The Twelve Months (fairy tale)

The Twelve Months is a Greek fairy tale collected by Georgios A. Megas in Folktales of Greece.[1]

It is Aarne-Thompson type 480, the kind and the unkind girls.[2] Others of this type include Diamonds and Toads, The Enchanted Wreath, Mother Hulda, Maiden Bright-eye, The Old Witch, The Three Heads in the Well, The Months, and The Two Caskets.[3]

A young and beautiful girl is sent into the cold forest in the winter to perform impossible tasks. She must get violets and apples in midwinter. She meets the 12 months personified who help her. The step mother and sister take the items, without a word of thanks. When the evil stepsister comes and is rude, they disappear, taking their fire, and leaving the stepsister cold and hungry.

References

  1. Georgios A. Megas, Folktales of Greece, p 123, University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1970
  2. Georgios A. Megas, Folktales of Greece, p 232, University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1970
  3. Heidi Anne Heiner, "Tales Similar to Diamonds and Toads"
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