Wilhelm Grimm and his older brother Jacob studied German folklore and oral traditions and published a collection of stories eventually known as Grimms’ Fairy Tales （格林童話） which includes stories like Sleeping Beauty and Little Red Riding Hood. Several of the brothers’ tales have been adapted into successful TV shows and movies. Although the two brothers are famous for sharing the classic tales bearing their name, there are some facts that most people might not have known about them.

        Despite the fact that Jacob and Wilhelm are often associated with Snow White and Rapunzel, the brothers didn’t actually write any of those stories. In fact, the stories existed long before the two men were born in Germany in the mid 1780s. The fairy tales, in fact, were part of a rich oral tradition—passed down from generation to generation, often by women seeking to pass the time during household chores. But as industrialization took root, local traditions changed and scholars, like Jacob and Wilhelm, began a quest to save the stories from extinction. They interviewed relatives and friends, collecting whatever tales they could, sometimes even making small changes to make them more appealing. In 1812, Jacob and Wilhelm published the stories as part of a collection titled Nursery and Household Tales, or what is now referred to as Grimms’ Fairy Tales. 

       Originally, Grimms’ Fairy Tales were not meant for children. The stories regularly included sex, violence, and copious footnotes. Worse yet, they didn’t even have illustrations. Initially aimed at adults, the early editions of Nursery and Household Tales contained unusually dark elements. In its original version, for example, Rapunzel became pregnant after a casual fling. In Cinderella, the stepsisters cut off their toes and heels to try to fit into the slipper. These sorts of scenes were eventually revised once the stories became popular among children.