All tales

All tales have in common the fact that they are remnants of beliefs stretching back to the oldest times, expressing supernatural phenomena in images.
This mythic element is like the fragments of splintered jewel, scattered on the ground overgrown with grass and flowers, visible only to the sharpest eyes.
Its significance has long been lost, but it is still felt and gives the fairy tale its content, while at the same time it satisfies the natural pleasure in the magical; they are never a mere play of colors borne of a meaningless phantasy. The mythical expands the further we go back; indeed, it seems to have constituted the sole content of the oldest poetry.
– Wilhelm Grimm