Cannibalism & Witchcraft: The True Story of "Hansel and Gretel"

[@everettlopez9127]

you have the perfect voice for video essays. these tales of child cannibalism are so soothing to my ears

[@kid_icarus1721]

Hannibal this you?

[@daniellewillis2767]

I think it's unsaid that the mother was the witch. Please do the Juniper Tree and The Army Surgeons, also the Jew Among Thorns (early anti Semetic tale, really bad)

[@mrjon75]

Maybe you're a descendant of the Aztec?

[@dillonwalshpvd]

Horses. Horses.

[@jenniferflores3360]

@@kid_icarus1721😂👍

[@karennorris7880]

This story frightened me as a child. In the version I'm familiar with, Hansel would trick the which into thinking he was not yet fattened up by using a stick to fool the blind witch into thinking it was his finger. Little Red Riding Hood scared me also.

[@monospaperbag]

do you know that fairy tale about pauline who ended up literally being cremated because she used matches? the reason i didnt dare to touch matches until i was 7 lmao

[@azap1378]

​@@nobody98368 I guess the fairy tale worked then, maybe scarring children is indeed the way to go.

[@loucorice]

To scare you even more: In the version I know it's not a stick, rather a bone. (The witch served Hensel meat earlier and he used one of the bones)

[@mini_skinny0296]

​@@azap1378Maybe it was a way to make them cautious with strangers.

[@genericamerican7574]

I read the original little mermaid 🧜‍♀️ when I was a kid pre Disney version. It doesn’t turn out for her. It stuck with me to this day for some reason. I was at the beach last week and when the fog lifted and the sun started to hit the water I started saying to the person I was with, “have you ever heard the original little mermaid? 🧜‍♀️ She dies at the end. Cursed to be the shimmering reflection in the ocean.🌊” history was brutal.

[@ctubbs8715]

It is easy to take the abundance of the modern world for granted. It's scary to think that if our food ran out, we all could be back in the same situation as Hansel and Gretel 's parents in a short time.

[@HorsesOnYT]

Well said for sure

[@Iudicatio]

It is apparently already happening in Nort Korea

[@jonathanguzman3044]

The alleged "abundance of the modern world" is taking a long time to reach the 3rd world. Plenty of people still starving out there. I think you're referring to first world abundance that depends on the looting and pillaging of the third world

[@ryanpmcguire]

@@jonathanguzman3044please explain how our wealth depends on taking wealth from third world countries

[@jonathanguzman3044]

@ryanpmcguire it's a lengthy historical development to describe but I'll try to summarize key details. Its started with the age of colonial empires. Western euorpane nations that would eventually become the 1st world conquered, looted, and raped entire continents and parts of Asia such as India and Vietnam primarily due to a huge technologicaladvantage. After sucking out resources and wealth from these places that would eventually become the 3rd world, the west allowed them to become. " independent" but still held great influence and control over their economy. Sometimes the 3rd world goes too far to act in their own interest, so the west intervenes with regime change to install a political leader that is more friendly to western business interests. Key examples of 3rd world countries having their resources and wealth exported to the 1st world are Dole(standard fruit company) in Central America, lithium extraction in Bolivia, and cobalt extraction in the Congo

[@julienicol9202]

I took a German fairy tale course in university, what is interesting is that originally the Brothers Grimm didn’t intend on having the stories be for children but they did eventually in later years publish a book intended for children as well as others copying the stories and publishing them too, this didn’t change much of the violence in the stories though. In actuality a lot of stories that later became fairytales were originally intended for an adult audience and contained a lot of sexual references and innuendos, the Brothers Grimm changed the stories so all of the sexual stuff was gone because they were scholars in good standing and very religious (they put a lot of Christian symbols in their versions of fairy tales, like sightings of doves by characters etc) and didn’t mind the violence but the sexual stuff was very much a no no for them. This makes sense in the context of them being very familiar with the bible and the violence in it. The violence in their stories is either “well deserved” in their eyes as in “God punishes the bad and evil characters for their sins” or it’s pointed out that it’s wrong and the good characters get saved somehow for the most part. I’m not saying that it’s a good thing that they left it in I just think that somethings would fly back then that would not today. Us and the Brothers Grimm live in vastly different times in lots of aspects. Edit: Also they usually changed the “bad mothers” or “evil mothers” to “step mothers” because they loved their own mother so much and didn’t want anyone to even have a chance to think that they may not like their own mother, they always wanted to honour her.

[@andrefilipe9042]

Interesting, are any of the original unaltered versions of the stories stored somewhere?

[@julienicol9202]

@@andrefilipe9042 I’m sure that they are documented somewhere, just not by the Brothers Grimm. There are also probably several different versions of the original vulgar stories since they were primarily told by word of mouth rather then read and written down, they were usually tavern/drinking stories of the common folk but also in latter years more sanitized and told to royalty and aristocracy by servants who were common folk themselves,like the man who is usually referenced as the origin of the story of Cinderella, Charles Perrault.

[@andrefilipe9042]

@@julienicol9202 Ahh I see. Thank you very much.

[@dwaynebrice1697]

❤ well said.

