The origins of Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm

Theodor Hosemann (1807 - 1875), Hansel and Gretel.  n.d. 

The tale of Hansel and Gretel pre-dates the arrival of its well-known literary version on the folktale scene, as is the case with most kindermärchen (as opposed to kunstmärchen), and may have its roots in the Great European Famine. This fairytale is of German origin and was recorded by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm after having heard it from Henriette Dorothea (Dortchen) Wild who would later become Wilhelm Grimm’s wife. It was first published in 1812 as part of a collection of the Grimm Brothers’ transcription efforts titled Kinder – und Hausmärchen – a document that would be subject to myriad alterations in the following editions.

Hansel and Gretel is one of but a handful of the tales in this collection to undergo few substantial changes, which we will deal with a little later. What did not change, however, is the environment this tale occupies – a time of famine in a rural setting in which the nearby woods serve as a prominent feature.

The actions cited in this well-known tale hold similar situational and behavioural patterns to those evident in and undertaken by a large portion of the population in Northern Europe during the Great Famine of 1315 to 1317. This famine was restricted to the British Isles, northern France, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, western Poland, and, yes, Germany. The death toll in those three years was in the region of 7.5 million throughout Europe, which constituted approximately 25% of the population.

So how did this come to pass and how does it relate to our fairytale protagonists? The Medieval Warm Period that had continued up to mid-thirteenth century was characterized by bountiful harvests that had lead to economic prosperity throughout Europe. This was accompanied by substantial population growth, particularly in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. And, as nothing exists in a vacuum, the value of land began to rise, corn prices began to rise and yet wages fell, in response to the increasing pressure on the land. Woodlands, fen and unused land were pushed back to make way for cultivation purposes.

This period of prosperity and good living gave way to cooler, wetter weather in the mid-thirteenth century, accompanied by failing crops accustomed to warmer weather and dwindling land values and falling corn prices. The woodlands began to reclaim the arable land that now lay empty due to failing finances caused by poor crop yields. Crop failures persisted for two years during which those not belonging to nobility returned to the forests to find sustenance in the form of wild edible roots, plants, nuts and bark. Out of desperation, draft animals were butchered, seed grain that would usually have been reserved for planting was eaten, children were abandoned to fend for themselves and the elderly voluntarily refused food so that there would be nourishment for the younger generation. It was a time of mass starvation, disease, child abandonment, infanticide and cannibalism. While the Great Famine came to an end in 1317, it wasn’t until 1322 that Europe returned to a semblance of stability. And this was but the first of a series of major crises to hit Europe.

Hansel and Gretel were not of noble blood as their tale goes, but the children of a poor woodcutter. They were hard hit by a famine as mentioned in the opening paragraph of the fairytale and, with those two points in mind, one can make a number of associations.

Firstly, and most importantly, considering it is really the crux of the story, is child abandonment. This practice was not uncommon during the Great Famine and, so, the stepmother’s suggestion to abandon the children in the woods would not have been met with as much disdain in the mid-thirteenth century as it is today. Those constituting the generation old enough to fend for themselves and be useful to society were the primary concern in the bigger scheme of things – in other words, young adults.

Secondly, is the case of cannibalism. Infanticide and cannibalism were acts of desperation in the face of starvation. The witch in the woods holds no identifiers commonly associated with witchcraft apart from being named a witch in the text – there is no mention of spells, enchantments, cauldrons or shape-shifting for example. The inspiration for this literary antagonist might not have been witchery at all, but rather a means to indicate disapproval of the practice of cannibalism. Placing this individual in the woods – the unknown and the edge of society and civilization – would symbolically identify those that had taken part in cannibalism as outcasts. While many incidents of cannibalism were documented in this period, murder and cannibalism were still frowned upon by the church, which was the primary authority in medieval Europe.

In closing, it would seem that Hansel and Gretel is not the only fairytale to draw inspiration from such occurrences. According to folklorists, this Grimm Brothers fairytale belongs to a group of European tales spun around child abandonment and a preoccupation with food.