Fairy Tales: Saint Francis and What Fairy Tales Aren't

This winter, a snow storm caused problems to Portland Public Library's roof in the children's area, the place I go to browse for fairy tales in alphabetical order. Consequently, the area was closed for several weeks.

When I went to find an "E" tale, the volunteer librarian volunteered to bring out some books. I agreed and ended up with Richard Egielski's Saint Francis and the Wolf. 

It is a jF but not one I would have selected. But that instantly provoked the question, "Why not?" 

Granted the Catholic church has "demoted" saints who are, by most reckonings, complete mythical fabrications, such as Alexius (still a saint but with no calendared feast), Dorothy (still a saint but with no calendared feast), and the Seven Holy Brothers (now listed separately); their lives or acts, we are told, were "fabulous." 

Saint Francis, however, is not one of the demoted. 

So I personally would have categorized the book under j270 alongside Lives and Legends of the Saints. 

The question still remains: why wouldn't I call it a fairy tale? 

The tale appears in many versions of Saint Francis's life. It exists alongside numerous tales of destructive wolves that terrorized countrysides in the Middle Ages, similar to the wolf that makes an appearance in the tale of Little Red Riding Hood. Anthropologists often connect these tales to a legitimate fear of rabies and the omnipresence of wild animals on the outskirts of towns. In the case of Little Red Riding Hood, an actual rabid wolf may have been lurking around the town of Gevaudan, much like Jaws is likely based on an actual shark that got off course and caused havoc on the Jersey Shore. 

St. Francis's tale takes place in fictional Don Matteo's hometown, Gubbio, which is a real place. The wolf is terrorizing the locals. They send out a knight, an army, and a war machine. All fail to stop the wolf. Finally, the loving Saint Francis approaches the wolf and persuades it to make peace. Wikipedia states that Saint Francis actually persuaded the townspeople to "feed the wolf," which would certainly have done the trick. 

The story has elements of a fairy tale, including three attempts to calm the wolf, so why would I still not designate it as one?

1. It involves no magic.  

Miracles are not the same as magic since magic is entirely dependent on either a spell or amulet. A miracle, however, is delivered by grace. 

Interestingly enough, the wolf's "taming" isn't dependent on a miracle either. It is entirely dependent on Saint Francis being a big-dog lover (so perhaps the book could be categorized under 636.7 for "dogs"). Saint Francis's actions are arguably a manifestation of God's great love but an entirely different event from, say, closing hungry lions' mouths through the will of God. 

(The difference here is necessary to understanding why Puritan ministers were opposed to both dark and "white" magic. Whatever happened, they said, was whatever God willed to happen. Not everyone agreed with the ministers, of course. Humans are far too self-protective.) 

2. It is dependent on a specific time and place and person. 

Egielski tells the tale as a fairy tale--complete with knights and castles--but its resolution depends on a local and specific place, time, and person. 

In comparison, the core elements of Little Red Riding Hood existed before Gubbio and Gevaudan and persisted after them. That tale is easily universalized. 

In other words, a fairy tale involves magic and translates beyond its origins. 

King Arthur and Robin Hood debatedly also don't fall into the "fairy tale" slot for exactly the same reasons as those listed above. King Arthur may have been a real person. Robin Hood supposedly consorted with people who are, in fact, demonstrably real, such as King Richard. Not all their tales involve magic.

Granted, all tales start somewhere, and tales certainly have their specific "localized" elements--otherwise, historians and anthropologists wouldn't bother digging through them for hints of the past. But the essence of the fairy tale is something beyond time and possibly beyond reason. 

It isn't about returning to the town--where Saint Francis and the wolf end up--it is about whatever happens in the forest. 

Consequently, with respectful disagreement with a number of libraries (see WorldCat), I would place Saint Francis & the Wolf in the section on religion, even mythology, rather than fairy tales and folklore.