[@DoloresLehmann]

@@andrefilipe9042 The stories I know about are the original version of "Little Red Riding Hood" which actually ends with the wolf eating the girl. The Brothers Grimm didn't want it to end that way, so they took the ending of "The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats" and pasted it to the story. Then there's the fact that "true love's first kiss" practically never is a way to save anyone. In "The Frog Prince", the princess doesn't kiss the frog to turn him back into a prince, she throws him against the wall. In "Snow White", the prince just falls in love with the beautiful dead princess and asks the dwarfs if he can have her. In an attempt to transport the glass coffin, it falls down and breaks, and through the impact, the bit of poisonous apple falls out of her throat and she awakens. In "Sleeping Beauty", it's not a prince, it's actually a king that finds her, and he doesn't kiss her, he just plainly r*apes her. She goes on sleeping and gives birth to twins, one of which, while trying to find the mother's breast, sucks on her finger and thus takes the splinter out, awakening her. In the absolutely darkest version, she then tries to find the father of her children, and succeeds only for the king's wife to get jealous, take her kids from her, cook them and serve them up to her unfaithful husband in revenge.

[@radioruin]

The evil step mother trope is WAAAAY older than that. it’s a trope in ancient Roman literature

[@Foxaris]

@chriswaters2327Women were pretty much the property of their husband, so the father wasn't really viewed as evil no matter how he treated his wife and children.

[@kiwiingenuity6666]

Glad the step mother narrative has changed these days

[@bruhray1139]

​@@kiwiingenuity6666changed into fucking porn

[@coyotemojo]

It's probably rooted in an Indo-European myth about the winter crone trying to hold off the spring maiden

[@wijny4222]

its nature. lions kill the children of their new wives so the wife would he motivated to fornicate with him, thus making him pass on his genes. new partners of all species will always be jealous of their partner investing recourses into offspring of someone else.

[@heidismutti]

Stepmothers were super common as so many women died in childbirth. The stepmother was eager to do away with the OG children do her own children could inherit better.

[@fajaradi1223]

Understandable, but yet unacceptable

[@rhuttrho88]

What if she died too? Another young wife for Ole boy!😁

[@Lokian_Mermaid]

Yes, but in many of the original stories, the birth mothers were alive and they were the ones being jealous of their children and harming them. The stories changed the mother to stepmother because the idea of birth mothers being so horrid to their children was a bit hard to take..... Even though it's happened and still does. Originally, Cinderella's father was alive, but constantly too drunk to know what was going on in his own home to his own daughter.

[@cincin4515]

You been watching too much Disney.

[@ericcartman9594]

In the animal kingdom often happens that the stepfsther kills the kids to get the femanle to procreate

[@kitten_0078]

5:06 the music in the background is called Trollmors Vaggvisa and is a Swedish lullaby. My mother always used to sing it to me and my brother. It's about a troll mother singing to her 11 small trolls to sleep basically.

[@bossdogs9199]

If you can tell me the name of the music at 1.30 I'd be in your debt

[@elvenkind6072]

Same here, only in Norwegian, but the part about: "Aj, aj, aj, aj, aj, BOFF, Aj aj aj aj aj BOFF Aj AJ AJ AJ AJ AAAJ AJ, Aj, aj aj aj aj boff. " must be Swedish. 😛 Also "svansen" is kept in the Norwegian version, even if "halen" would be more logical. So I think you must be right about the origin.

[@vivianhudson9145]

​@@bossdogs9199I'm not seeing it listed in the music credits but it sounds like La Folia to me (there's versions by Vivaldi and Correlli and a bajillion recordings of each). I wish there were specifics links to the recordings in the description; they're all really high quality versions of some of my favorite pieces and I'd like to know what specific performer it is

[@bossdogs9199]

@@vivianhudson9145 Thank you so, so much! My knowledge of Classical and Baroque is next to none, I was at a complete loss. If I find the performance in this video I'll let you know. Thanks again

[@SanxBile]

@@bossdogs9199 That very part on 1:30 definitely sounds like Sarabande to me. Try listening to: Keyboard Suite No. 4 in D Minor, HWV 437: III. Sarabande

[@PySimpleGUI]

Continuing my swim upstream finding more great writing and art. Every video is incredibly educational and overflows with compassion. Keep letting it flow! 🧡

[@RugMann]

You should read a brochure sometime it'll be 3x as informative as this 11 minute video

[@PJM257]

who runs this account and whose money was spent on this lol

[@Chillllllbruh]

​@PJM257China

[@erikgilson1687]

Where did Hansel get the breadcrumbs if they were starving. Sounds like he was holding out on bread he'd stashed

[@KassandraFuria13]

Starving does not mean that you have nothing to eat at all !

[@erikgilson1687]

@@KassandraFuria13 Hansel and Gretel literally were put out into the woods because their parents couldn't feed them

[@KassandraFuria13]

@@erikgilson1687 not enough food for all, but there was a little food.

[@erikgilson1687]

@@KassandraFuria13 I'm joking it's a fairy tail, I am not seriously poking holes in a children's story

[@KassandraFuria13]

@@erikgilson1687 🥰, but it is not only a childrens story and I think it is much older than it is told here. Full of archetypes. I am German by the way and grown up with all these tales. I think children learn a lot out of it and get a lot of strengh ! I remember talking with my patient grandma about it after listening . Her answers to my questions and her reaction to my feelings were lessons for me. That makes it so wonderful to tell these stories to children. You take so much out of their expression and questions either and thus telling the story it is always a fresh and a new experience. You must respect childrens spirit seriously !

[@TheVioletWolf]

I wonder… my ex-husband used to work as a neurodiagnostics tech in a children’s hospital, and most of the “non-accidental trauma” done to children were of the step dads or the mom’s boyfriends… but that’s because a lot of the mothers of these poor babies were working while the guy was a home watching them. Back when the evil stepmother trope came about is because then it was 100% likely that men worked and women stay back to care for the kiddies.

