War, Myths, and Fairy Tales

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

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2. Introduction: Tales of War and Wonder—Reflecting on War, Myths, and Fairy Tales and the Breadcrumb Trails Between

   • Sara Buttsworth, Maartje Abbenhuis

   Pages 1-23

3. And They Lived Happily Ever After? The Fable as Search for Meaning in Holocaust Cinema

   • Giacomo Lichtner

   Pages 25-45

4. “The Boy with the Bread”: Consuming Hansel and Gretel in the Twenty-First Century

   • Sara Buttsworth

   Pages 47-70

5. Abelardo Díaz Alfaro’s Tales: The Tragicomedy of the Dawn of US Intervention in Puerto Rico

   • Dannelle Gutarra

   Pages 71-91

6. Once Upon a Nation: Fables and Fairy Tales in Canadian Plays About War

   • Lindsay Thistle

   Pages 93-116

7. Flying Home: Aestheticizing and Americanizing Experiences of Exile and Migration in the Second World War as Fairy Tales of Return and Restoration

   • JoAnn Conrad

   Pages 117-146

8. Child Soldiers in Medieval(esque) Cinema

   • Peter Burkholder, David Rosen

   Pages 147-173

9. “A Trap of Our Own Making”: Mark Twain and the Mechanized Warfare of King Arthur’s Court

   • Paul E. Blom

   Pages 175-193

10. “Life Was a State in Which a War Was On”: A.S. Byatt’s Portrayal of War and Norse Mythology in Ragnarok: The End of the Gods

    • Charlotte Beyer

    Pages 195-218

11. War and the Ruby Tree. The Motif of the Unborn Generations in Jewish Women’s Story-Telling

    • Simon Heywood, Shonaleigh Cumbers

    Pages 219-237

12. Back Matter

    Pages 239-243

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This exciting new collection examines the relationships between warfare, myths, and fairy tales, and explores the connections and contradictions between the narratives of war and magic that dominate the ways in which people live and have lived, survived, considered and described their world. Presenting original contributions and critical reflections that explore fairy tales, fantasy and wars, be they "real" or imagined, past or present, this book looks at creative works in popular culture, stories of resistance, the history and representation of global and local conflicts, the Holocaust, across multiple media. It offers a timely and important overview of the latest research in the field, including contributions from academics, story-tellers and artists, thereby transcending the traditional boundaries of the disciplines, extending the parameters of war studies beyond the battlefield.

• Fairy Tales
• Fantasy and Wars
• War Stories
• Norse Mythology
• Warfare

“This is a finely curated volume and the attention to the presentation and ordering of the essays is evident. Buttsworth and Abbenhuis have taken great care to ensure that these essays dovetail with one another thematically, making the book an enjoyable read. … the essays would—individually, or in many cases, in conjunction—serve as excellent case studies for research or in the classroom and scholars interested in the complex relationship between fairy tale … should take note.” (Derek J. Thiess, Marvels & Tales, Vol.36 (1), 2022)



“This volume provides so many valuable and diverse resources about literature, film, and storytelling, particularly that which responds to World War II, that it will be a significant addition to any academic library. Moreover, the volume suggests possibilities for productive dialogue among scholars of children’s literature, film, and literature from around the world.” (Felicia Jean Steele, Mythlore, Vol. 38 (1), 2019)

• School of Humanities, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

  Sara Buttsworth

• School of Humanities, University of Auckland School of Humanities, Auckland, New Zealand

  Maartje Abbenhuis

Sara Buttsworth is a Senior Tutor in the history department at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She is primarily involved in the Tertiary Foundations Certificate programme, where she teaches an introduction to New Zealand history, and an interdisciplinary course on 'Monsters and Moral Panics'. Dr. Buttsworth's research and interests span popular culture, contemporary representations of fairy tales, and representations of war and gender.


Maartje Abbenhuis is Associate Professor in Modern European History at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She is historian of neutrality and internationalism, focusing notably on the period 1815 to 1919.

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