on the theory proposed by Alan Dundes, in Morphology and structure in the folktale, which serves as theoretical tool for the structural reading of the short stories (once Dundes starts with Propp’s functions and anthropologist/linguist Kenneth L. Pike’s studies to come to a specific analysis model for narratives with indigenous origins); in the third topic, the narrative analyses which compose the corpus are performed. Through these analyses, we show that most indigenous short stories collected by Romero can be analyzed from Dunde’s structural schemes, with some adaptations due to specificities of Brazilian narratives. Finally, in the fourth topic, we develop a comparative chart that shows the main results from the analyses. From this chart, we show some possible interpretations of the data collected, seen as perspectives that complement the structural analyses performed.

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Orientador: Karin Volobuef / Banca: Maria de Lourdes Ortiz Gandini Baldan / Banca: Sergio Luiz Rodrigues Medeiros / Resumo: A presente pesquisa tem por objetivo apresentar uma proposta de análise de um grupo de onze contos populares brasileiros de origem indígena, coletados por Silvio Romero e publicados no volume Contos populares do Brasil (1883), que reúne contos populares brasileiros de origem européia, indígena e africana. A dissertação aborda basicamente quatro tópicos. O primeiro deles trata das características fundamentais da literatura oral brasileira, com enfoque especial para as tradições orais indígenas, além de apresentar um levantamento de informações biobibliográficas sobre Silvio Romero. O segundo tópico consiste em um estudo da teoria proposta por Alan Dundes, em Morfologia e estrutura no conto folclórico, que serve de ferramental teórico para a leitura estrutural dos contos (uma vez que Dundes parte das funções de Propp e dos estudos do antropólogo/lingüista Kenneth L. Pike para chegar a um modelo de análise específico para narrativas de origem indígena). No terceiro tópico, são realizadas as análises das narrativas que compõem o corpus. As análises mostram que a maioria dos contos indígenas coletados por Romero pode ser analisada a partir dos esquemas estruturais de Dundes, embora algumas adaptações sejam necessárias devido às especificidades das narrativas brasileiras. Por fim, no quarto tópico, desenvolvemos um quadro comparativo que concentra os principais resultados das análises. A partir desse quadro, apresentamos algumas possíveis interpretações dos dados coletados, vistas como perspectivas que complementam as análises estruturais realizadas. / Abstract: This research aims at presenting a proposition for analysis of a set of eleven Brazilian folktales with indigenous origins, gathered by Silvio Romero and published in the Contos populares do Brasil (1883) volume, which collects Brazilian folktales with European, indigenous and African origins. This work approaches basically four topics: the first is about fundamental characteristics of oral Brazilian literature having a special focus on oral indigenous traditions, besides presenting a collection of bibliographical information about Silvio Romero; the second topic is a study on the theory proposed by Alan Dundes, in Morphology and structure in the folktale, which serves as theoretical tool for the structural reading of the short stories (once Dundes starts with Propp's functions and anthropologist/linguist Kenneth L. Pike's studies to come to a specific analysis model for narratives with indigenous origins); in the third topic, the narrative analyses which compose the corpus are performed. Through these analyses, we show that most indigenous short stories collected by Romero can be analyzed from Dunde's structural schemes, with some adaptations due to specificities of Brazilian narratives. Finally, in the fourth topic, we develop a comparative chart that shows the main results from the analyses. From this chart, we show some possible interpretations of the data collected, seen as perspectives that complement the structural analyses performed. / Mestre