[@MollyMcBooter]

That's so sad. Your husband must be really strong. I don't think I could deal with seeing kids in that state, especially knowing it's not an accident 😢

[@MarkelMathurin]

​@@MollyMcBooterex*

[@blaisetelfer8499]

A lot of those mothers knew, I guarantee it, but didn't give a shit. Only when the doctor or CPS ask them do they feign ignorance

[@Ekdrink]

@@blaisetelfer8499people don’t want to hear this

[@ThaneofCawdor69420]

@@blaisetelfer8499my mother was a criminal lawyer and she always said the people she hated most in child abuse cases were the mothers who allowed those things to happen to their children at the hands of their boyfriends or husbands. She said she hated them more than the abusers themselves because the kids were supposed to be able to depend on their mother always and they were betrayed instead.

[@Noelliuss]

The only difference with my version of the story is that it was the stepmother the one who pushed her husband to abandon the kids. The rest is the same, so dark!

[@michaelwatson5000]

The brothers Grimm’s tales went through several editions fairly quickly when they were first published. Starting right after the first edition, Wilhelmina Grimm began sanitizing the stories, making them less jarring to readers. As a part of this, the evil mother in many stories became evil stepmothers (this is from the forward to the English language translation of the first edition by Jack Zipes.)

[@basquiatHoover]

Who gives asf! Everything ain’t gender based just enjoy the story man

[@philr5497]

My mother was German and had a book of fables that terrified me. Two tales I remember (I'm70 ) were the schnitermiester, a scary guy with huge scissors that cut thumbsucker's thumbs off with an illustration of a geyser of blood shooting out of a crying kid's thumb that just got whacked and another about a boy whom always looked up until he walked off the end of a pier and drowned. While still in Germany my older (7yrs) brother was stuffed in a bag and carried away by Krampus. He complained about that until the day he passed.

[@ninalanwert4298]

Hey, did you mean "struwelpeter"? Like the short story collection? I'm German and we still have that book in the children's book section, even though no one reads those terrifying Storys to their children anymore. But at 21, my friends and I remember being read that by our (grand-) parents. It's more of a cultural thing know.

[@msdd7610]

@@ninalanwert4298 I'm not German but lived there between the ages of 15months and 9 and a half years old, and yeah the Struwwelpeter book/collection of stories was present in my childhood - I hated both the Daumenlutscher story and the one of the girl who burnt herself down cause she kept playing with matchsticks

[@YujiroHanmaaaa]

Struwwelpeter is his name not Schnitermiester

[@philr5497]

@@YujiroHanmaaaa yes

[@ThatOneMarveller]

I am truly shocked that you aren’t super popular by now. Your content is amazing. Thank you for posting. You will be very big very soon.

[@mitcheltse]

i thought this would be a KZbinr with millions of subscribers

[@juniorjames7076]

Opposite. This is the kind of content that gets de-monetized. This is not the narrative the West wants to know.

[@Starr_Apathy]

​@@mitcheltsethey really should be! I think it's because ppl aren't sharing his work. It's so consistently good!

[@StoutProper]

@@mitcheltseit’s as good as Lemino imo. Certainly up there.

[@timmuller5249]

The so called facts in the video are 90% bs

[@MalO.ver1.0.x]

The original stories behind a lot of those fairy tales are sometimes more wicked and disturbing than anyone could ever imagine.

[@kle1225]

Fascinating backstory! It’s so interesting to see how oral traditions change over time based on cultural norms and beliefs; and how the renditions are exemplary of the different times and places of societies. Those picture are freaking awesome

[@henkdachief]

i was waiting the whole video for the real story behind the cookie house, which is the most interesting part and instead he talks about patriachy!

[@palpatine152]

I just got introduced to your channel, and I want to say that I find your content, not only very well told and interesting, but very calming. I am going through a very stressed and sleep depraved period, and your videos helped me gain some sleep and rest. Keep up with a great work! You have brilliant narration and ideas!

[@jimmyjimmy7240]

It wasn't "shockingly common," it was "expectedly rare." There are very few accounts of cannibalism we have on record or through folk tale. During the great famine, that last a couple years, there are accounts of cannibalism, for example, although the specifics are often left out. I dig your platform, though. Cool video style.

[@GoneNForgotten]

Yes because people eating their family members were telling the world about it and writing stories

[@jimmyjimmy7240]

@@GoneNForgotten yeah, surviving family members, neighbors, government officials. Same way we learn about everything else throughout history.

[@juniorjames7076]

@@jimmyjimmy7240 The b.s. euro-propaganda passed off as "history" is only currently believed by either small children and the small minded such as yourself.

[@diejaykaynz3r078]

i guess we can never confirm how often this happened, but i dont think it was that rare. there were dead people everywhere and even people selling meat saying it came from animals.. hunger is a crazy force which can make you do unimaginable things...

[@jimmyjimmy7240]

@@diejaykaynz3r078 yeah, I think that's fair. We can't know for sure. I still think "common" is a bit hyperbolic.

[@TashfikalSami]

I felt mesmerised watching the video. It's so well made, full of immaculate artistic visuals, with befitting background scores to amplify the experience. Absolutely loved it

[@TheCzarsoham]

Very well narrated, visuals are amazing, and really puts a lot more things in context!

[@n00bJesus]

I love this idea of the revealing the truths behind old ‘children stories’. Subbed! Awesome vid.

[@Maxaldojo]

An interesting dichotomy... A story about horrific and tragic children's stories told through artistic images, classical music and an articulate monologue! Well done!

[@VideoDotGoogleDotCom]

Love the art style.

[@Kai_Peters]

AI slop

[@coltonlavely4162]

I really appreciate the use of more and more recent typefaces to illustrate the passage of time, that's real nice.

