In fact, in one of the many versions of Snow White, a piece of the apple was stuck in her throat, and was dislodged when the prince tried to move her, a veiled reference to the Heimlich maneuver, in the same way, a kiss is refering to CPR….

Fantasy also isn’t _science_ fiction where something a bit more plausible than just magic or wishes (even if just techno-babble) is (usually) used to base stories on.

That said, still an interesting site & thanks for the link to it.

[[Also, the air in The Land of Oz has much less water vapor in it than any place on Earth, because otherwise the wicked witch would melt just by breathing.]]

Remember that water vapor is gaseous. Perhaps witches can only be dissolved by large amounts of liquid water in direct contact with the skin. A witch’s skin probably has some evolved mechanism for dealing with a certain amount of water vapor in the air.

I’ll give them a good assessment of Rapunzel and the use of hair as a rope. I think it’s at least creative to use the spell of silence to discuss how to create a zone of silence, though the connection to the tale is very slim. (I mean, if the witch encased Ariel in a material to keep her silent, wouldn’t that also keep her trapped from walking around, touching people, etc? Why not just lock her in a box?)

So a carpet could fly, with enough wind, and could be directed by fluttering in just the right way. But “enough wind” translates into hurricane speeds. Hope that carpet has seat belts. And a windscreen.

You’re right on it being a great way to teach kids. Gives them a fun story to wrap their heads around. And you have to admit, they did a reasonably job with the Rapunzel section.

Cheers,
Bagheera

Europe was undergoing rapid change back then. Chimneys were in general use, universities were being founded, and society was urbanizing and monetizing. The great assarts were opening the Baltic and the reopened silk route was bring in new tales and luxuries. Despite this, it was still possible to find pockets of subsistence agriculture, people for whom time seemed to have stopped. Some of them were old; some of them were dotty; but all of them were at least a bit odd, much like people without internet access today. Needless to say, odd stories were told of encounters in the woods.

You can see where this is going, and you have heard the story before. It involved a young woman who had a reputation for being able to spin straw into gold. A local prince took this claim literally, and demanded proof. The young lady, recognizing an opportunity, placed her first born child on the line. Needless to say, the story involved fertility, gold, straw, and a particular member of the forgotten tribe. I won’t give you his name, but, as I said, you have heard this story before.

Who says there is no science in fairy tales. This one was a high tech, for its day, cautionary tale.
(The Argosy, the story of the introduction of sheep suitable for wool production into Europe from Anatolian highlands, is more of a guy story than this one. There is often some science in these old tales if you are willing to look for it).

- Jack

As far as the Emperor’s New Clothes, there has already been a blog dedicated to that fairy tale. It uses character names like Emperor Griffin, Viceroy Hanley, Queen Marsha, and so on, and while it isn’t called thusly, the blog could have been entitled “the Emperor’s New Rocket”.