History, Wonder Tales, Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends How to Write A Good Fairy Tale | Page 13

LANGUAGE AND STYLE
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Formulaic lines. These are used mostly at the very beginning and very end of a tale. The
best known lines in English-language fairy tale formulae are, of course, "once upon a
time" and "happily ever after," but this semester you have become familiar with Russian
formulae such as "I drank beer at their wedding; it ran down my moustache, but never
went in my mouth," or "for a long time or a short time." (For a particularly elaborate and
rhymed ending formula, see "The Golden Slipper.")

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Objects and characters are named, but not described in any detail. One-word
adjectives are common ("golden apples," "brave youth," "dark forest," etc.). This is part of
what Lüthi refers to as "abstract style" (24).

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Third-person narration. Usually the only time the narrator speaks in the first person is at
the end of the tale (e.g., "I drank beer").

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Past Tense. It is only natural that everything that comes after "once upon a time" will be
narrated in the past tense.