[@Tommuli_Haudankaivaja]

Napoleon didn't invade and fracture a "country" called Germany. Germany didn't exist until the end of the Franco-Prussian war in the 1870s. Germany, during the invasions of Napoleon, were hundreds of vaguely allied kingdoms, duchies, and principalities. Napoleon actually condensed Germany into a few states. Other than that, very entertaining and informative video. The mistake is easy to make, since the modern people we are, tend to simplify things like the HRE.

[@BigKnecht]

...he said while grossly simplifying the collective german identity of the HRE.

[@Tommuli_Haudankaivaja]

@@BigKnecht I'm not going to write a 10 page essay on the HRE here. He could've just said that Napoleon invaded the German people or that he invaded the HRE. It wasn't really the point of the video, so some simplification is acceptable, but just saying a plainly incorrect thing isn't good.

[@riccardodececco4404]

no

[@blueyedevil3479]

If “Germany” did not yet exist … how is he suppose to refer to them as “the German people”

[@Tommuli_Haudankaivaja]

@@blueyedevil3479 Because the German people is an ethnicity, that has been around for centuries, unlike the country of Germany.

[@serendipity4922]

The paintings, art, and presentations are just so beautiful 🥺 u earned a subscriber from this single video 🎉

[@rickwrites2612]

The medieval period is 476 to 1453 AD from the fall of Rome to the fall of Byzantiym. *The medieval church did not believe in witches* the medieval inquisitions and burnings were about *heresey* (professing a version of Christianity with any deviation from the Church's doctrine) and even that was mostly in high/late middle ages (after 1100), as previously the clergy had debates with heretics (but kept losing the debates, so decided to change tack to killing them). In Rennaissance period In 1486-1529 two German priests Kramer and later Spraeger published Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches) trying to say demonalatry and sorcery were taking place especially among women and to categorize them as forms of heresey (which was already illegal and could result in being burnt alive). Its basically Kramer having issues about sex and women with an obvious torture kink. Even then the Catholic Church CONDEMNED the idea and book (maybe why the book became popular) and held a tribunal which was suspended due to Kramers obsession with sexual practices of alleged witches and his own illegalities. It was only in the EARLY MODERN PERIOD of 1600s that the book resurfaced and its methods really began to be widely employed. Even then, it wasnt so much the Church that sought after witches (they were still much more concerned with heretics) but the regular people. It was essentially a hysterical populist movement.

[@juniorjames7076]

In Spain, I believe the context of their inquisition was a cover for political purging, since back then, religion and nationalism was intertwined. During the Reconquista, wars and battles were lost due to Muslim, Jewish and Christian spies. Heck, the Ottomans took Constantinople with the help of Christian spies at their service.

[@esti-od1mz]

As a matter of fact, in Italy almost no witch was killed. It was more of a german thing...

[@tophatproductions3031]

Yeah, Americans who make videos like this tend to ride roughshod over certain details to fit their own understandings of politics and culture. Another commenter pointed out that "Germany" was not a national entity at this point in time. The references to "politicians" and the "working class" in 13thc. Europe are also just laughable. Also, where did he get the idea that agriculture was only just spreading to Europe by then? A really good style and presentation on these videos, but the author or his scriptwriter need to brush up and stop pandering to an ill-educated Yankee crowd.

[@franciscasilva8406]

Thank you! So many misleading things in this video, like the idea that cannibalism was "common", it's a shame the misinformation that is being praised because of good visuals and high production value. The investigative part of it is certainly lacking.

[@channel1344]

The moment the narrator said "witch hunt", I already knew what angle this video was going for. Very disappointing.

[@AzuraTarot]

as others have already commented, cannibalism was exceedingly rare, even during the greatest famines. The reason why the hags or witches of folk tales are so keen on catching and eating children (or people in general) is that originally, they weren't human at all, they were fairies, just like many hags of celtic folklore. That's where their magic powers come from. Gradually, some of the fairy hags, able to fly and cast spells, were replaced or thought to be human women who sold their soul to the "devil" (invariably a fae-like figure based on celtic and other pagan deities), even though clearly, no human woman has any of the powers commonly ascribed to (real, supernatural) witches. Maybe because the officials needed some scapegoats to burn, and catching a supernatural entity is rather difficult :P

[@krishadyn5211]

While some critters (like goblins) remain critters, I'm told the human like fae are usually gods of older pantheons.

[@JinMeowsoon]

Thanks for the info, I didn’t consider it that way, I knew druids and animal forests were vilified. The Catholic Church worked really hard to get the monopole on religious beliefs…

[@HokutoShinkento]

No, they were usually based on pagan groups, foreign enemies, and isolated rejects who lived in the woods who got progressively demonized. Many poorer rural families held old pagan tradition down the middle-ages, equivalent of herbal medicines, or specific customs, all it took was a hag becoming a widow or someone be born deformed and theres your witch and ogre. Thats how most cultural tales developed. Harsher traits were usually prescribed as further demonization of the outsider, though in some cases it may be a remnant of some much older custom or specific crimes whose knowledge spread. American zoomer rewriting history because you got raised by disney as usual and thinking real lore is like dnd

[@HokutoShinkento]

@@JinMeowsoon youre answering to an ignorant zoomer rewriting history. Druids, dark forest, the woods etc, got villified and a lot of their culture did get readapted in the religious beliefs of demons. Likewise, isolated people in the woods, rejects and thos who got ousted practicing pagan beliefs (doesnt need to be a proper religion, just random customs that didnt get stamped out) are the source for hags and witches

[@HaterOfNaturalThings]

your production and quality is absolutely amazing, so happy to find your channel! keep it up

[@illuminahde]

New Sub. Screw the algorithm for just now putting this channel in my feed. This is great stuff

[@MandarimG]

What a nice channel have I found. Finally some good content talking about very specific themes

[@nickchambers3935]

1:04 “Napoleon successfully invaded Germany and fragmented the country”. What does this mean when Germany wasn’t a unified country at the time? How could it be even more fragmented than it was before?