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2015-10-08T14:26:18Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Patricia Veronica Moreira - 2014.pdf: 1256569 bytes, checksum: 68c77ae9f39b16b0ba54fa98ded82e2b (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2015-10-08T14:32:13Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Patricia Veronica Moreira - 2014.pdf: 1256569 bytes, checksum: 68c77ae9f39b16b0ba54fa98ded82e2b (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-10-08T14:32:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Patricia Veronica Moreira - 2014.pdf: 1256569 bytes, checksum: 68c77ae9f39b16b0ba54fa98ded82e2b (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-03 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The twentieth century saw the birth of a new paradigm in the social sciences: the Structuralism. The name V. I. Propp appears in the thread of this history, especially in the linguistics, as one of the pioneers of the structural method, because he found in the study of Russian folktales their structure and the minimum unities of analysis, in other words, the thirty-one functions and the seven spheres of action. His work Morphology of Folktale was published in 1928 in Russia, but remained forgotten for thirty years. In 1958, it was brought back to the surface by the north-American translation, drawing the researchers’ attention, among them Lévi-Strauss who would make it famous among the French and after, around the world. This work, through the Linguistic Historiography searches the reception of Propp’s readers. These commentators and followers allow the recovery of the socio-historical construction of the monument and to determine if the construction happened due to the perspective of methodological rupture. / O século XX presenciou o nascimento de um novo paradigma nas ciências sociais: o Estruturalismo. O nome de V. I. Propp aparece no fio dessa história, em especial na linguística, como um dos precursores do método estrutural, por ter encontrado no estudo dos contos populares russos a sua estrutura e as unidades mínimas de análise, em outras palavras, as trinta e uma funções e as sete esferas de ação. Sua obra Morfologia do Conto Maravilhoso publicada em 1928 na Rússia ficou esquecida por trinta anos. Em 1958 foi trazida à tona pela tradução norte-americana, chamando à atenção de vários estudiosos, entre eles Lévi-Strauss, que se encarregaria de torná-la famosa entre os franceses e depois mundialmente. Pelo viés da Historiografia Linguística, esta dissertação busca a recepção dos leitores de Propp. Esses comentadores e seguidores permitem resgatar a construção sócio-histórica do monumento e determinar se a construção aconteceu pela perspectiva da ruptura metodológica.

民間故事凝聚了民眾的情感與風俗，「變形」母題在民間故事中具有特別的文化意涵。筆者搜集318則中國各地的「人變異類」故事，依照情節特色將故事分類敘述：在神話裡的「變形」展現先民對抗大自然的奮鬥過程；人物傳說中的「變形」刻劃了英雄「犧牲小我，完成大我」的偉大情操；風物傳說中的「變形」帶有惜福愛物之心；神奇故事中的寶物與法術都能引發「變形」；生活故事中的「變形」凸顯小人物的苦難與愛情的堅貞不渝；寓言中的「變形」則大多是懲罰。 在「人變異類」故事的敘事分析方面，故事中最常提到拯救社會的大英雄，以及飽受欺負的悲苦人物，人物的名字與變形物往往有相對應的連結，故事的情節模式大致分為「不凡的命運」→「現實的考驗」→「超現實的結局」。而變形的原因歸類為「遭遇危險」、「期望未成」、「懲罰性變形」。變形的類型分為「直接的變化」，變化時間短則一瞬間，長則數年之久；「有憑藉物的變化」，例如運用寶物、衣服進行變形；而「連續變形」則以蛇郎君故事為代表。變形的環境以「懸崖」、「烈火」、「水域」、「雷電風雨」、「墳墓(土)」有較多的描述，壁畫與懸棺的文化顯示懸崖是一個特殊的神祕空間，烈火、水域、土皆被視為「再生」，雷電則具有懲罰的能力。 變形物在「人變異類」故事中有特別的文化意涵，魚、蝴蝶、「龍鳳匹配」皆隱喻愛情，樹、花、彩虹都有美好的象徵，石頭代表生殖與誓言，鳥類的叫聲表達主人翁的心境，杜鵑鳥有其特殊的悲苦意涵。各地不同的地形風貌、風俗習慣影響著變形物的流傳與寓意，例如藥材由來的故事與望夫石傳說，大多屬於解釋性傳說，苗族的樹崇拜、滿族的鳥崇拜影響故事中變形物的選擇。「人變異類」故事表現人類對於生命意義的追求，表達了人民對自然、社會抗爭的不屈精神，以及對人、事、物的感恩，而道教與佛教的觀念間接影響著民間故事的變形觀。「人變異類」故事中，無論是角色的對比、環境的渲染、情節的推演、變形物的象徵，皆烘托出「變形」情節在「人變異類」故事中的「不可變動性」。以人為主體的描述方式，透過超現實的「變形」情節，表達人類堅強的意志力、決心與純潔的真善美價值。 / Folk tales combine the customs of the people's emotional, "deformation" Motif in the folk tale has a special cultural meaning. The author collected 318 Chinese around the "human variation" stories, classified according to the story plot . In the natural mythology "deformation" to show the process of our ancestors struggle against nature; figure of the legendary "deformed" scored a hero "sacrificing for the greater good" of the great sentiment; In helenahat legendary,"deformed" has cherish love for things ; in amazing story, treasure and magic can lead to "distortion"; life story of "deformation" highlights the suffering of ordinary people and the steadfast love; fabled 's "deformation" is mostly punishment . In the "human variation" story of narrative analysis, the most frequently mentioned in the story are a great hero that save society, as well as the misery suffered bullying characters, figure names and deformation often have a corresponding links, the plot can be divided into" extraordinary destiny "→" reality test "→" surreal ending. "The cause of the deformation can be classified as "defuse the crisis", "psychological expectations," "punitive