MelissaA
Brenton
Shilpa Karhik
History of The Tooth Fairy
October 2nd 2006 00:00
When a child loses a tooth, most children will place their tooth either under their pillow, or for some, in a glass of water beside their beds before going to sleep that night. Their hopes are that the Tooth Fairy will come during the night and replace the tooth with a coin or these days a monetary note.
The most useful purpose of the Tooth Fairy myth in this day and age is to give children something to look forward to when they lose a tooth, especially as some children become quite concerned about the loss of their first teeth.
But where did it all start?
In European folklore there exist many myths, superstitions and legends. The tooth fairy, although widespread appears to have many different variations, but most of them deal with teeth having an element of power, even able to ward off evil.
The Vikings used to pay their children a tooth fee, simply as it sounds, a fee for the use of the children’s teeth which were then strung onto necklaces and other jewellery. The Vikings believed that the power of the children’s teeth would aid them in battle.
One of the more common stories is that the teeth were buried so as to hide them from witches and evil spirits who would be able to use the power of the lost tooth and place a curse of the child much in the way that voodoo works with hair.
By planting the tooth in the garden near their house they were also trying to assist the growth of the new adult tooth in its place.
As some towns became more crowded with buildings and less land, the teeth were then buried in flowerpots and eventually moved indoors to be ‘buried’ under a pillow.
Some cultures then introduced the myth of the Tooth Mouse, obviously a little mouse who would scamper around town and take the children’s teeth.
The transformation from mouse to fairy for some cultures (some still use the mouse who takes the teeth and also leaves treasures under the pillow) came after the publication of "La Bonne Petite Souris," in the 18th Century in which the mouse in the story hides under the pillow of an evil King, changes into a fairy and knocks out all his teeth. So eventually the story changed again into a fairy who would take the teeth, leaving a small reward in its place.
Of course it doesn’t end there. Then the children wanted to know what happened to the teeth, so over the years many parents have had many different answers to this question. For example:
- Gives them to newborn babies who don’t have any teeth as yet.
- Gives the teeth to Santa to give to dolls in his workshop or turn into jewellery.
- Turns them into seashells for fish to live in
- Turns the teeth into the stars of the night sky.
- Plants them in her garden and grows children
- Grinds them into fairy dust that she uses to enable her to fly.
- Makes tooth castles in the sky.
Whatever the answer, the story of the Tooth Fairy has endured for hundreds of years and will surely endure for hundreds more to come.
The most useful purpose of the Tooth Fairy myth in this day and age is to give children something to look forward to when they lose a tooth, especially as some children become quite concerned about the loss of their first teeth.
But where did it all start?
In European folklore there exist many myths, superstitions and legends. The tooth fairy, although widespread appears to have many different variations, but most of them deal with teeth having an element of power, even able to ward off evil.
The Vikings used to pay their children a tooth fee, simply as it sounds, a fee for the use of the children’s teeth which were then strung onto necklaces and other jewellery. The Vikings believed that the power of the children’s teeth would aid them in battle.
One of the more common stories is that the teeth were buried so as to hide them from witches and evil spirits who would be able to use the power of the lost tooth and place a curse of the child much in the way that voodoo works with hair.
By planting the tooth in the garden near their house they were also trying to assist the growth of the new adult tooth in its place.
As some towns became more crowded with buildings and less land, the teeth were then buried in flowerpots and eventually moved indoors to be ‘buried’ under a pillow.
Some cultures then introduced the myth of the Tooth Mouse, obviously a little mouse who would scamper around town and take the children’s teeth.
The transformation from mouse to fairy for some cultures (some still use the mouse who takes the teeth and also leaves treasures under the pillow) came after the publication of "La Bonne Petite Souris," in the 18th Century in which the mouse in the story hides under the pillow of an evil King, changes into a fairy and knocks out all his teeth. So eventually the story changed again into a fairy who would take the teeth, leaving a small reward in its place.
Of course it doesn’t end there. Then the children wanted to know what happened to the teeth, so over the years many parents have had many different answers to this question. For example:
- Gives them to newborn babies who don’t have any teeth as yet.
- Gives the teeth to Santa to give to dolls in his workshop or turn into jewellery.
- Turns them into seashells for fish to live in
- Turns the teeth into the stars of the night sky.
- Plants them in her garden and grows children
- Grinds them into fairy dust that she uses to enable her to fly.
- Makes tooth castles in the sky.
Whatever the answer, the story of the Tooth Fairy has endured for hundreds of years and will surely endure for hundreds more to come.
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it really helped me know what i really wanted to know!
thanks! this really helped!
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it really helped me know what i really wanted to know!
thanks! this really helped!
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youknow im kidding right
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