[@solidsteak3142]

Germany was the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation at the time. Meaning that essentialy all Germans were untited in one Reich under one German (Roman) Kaiser. Friedrich ll. Barbarossa being the most prominet example. The people back then considered themselves german, living in a german reich, under a german Kaiser. Naopleon came and destroyed the HRE. Annexing part of it and forcing parts of it under his rule, even forcing them to fight against thier own german brothers.

[@JinMeowsoon]

@@solidsteak3142 Dont you agree this content creator should have said HRE instead of Germany then? There are so many approximations on this channel.

[@martijnboot4971]

Your references to times in history are way off. Napoleon didn't shatter Germany, you could argue he even made it more united than it was. Also, agriculture spreading through Europe in the 13th century? So what did Romans eat?

[@palomam5152]

Just gotta say: your videos are always stunning. The art work, music, pasing, everything is ON POINT. Really. Congrats.

[@maxm2656]

Idk if you have a team or what but even if you do these videos are ridiculously high quality. Everything fits perfectly the music the animations. Chefs kiss. As a side note your voice fits with the content so well. Fascinating history of world events and literature. Hope your channel picks up steam!

[@damon4440]

AI

[@Evan345gdf]

@@damon4440is it actually? I won’t continue supporting if it is

[@Pollicina_db]

@@Evan345gdf As someone who draws and is an art historian some of the drawings that are here might look like they have the same kind of style but you can see some nuances that indicate that its not by a hand or by one artist. Also there’s a lack of a list in which he credits the artists and I doubt he drew so many drawings that basically shows the same scene P.s: found a comment where he said he used AI

[@Evan345gdf]

@@Pollicina_dbUnfortunate. I will def be unsubscribing.

[@luis6263]

@@Evan345gdfits also false information, it was not normal for people in the middle ages to eat kids or hunt witches. The witch hunts were really common in the period called „Frühe Neuzeit“. The Brothers Grimm were also born much later after the middle ages, which makes most of the points in the video pretty dumb. But it has become a common thing to blame all bad characteristics and events, in human history, on the Middle Ages even though research takes a completely different point of view on this.

[@Big_Dog2303]

Dude. You are a SUPERB narrator. Your voice. Speed of speech, pronunciation etc etc...BEAUTIFULLY done. Love it.

[@Aivottaja]

There is a harrowing account of cannibalism from my neck of the woods during the Great Famine Of 1695-1697. A mother murdered her 6 year old daughter and had her son kill his 7 year old brother who were both eaten. They also killed and ate a boy who was looking for food.

[@bdbdkbdbd]

omg wtf

[@nyxeo]

Familytings 😘

[@MR-backup]

I just don't understand it, in any scenario, I would just rather die.

[@ahhamartin]

It also happened durimg sieges. Even the generally, historically accepted parts of the Bible mention it. The woman who complained to the king that her friend suggested they eat the first woman's child first and then her own, but hid her own after helpimg eat the first child.

[@Aivottaja]

@@MR-backup Starvation will make you do things you would never even consider when you're not starving.

[@teutonalex]

I think you meant the 16 and 17th century’s witch craze. The middle ages saw virtually no witch burnings as we understand them today. Since this time did indeed see increased famine and war in Europe and since the vast cases of accusations were brought by women against other women, it is thought that competition anxiety over dwindling resources may have played a part in the developing mass hysteria.

[@AureliusLaurentius1099]

Witch craze was also mostly an Anglo and German thing. There was practically zero witch burnings in Italy and Spain, since they mostly focused on cracking down heresy. Believing in witches will actually get you more in trouble than being accused as a witch

[@tjpassig208]

Exactly thank you it’s also a misconception that Germans canabalized their children etc folklore is fabrication this guy is trying to breath life it to something that never existed, if they were that starving they would have resorted to eating dogs pets and rats.

[@chrisrauber6602]

This tuber is indeed a good example for bad or no academic research. Well, even "google" might help such guys....

[@luis6263]

THANK YOU i thought nobody was noticing that

[@sirgavalot]

While this could easily be an audio only podcast, the choice or art work and type face through this video (and others) is amazing, i love it. Are any of the pieces original?

[@Pixelarity64]

I'm thinking they are AI generated! They are high-quality, though.

[@RemaiHax]

During the late Middle Ages (the period in question here) rural societies came with a lot of imagination to justify child slaughter during hard winters or famines. We don't know a lot about these rituals (because nothing was written about them, they were kept secret by villagers), however we do have a very specific description of one particular, central France ritual. Whenever someone (mostly mothers) wanted to abandon their child, they would gather other villagers and take the child to the forest. There, they took the child through certain trees, walking around them with them. When it was over, they let the child to his death, but they believed (or convinced them so) that little dwarfs and spirits of the forests would turn them in "changelins", a type of dwarf that belonged to the forest. The Church started to know about these rituals and punish some of these villagers accused by burying them alive (that was the sentence for child murder)

[@Nirrini]

I’m siding with the church on that definitely.