deformation", "magic." Deformation mode is divided into "direct natural variation," changes in a short time,or as long as several years; " deformation by something" such as the use of treasures, clothes for deformation; while "continuous deformation" places snakeman story as a representative. Deformation of the environment as "cliff", "fire", "water", "lightning and storm", "tomb (soil)" have more description, cliff Contains natural worship and witchcraft culture, fire, water and earth are all considered "reborn," lightning then have the ability to punish. "Human variation " story perform the pursuit of human meaning of life, express the indomitable spirit to natural and social protest, as well as gratitude for averthing, and the Taoist and Buddhist concepts indirectly influencing the deformation of folk tales. Deformation in "human variation" story has a special cultural meaning, fish, butterflies," dragon and phoenix match "are metaphors of love, trees, flowers, rainbow has a beautiful symbol. Stone represents reproductive and vows, birds cry expression masters of mind, the cuckoo has its special misery meaning.Style and customs over different terrain, affecting the meaning of dformation, for example, the story of herbs origin and Amah Rock legends mostly explanatory legends, Hmong tree worship, the birds worship influence selection of deformation in the story. In the story of human’s variation, whether it is the role of contrast, the rendering of the environment, the deduction of the episode, a symbol of deformed material, all express a "deformation" episode "non-volatility" in the story of human’s variation story. Description of the human subject, through the surreal "deformation" episode, expressed strong willpower, determination and pure value of the good and the beautiful.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-107) / This study explored the role played by Siswati folktales in building the character of boys. It included how boys are depicted in folktales and how this depiction influences boys in real life. The study further investigated the correlation between traditional and modern boys and tried to uncover the value of folktales regarding the boys of today. The way boys are portrayed in folktales, their heroism in fighting and conquering monsters, could encourage present-day boys to fight the monsters that they come across daily. Based on the application of the lessons from folktales, the study examined how societal changes affect boys today. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

The present thesis examines Japanese folktales through a comparative case study of the tale elements of Fiskarpojken Urashima (The fisher-boy Urashima) in the Swedish children’s book Japanska sagor (Japanese tales) written by Ida Trotzig, published in 1912. The book was part of the book series Barnbiblioteket Saga (The Children’s Tale Library). Trotzig’s tale version is compared to historic and contemporary versions of the tale in Japanese, English and Swedish. The comparative tale elements include motifs defined by the author and classified according to Stith Thompson’s motif classes, structural and formal tale elements, and motifs of the religious substrata defined by McKeon. The time period studied includes the birth of Japanese folklore studies, the Russo-Japanese War with a growing interest for Japan in the West and the influx of Western ideas in Japan. Japanska sagor was published around the time when the Urashima tale was added to the National readers by Japan’s Ministry of Education and the narrative was changed, omitting the original love story. Both narratives are represented in the non-Japanese versions from this time, and still today. Trotzig’s version follows the historic narrative that included a love story and shows relatively many romantic elements in comparison to the significant Japanese tale versions recorded during the last millennium. Trotzig’s version contains two new added romantic and emotional elements at the end of the story and the princess was given a new name, Urana No. Trotzig’s version includes all four original motifs of the basic religious substratum and at least four of the nine motifs of the ōo (romantic) substratum, as defined by McKeon. The age of the tale elements can in several cases be traced back to the 8th century texts. Trotzig’s version shares almost all of the compared tale elements with the Hasegawa/Chamberlain version (1886).