Brother and Sister - Origins

Origins

The first recorded appearance of Brother and Sister is in Giambattista Basile's Pentamerone around the 17th century. It was written down as the tale of Ninnillo and Nennella. Since then it has circulated in a number of European countries under varying titles but with most of the main story intact. In Russia the story was more commonly known as Sister Alionushka, Brother Ivanushka and collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki. In the Aarne-Thompson classification system of fairy tales, Brother and Sister is categorized as its own type as number 450, the brother and sister. Another of this type is The Lambkin and the Little Fish.

At times, Brother and Sister has been confused with Hansel and Gretel. Hansel and Gretel has been known as Little Brother and Little Sister which is also an alternate title for this tale. The Grimms selected Hansel and Gretel for the tale by that name and kept the Brother and Sister title for this tale. Some publications of the Hansel and Gretel tale still use the Little Brother and Little Sister title, causing confusion for readers.

The story as the Grimm's told it was first published in the original 1812 edition of their Children's and Household Tales, and subsequently featured in all later editions, with several additions in 1819. Also, Nippon Animation Company of Japan featured the story in one episode of season two of its anime TV series, Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics.

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