SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR FAIRY TALES HAVE BEEN RETOLD IN MANY WAYS, ACROSS DIFFERENT CULTURES, OVER THOUSANDS OF YEARS
Little Red Riding Hood descended from the ancestral story known as The Wolf and The Kids in the first century
Dr Jamie Tehrani led a research team which studied 58 different versions of the Little Red Riding Hood story which found that the original story could date back to 600BC.
Each version varied by number and gender of the main characters, the ending and the type of animal or monster which became the villain.
Some stories suggested the young girl outwitted the wolf and escaped.
Other were entitled differently depending on what part of the world the version was from.
The Wolf and the Kids has been frequently told throughout Europe and the Middle East, while another, The Tiger Grandmother is popular in East Asia.
Little Red Riding Hood descended from the ancestral story known as The Wolf and The Kids in the first century.
It branched off in the early 1000s to become more similar to the storyline which we all know.
However, an African version also originated from the same story and then independently evolved to become similar to Little Red Riding Hood. In Japan, China and South Korea, it became known as The Tiger Grandmother
It evolved as a spoken story in France, Austria and Northern Italy before being written down by French author Charles Perrault in the 1600s and was later retold in its most familiar form by the Brothers Grimm, 200 years ago.
Dr Tehrani said: 'This is rather like a biologist showing that humans and other apes share a common ancestor but have evolved into distinct species,
'This exemplifies a process biologists call convergent evolution, in which species independently evolve similar adaptations.
'The fact that Little Red Riding Hood 'evolved twice' from the same starting point suggests it holds a powerful appeal that attracts our imaginations.'
Despite being passed down the generations orally, Beauty And The Beast was first written in 1740 by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve. Her version was chopped and rewritten by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, who published it in Magasin Des Enfants.
The story has been retold, with the very changes few changes to the plot, all over the world.
In 1992 Disney released the film in the UK and it remains one of the most popular fairy tale cartoons to this date. It has also been produced as a show in theatres up and down the country.
The German Rumpelstiltskin story has had many variants even within the United Kingdom.
In England the protagonist was known as Tom Tit Tot, written by Joseph Jacobs in English Tales. North of the border, in Scotland, Rumpelstiltskin was known as Whuppity Stoorie and was published in Rhymes of Scotland by Robert Chalmers.
The tale was collected by the Brothers Grimm in the 1812 edition of Children's and Household Tales.
Source: Ancient Origins