[@gimmekromer1151]

thats fake and thats not even what a changeling is

[@conexant51]

Strong similarities between folktales are logical when cultures are not geographically far apart like Germany and Italy. However, there is a Vietnamese folktale called Tấm and Cám that is eerily similar to Cindarella. Vietnam and Europe are definitely not geographically close. My guess is that many folktales just happen to converge through intrinsic values of right and wrong and end up similar by coincidence. Another possibility is that some folktales are spread through merchants or similar. Just a thought. *Edit* Typos

[@Pollicina_db]

There are many version of cinderella, you have the chinese one with the fish and fur slippers, the ancient Egyptian one where cinderella was a greek slave who ended up marrying the pharaoh and so on.

[@stevebruce7206]

Carl Jung posited "collective unconcious"

[@symoneayanna3570]

I agree, it’s like moral and ethical reasoning is universal. I always found it fascinating that every ancient civilization has a story about the Great Flood.

[@tiahnarodriguez3809]

Collective moral consciousness, and/or someone from one culture went to another culture, and both shared their culture. We see this with food, ideas, and goods due to trade that occurred between certain nations in the past, so I’m sure this also holds true for some of the fairy tales and legends.

[@mannytuzo]

@@symoneayanna3570that’s because there was a real Great Flood in history but as with most stories, it is exaggerated in those stories

[@kayamagan]

The Fur Elise playing in the background at the start sounded nice. Great video and explanation all round

[@andreizelenco4164]

please make more content like this

[@anywx550]

Favorite channel right now. Its almost like my friend is telling me a story. Awesome

[@Kannot2023]

The purpose of fairy tales is to prepare kids for life not to entertain.

[@GrandTerr]

Lmao, are you a German or something? Did those fairy tales prepare Germans for their duties during WW2?

[@sabeen-yo8kt]

Even though I have read Hansel and Gretel many times, it isn't until I watched your video essay that I realized the true implications of the story and its context. Amazing work. Thank you!

[@julisity6640]

Truly awesome video. Great style of art, superb narration. The only thing that really grinds my German gears is the lack of a Ä in Hänsel.

[@johnfarley7074]

Pretty sure it’s all AI generated art but putting it together is its own skill set.

[@bedelxo482]

@@johnfarley7074I figured that as well, but it was all out together nicely

[@pernille6534]

Your voice is just great for these types of videos, especially for people where english is not their first language. It somehow keeps me listening closely - combined with the beautiful art and editing.

[@watertower1]

This dudes about to pop off, only has 30k subs but by like next month he’ll have 100k

[@nefty1004]

100% and very well deserved

[@mogitknam]

and 6 days later he has 118K lol. he is great and is growing in extraordinary speed which is definitely deserved. now i wonder how much he will have by the end of the month

[@standdownrobots_ihaveoldglory]

Omg he has 800k and it’s only 10 months later

[@atharhayat996]

This video and the narration are soothing

[@playinglifeoneasy9226]

My great grandmother was a midwife in Hungary before the first world war. My grandfather would tell me the story about how when a baby was delivered, she would look up to the parents, and if they reached out for the baby she handed them the baby to start nursing, etc. but if they turned away or looked at the floor, she covered their mouth or took the baby with her to leave supposedly in the woods and

[@psychedelicpayroll5412]

That’s cowardly. The parents depended on her to kill the child instead of doing it themselves.

[@CestMagnify]

I love love love your visuals! Thank you for your work!

[@izabelm3932]

it's ai

[@BelakorVenator]

Carach Angren’s album This Is No Fairytale is my favorite version of this story, each track is essentially a chapter in an overarching narration.

[@jenniferlb6124]

I just discovered this channel yesterday, and it alone is worth continuing my KZbin subscription.

[@Zerkzeez]

Glad I discovered this channel. Interesting content, great art style, and the videos are brief.

[@aaronedgeart]

Well done... your voice, delivery and these illustrations are wondrous!

[@judebreheny3925]

The story of Hansel and Gretel is not a true story. But it was first created and told within a completely genuine and entirely true historical context. It is a faithful reflection of the 1310s. This is a story published for academics. This is a work of history, not fiction.

[@jacco_por]

I love the artwork, the timing and the whole vibe of the video!

[@eingrobernerzustand3741]

I mean, Hänsel und Gretel we're made during the 1600s, during the thirty years war. Atleast, that's what's generally claimed where I live. But yeah, while my home was spared of witchmania, we suffered pretty badly during the war, so it's no wonder that even if it's from the 1300s, people who heard about it after the 30 years war broke out would assume it's about that war. I still can't help but doubt the medival interpretation tough, after all, 1300s was far before Luther popularized witches. Most folktales from that period had the devil making deals and bets, not witches. Papal authority was strong enough that superstition was still a punishable offense, as a precursor crime to heresy.

[@danielanoy3528]

i LOVE LOVE LOVE this video. The quality, narration and details are just amazing. Thanks for sharing and making content!

[@mrs.cracker4622]

I believe that agriculture spread across Europe way earlier than medieval times . And famines went back much further too. It's been suggested that our fairy tales date back to prehistory.

[@ethanhutchison3180]

The animation is beyond incredible. so engaging. every shot is a wallpaper

[@maeri6040]

I absolutely LOVE YOUR VIDEOS. Just found your channel and am so happy

[@frightfang]

I just happened to stumble upon this channel the other day and I’m really happy I did.

[@salvadordollyparton666]

hansel and gretel, has a happy ending... the mother wanting to abandon the kids dies. dad gets his kids back. and makes perfect logical sense for the mother and witch to be the same person. she was the one wanting to abandon the kids, knowing they'd stumble upon her witch house. and she can't very well easily cage one and enslave the other in the house with the father.

