Although the story of Hansel and Gretel and its many variations are considered today to be simple children fairy tales, all have in common one or more gloomy themes. Many contemporary folk scholars, such as Jack Zipes and Maria Tatar, believe that these tales of poverty, child abandonment, starvation and cannibalism can be traced back to the Middle Ages when people actually experiencing these problems used allegories to portray life’s day-to-day harshness.
As with most folklore, these early allegories were passed from generation to generation orally. It would not be until the 17th century that they would be collected and published.
The Earliest Published Hansel and Gretel Versions
The earliest version was written by Italian folklorist Giambattista Basile, whose Nennillo and Nennella was published posthumously in The Tale of Tales, or Entertainment for Little Ones (1634). In this story a selfish stepmother and her weak husband abandon his two children in order to conserve food. There is no evil witch however. Instead, a pirate’s kidnapping of Nennella and a large fish who saves her are key elements to the story.
Other early versions involved French writers. Charles Perrault's Le petit Poucet (Little Thumb - 1697) involves seven brothers who stumble upon an ogre’s house after being abandoned by their parents. A year later, Madame Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy wrote Finette Cendron, a similar story of three princesses who are abandoned by their parents in the woods and find their way to a giant's house.
The most well known of these tales is, of course, the story of Hansel and Gretel as told by the German scholars Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, first in 1812 and then in revised versions in 1819 and 1857. This story has all the most well-known features: the evil mother (later step-mother), the bread crumbs left as a trail, the gingerbread house, the cannibalistic witch, and the oven where she meets her fate.
Other Hansel and Gretel Versions
Stories that imitate Grimm's Hansel and Gretel in some, if not all, aspects can be found in many cultures throughout the world. Some of them are:
- Baba Yaga (Russia).
- The Babes in the Woods (Appalachian region of United States).
- Johnnie and Grizzle. This European tale is almost identical to Grimm.
- Kadar and Cannibals (southern India).
- The Lost Children. Another version from France.
- Mollie Whuppie (England). Involves the title character, her two sisters, and a giant.
- The Rose Tree. One of the children dies in this -- another English -- version.
- The Oni and the Three Children is from Japanese folklore.
- The Story of the Bird That Made Milk ( Kaffir tribe of Africa).
- The Two Children and the Witch (Portugal).
- Jan and Hanna (Poland).
- The Little Boy and the Wicked Stepmother (Romania). Story is very similar to The Rose Tree.
- Old Grule. This Slavic folktale follows the Hansel and Gretel version except the children are not abandoned, but wander off on their own.
- Juan and Maria. A tale from the Philippines, it has the witch as a good person.
For more on these and other similar folklore, including several online links to the actual fairy tales, see SurLaLune and Folktext.
Related Articles: For more on the Grimm Brothers’ version of the story see Hansel and Gretel. For contemporary versions of the story, see Hansel & Gretel in Modern Literature and Hansel and Gretel in the Visual Arts.
John K. Davis - John is a retired teacher/librarian and has also been doing freelance writing since the late 1970s. Over this period of time, he has had ...
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