Many years ago, when the earth was still dry...
Not all fairy tales start like this. Not all fairy tales have happy endings. But there's something about them that continues to appeal, continues to call us back. Stephen Fry once said (and I'm paraphrasing) that no matter how much a person may say they hate Abba,it's difficult to hate them, that there's simply something in their music--a combination of chords, or a camaraderie, or, well, who knows really, that makes them recognisable, appreciable. The point is this: fairy tales are like that. We can write them off, say they're puerile or depressing or unrealistic. We can pretend they don't speak to us.
The fact is, they do.
Now, you came to this page (I hope) looking for fairy tales. So:
Read fairy tales and fairy tale commentary in the Fairy Tale Fridays Archive, here.
Page through some fairy tale related linkage, here.
And while you're at it, leaf through the latest issue of Les Bonnes Fees for fairy tales, folklore, and everything in between.