[@Chanselleur]

Abandoning the children as they are burdens to the food resources, reminds me of the tale of grandparents being carried out into the mountains in Japan. This is how people on all different continents dealt with the burden of having to feed a mouth that doesn’t seem to do much pulling up their own weight.

[@rufusblue8044]

I wonder if gen z or their kids write warning tales about bad parents cannibalizing their kids metaphorically through technology

[@ericaschupbach8285]

The aestethic of your video is amazing!!!

[@mgkelly3389]

I loved the art work and music! Great job!

[@VladCodY]

One of the best channels I've seen so far: great visuals, interesting facts well told, no shitass sponsored products.

[@kohhna]

There was a time of famine and witchunts much closer to the time of the Grimms than the 1300s, the 30 years war of 1618-48 was followed by famine and a series of witchunts.

[@adrianruiz9163]

love the sound ambient and the animation!! very nice job

[@larrysaltz]

Somewhere, Ari Aster is watching this and vigorously taking notes for a new feature idea.

[@YudaHnK]

This 💯

[@marzx13]

Your channel is so good. You get these messages all the time. And of course YT algo is shutting the bed on you. I am getting early days V sauce vibes re quality for my curiosity and learning "bone" but in a very unique and different vein. This almost feels like a stoics journal on their musings illustrated and narrated in the style appropriate to same mind.

[@HorsesOnYT]

❤️🐎❤️

[@M4TCH3SM4L0N3]

I just want to make a slight correction - the famines and witch hunts of the little ice age technically began around the middle of the 16th century, making it part of the Renaissance or early modern period by most measures. Witch hunts in general were mostly more of a protestant thing, too. Medieval Catholics frequently relied on astrologers and witches for charms and healing, and there was more of a sense that only evil magic was definitely satanic (though certainly many theologians and saints were vocal in their condemnation of those "superstitions," the general consensus among many of the clergy was that it was mostly harmless unless used malevolently by someone who actually channeled demons (mostly they assumed they were just charlatans).

[@wormwoodcocktail]

Great post.

[@M4TCH3SM4L0N3]

@@wormwoodcocktail thank you! Now, I should be clear that the middle ages were a long time (1,000 years), and there were many diverse cultures and trends, so there absolutely were places and times in that period when witch hunts did occur, but they were generally much less organized and over a shorter period of time/smaller area than in the "enlightenment" era (like most things 😅). Also, it's not that people in the middle ages were especially open minded or lacking superstition or fear of demons; it's just that in their worldview (generally, again it's a big span of time and multitudes of people), magic was just a natural part of the world (like applied science) and was only good or bad in the manner it was used.

[@wormwoodcocktail]

@@M4TCH3SM4L0N3 Exactly. The demographics of who was targeted varied, too. I consider the witch hunts in places like continental Europe to be sexicides / mass murders of women for being women. However, you have cases like those in Iceland where most “witches” were men.

[@casieatthe393]

I just discovered your channel recently and it’s my new favorite.

[@mostlymartha1395]

Well, i live in Germany, pretty close to the place where the Grimms came from and i still learn stuff about it i*ve actually never heard of by an American! That is just awesome, Dude. Big Fan of your work!

[@thehalfmoonmirrorsvenus1234]

I grew up rural for parts of my childhood. Like ten+ miles from the closest neighbor. The school was a single room chapel, pioneer style. There was only one tiny mom and pop shop. And the tiniest library you could imagine (my personal one is bigger now). It was about a hundred miles from the closest actual small town with a grocery store... When the winter hits; you start really eyeing how well the dog gets to eat and feeling jelli. I tell my kids a lot, there's two sets of rules in the world: when there's a famine and when there's not. Everyone fallows these rules; we're just lucky enough to live in a country and time where we are blessed with food made available to even the poorest of families (healthy food is a different story, of course; but I digress).

[@limitates6319]

liked the style of the video, thanks for producing it. The only thing wondering me is the reference to "politicians", given that during these times democracy was still far away and the power lay in monarchy / aristocracy.

[@krishadyn5211]

He may refer to guilds and sheriff types rather. Some church positions are also elected.

[@jujubean9142]

Your voice is unique and relaxing, love this content ❤

[@DarkAngelEU]

I really like your drawing/painting style. It really adds to the story and essay you're presenting :)

[@runedemilot3994]

That's AI.

[@Osato_June]

Loved the video. The graphics were also nice ❤

[@Eshkanama]

Hansel and Gretel’s parents: we don’t have enough food, we have to get rid of the children. Also Hansel and Gretel’s parents: leaves breadcrumb or oat trailz

[@kiragoldy4615]

This channel is highly underrated

[@pakde8002]

Not mentioned a common theme through the variations of H&G is children lost in the forest. Forests were the stomping grounds of the druids.😊

[@krishadyn5211]

In Germany?

[@imadinorawr6835]

the original story that you talked about with gretel and hansel is actually the normal story that kids get told here in denmark

[@4kassis]

Stepmothers were often evil because they were more interested in funneling resources to their own children rather than to the kids of the previous wife... and as you said, lots of women died in childbirth, so there were many stepmothers.

[@wednesdaycherenkov2633]

My stepmother is like that; it's not only in the past. When my father died, all his property went to her children. My brother and I didn't even get photos (she hates us, so I suspect she threw them away).

[@jacobdowd5692]

Exactly. This is a pretty timeless and self-evident trope. The child is, quite literally, not her child.

