And with another orbit around the sun, we have reached a brand new year with a fresh dose of magic sparkling in the air and that exciting unknown of another year’s worth of adventures ahead.
Happy 2022, friends, fair folk, and fairy tale lovers!
Fairy Tale Central returns from its holiday hiatus ready to embark on our FOURTH year of sharing fairy tales with you all, and we are utterly ecstatic to do so! It brings us complete joy to celebrate tales familiar and obscure alike with others who share in our love of fairy tales, and we do hope you enjoy this year’s lineup.
For 2022, we are starting out with a bang featuring the teller of tales herself, the weaver of enthralling stories, the great source of fairy tales…
Scheherazade had perused the books, annals and legends of preceding Kings, and the stories, examples and instances of bygone men and things; indeed it was said that she had collected a thousand books of histories relating to antique races and departed rulers. She had perused the works of the poets and knew them by heart; she had studied philosophy and the sciences, arts and accomplishments; and she was pleasant and polite, wise and witty, well read and well bred.
January 2022’s Featured Fairy Tale is…
~ Scheherazade ~
I think many of us now Scheherazade by name. She is the narrator of the frame story of 1001 Nights (or Arabian Nights, as many of us know it).
When a king finds his wife unfaithful, he believes all women are such and takes a bride every night only to have her executed in the morning so she cannot betray him. Over time, the vizier, who is tasked to seek out these women, can find no more and, to his distress, his eldest daughter, Scheherazade, volunteers to be the next bride. But she has a plan.
Every night, Scheherazade tells the king a story, and as the sun rises she ends it on a cliffhanger. So enthralled with her tales, the king simply cannot have her executed until he hears the end of them. And so night after night, the clever Scheherazade weaves him one story after the next, always stopping in the middle to keep him engaged. After 1001 nights she admits she has no more tales to give. But it is not the end of her. For during the course of listening to her stories, the king has learned the error of his ways through the magic of storytelling and fallen in love with Scheherazade, and thus her life is saved and many other women alike.
The stories of 1001 Nights are the tales Scheherazade weaves, creating a story within a story of these well-known Middle Eastern tales, and adding a layer of depth that you don’t often find in other fairy tale collections. It shows that stories really do have power; they are not there simply for entertainment but can change lives entirely.
We have featured three stories from 1001 Nights—Aladdin (June 2019), Prince Ahmed (May 2020), and Ali Baba (August 2021)—but we have yet to celebrate the narrator of these tales herself. I think it is utterly fitting to start off another year of fairy tales doing just that! Fictional though she may be, I think Scheherazade is a woman we can all look up to. She knew the power of stories and used it to her greatest advantage to put an end to needless killing and change the heart of a unstoppable king. That is true fairy tale magic right there!
Join the Fun!
We do so hope you will join in celebrating the month’s featured fairy tale, whether on your blog or social media! The fairy tale fun certainly shouldn’t be contained on FTC only. We love when our community partakes in celebrating!
Any and all posts are welcome, but if you need ideas, here are some suggestions.
Post suggestions:
- Story Wishlists – Is there specific type of retelling you’d like to see someone do with the featured fairy tale? Specific genre? General world setting? (And if you’re a writer and need ideas, you can find all our SWL posts HERE!)
- Dream casts of already-written retellings or your own dream retelling from above.
- A post about your own retelling(s) of the featured tale, whether published, WIP, never going to be published, or just an idea at this point.
- What was your first experience with our featured tale? Does it have a special significance for you? Is it one of your favorite fairy tales?
- Post your own review of a retelling of our featured tale.
- Favorite characters from our featured tale.
- LEAST favorite characters/something from our featured tale.
- A commentary of the original fairy tale.
- A read-along of one of the retellings of this tale.
- List the retellings of our featured tale which you’ve read/seen.
- Show us your TBR/TBW of retellings of this tale.
- Any special themes of this tale that particularly stick out to you?
If you do join in, link your post in the comments section below so we can read it!
A Bit of News
If you missed her announcement post, our dearest Arielle is departing as a main contributor of Fairy Tale Central. Much sadness and virtual hugs have been shared, but all of us are cheering her on as she goes off to be the amazing person she is and do so many epic things.
She not only brought us together, but was the Ultimate Idea Source of FTC and spread this place with an infinite amount of magic and pure fun. Without Arielle, FTC wouldn’t be the delightful space of fairy tale goodness that it is. It has been a JOY building this site with her and spending these last three years fangirling all things fairy tales together.
Arielle is truly a magical fairy godmother, and I feel so beyond blessed to call her friend. I encourage you all to follow her writing blog and Bookstagram for amazing writing advice and fantabulous book recommendations (many of which are fairy tales!).
Scheherazade is one of her favorite tales which is most fitting as she is so much like Scheherazade herself—clever, witty, resourceful, and filled to the brim with incredible stories and ideas.
A HUGE thank you to Arielle for helping bring this site together and simply being a wonderful friend. We love you! ❤
Another year awaits us, with so many stories to share. We cannot wait to celebrate them with you all!
Happy 2022, friends! Are you excited about the new year? What do you think of Scheherazade? Are you looking forward to us featuring this tale? Is there anything you’re hoping to see from us this year? We’d love to hear your feedback!
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