Robber With A Witch's Head: More Stories From The Great Treasury Of Sicilian Folk And Fairy Tales Collected By Laura Gonzenbach

by Laura Gonzenbach, Jack D. Zipes (Editor)

The Robber with the Witch's Head presents almost fifty new stories about demons and clever maidens and princes. Bursting with life, this is a storyteller's dream, full of adventure and magic, translated by Jack Zipes.

Genres: Folklore

262 pages, Hardcover

First published July 29, 2004

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these tales are repeats with a few details change and others are Sicilian versions of other well-known folktales. I thought one of the most interesting details of the stories was the class consciousness that they showed. As with most folktales, the characters tend to be royalty or peasants who end up becoming rich. However, most tales end with some variation of "they lived happy and content, but we still can't pay the rent," or "they lived happy and content, and we were left without a cent," which I haven't seen in other folktales. I'd be curious to see if this is something that crops up in other cultures or if it is particular to Sicily.