Favorite Folktales?

[emberleo]

What are your favorite folktales with female protagonists?

I'll accept anything with unknown author as "Folktale" whether it's a parable, a legend, a saga, a fairytale, or whatever.

I guess I don't mind knowing about works with known authors too provided you cite the author's name for reference.

But I'm really looking for the kinds of patterns that primarily manifest when a story has gotten told and retold and reshaped and retold over time, rather than a single person's idea of a good story, however grounded in tradition it may be.

-E-

Comments

[bearfairie]

East of the Sun and West of the Moon is one of my favorites ever with a strong female protagonist (it's an older version of Beauty & The Beast, where Beauty is way way way more kick-ass). I have a very intense retelling of the Donkeyskin story by Robin McKinnley called Deerskin. It's a great book but trigger-y subject matter http://www.amazon.com/Deerskin-Robin-McKinley/dp/044100069X

'Course some of the classics have their charm too - Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Thumbelina, The Princess and the Frog, lots of others... each is challenging in its own way but there's value from each to be gleaned for sure.

[emberleo]

Thus far I'm leaning very strongly towards the pattern in The Six Swans (I haven't decided which rendition I like best for my purposes yet, but a woman under a vow of silence making shirts to transform her brothers back into human from birds, trying to navigate a judgemental world without being able to defend herself directly is one that appeals to me.

Vasilisa the Beautiful, East of the Sun, and Thousandfurs are the top individual stories in my list, but again, not sure which rendition of the Thousandfurs pattern I want to use.

I realize that I seem to go for Cinderella stories where the protagonist is more proactive (which both Thousandfurs and Vasilisa represent), but I like some of the other patterns too, including the Beauty and the Beast pattern, again, preferring renditions with a more proactive lead.

-E-