[@_DMNO_]

​@@wednesdaycherenkov2633 Thanks for the trauma dump I guess

[@garlicbread301]

This’s by far one of the best videos I’ve seen. Great voice for narrative, awesome animation. Everything’s “chef’s kiss”

[@LSSJTHOR]

Being torn apart by wild animals is more humane then starving? !🤣 I'm German but even I'm like "WTF Germany!?"

[@DerPijO]

I think stigmatising and people and modern witchhunts are still very common here. At least in some villages, maybe its in the genetics :D Feels like people are more direct because irritation can lead to misunderstandings and fights back in barbaric villages times. It seems fear rules a lot of things in german society sadly. I mean the people are voting a far-right party like crazy, many knowing its not okay but the fear and hate took over. Its all subtle and indirect action, but its still the same or not? Hope im just seeing this to critical.

[@mattdg1981]

Germans have a lousy track record lol

[@rmac3217]

@@DerPijO What is 'far right' about them though? Far right to some can mean saying a man cannot get pregnant remember, or that a nation should have a border.

[@anonacalypse2092]

Great narration and editing as usual!

[@diegolar]

Hagazussa is a german film that deals with all these topics without being a Hansel and Gretel story. Wow european history is truly mostly people killing each other the whole time. Thanks for the awesome channel!

[@PeterTaviawkNews]

And every other place on earth too including Africa, Asia, pre-colonial America, South America.

[@krishadyn5211]

​@@PeterTaviawkNewsWe have footage of chimpanzees going to organized war against other chimps. We have archaeological evidence of the same for Stone Age man and hominids. Violence is inherent in our system.

[@Regularkatie]

Haven’t started the video, but this is my favorite story!! It tickles my brain all the time. Can’t wait to start. 🍿

[@GKViddingHD]

Interesting theory, though the way I see it is nothing more than a recaption of two random articles that also tell us nothing about the actual backstory. I am happy to share the most common theory that I grew up with and it's actually still told by the German city of Quedlinburg (mind you, their research probably filled out a lot of blanks, too): Hansel and Gretel Metzger were not children but a married couple from Nuremberg. Before his marriage, Hansel had insistently pursued another woman called Katharina Schladerer. Schladerer earned her living as a baker. Her business was that successful that we have a number of documents to prove that she existed. Schladerer originated from Wernigerode and later Quedlinburg around 1618, where she learned the art of making gingerbread at the local monastery. When she moved to Nuremberg, she either became serious competition or Hansel simply saw an opportunity to get rich, we don't know. Anyhow, it is told that he stalked her and she turned him down. Hansel then married Gretel, they killed the baker in her home, looked for her famous gingerbread receipe in vain and, to cover up the crime, burned her corpse. They allegedly called Schladerer a witch and said that she had kidnapped and tried to eat Hansel. Thanks to Gretel's bravery, he was saved from cannibalism.

[@geirwickstrm9162]

5:50 that song! My grandma sang that song to get me to sleep! «Ay ayayaya buff!» You have no idea what memories you awoke in me. Thank you ❤❤❤

[@patrickhicks9880]

Just the conduct of their parents alone is the first part of this story I found quite disturbing as a child

[@timteichmann6830]

Great video! I absolutely love the visuals, and I got to say the narration is also great.

[@acanimatics906]

In first or second grade our class went to see a theater production of the original story and it was just as dark as you'd described it's kind of bizzare to look back on it and wonder about how disturbing my favourite folktales actually were. Between german theater and turkish light puppet shows of similarly violent tales (that probably wouldn't fly past sensors today) it's a wonder I grew up to be as well adjusted as I am. That said I do think Introducing children to some concepts of violence through as safe a format as a story or play is actually important for their development and something they will benefit from in the long run. But that's just my personal opinion on the matter. Anyways this was a wonderful video, I believe I learned a lot from it! ❤ Ps: If you haven't done it yet I think an analysis of Frau Holle like this could be interesting as well! Eitherway keep up the good work! 😊

[@loanicastillo3327]

The Old Testament is just like that. I am reading it now fully. And it is a historical recall we all need to know. We need to understand why the violence. Today we want no punishment for sin also. God has been merciful, but we were maybe best when the Lord would not. Overpopulation I think is the basic cause of all evil.

[@acanimatics906]

@@loanicastillo3327 Not Christian buddy, I follow another religion. I love my community and culture but my people are very traditionalist there's a lot about the "old ways" I don't agree with especially if they strip me of my basic human rights. I'm a hobby literary historian I love analyzing old texts and I do agree that there's a lot we can learn when looking back at the wisdom of or ancestors but I find it important to not dismiss the phylosophy and wisdom of the present. There's a lot we have forgotten but there's just as much we've discovered and learned. Learn from the past but don't turn your back to the present.

[@loanicastillo3327]

@@acanimatics906 Well, present philosophy is about having sex without ever being married and promoting lgbtiq ideas in public and using non organic materials like plastic that we never reuse or recycle and a lot of Industry and Zero labor and manual work in the fields just as women not being house wives anymore but workers. I find just killing people was a lot more assertive and ecological.

[@l4ndst4nder]

Love the minimal fauvist style art used for the background, adds so much drama and looks great!

[@rolloxra670]

I remember I read a version of the story where the kids eat the whole witch’s house

[@DoingStuffWithDiana]

Omg I’m about to binge watch this channel.

[@cool_vb3z187]

When I heard “the mother died” part I was like “R.I.P Bozo” 😂😂😭

[@APink176]

The first time I watched Over the Garden Wall, I thought it was going to be a ‘children abandoned in the woods to die’ tale and that’s why the older brother was so anxious and quick to judge the little brother. Thankfully, I was wrong.