Brother's Grimm

I have heard and/or read most of these in some form or other ever since I was a kid. There are so many different versions and these, being the originals, are the most non-sugar coated versions. They teach different stories and have multiple morals and I think the reason they are so violent and mostly unpleasant is because the real lesson is not lost among extraneous details. With stories today, they become so convoluted with rainbows and fairies and magic that the morals are usually lost in translation. But with the direct and obvious meanings of these stories, the people during the time that they were written, would have no hard time trying to understand them. I particularly loved "The Three Spinsters" story because it begins like the story of Rumpelstiltskin but ends up being something completely different with a humorous ending. For the modern day reader, I think they are purely for entertainment because we have different ways of warning others and setting examples. But for the people back in the time when these stories were written, they definitely served the purpose of teaching lessons.