fairytale forest
As late as the 15th century, a squirrel could hop from tree to tree from southern Spain to Denmark. All of Europe was one forest. Important trade routes passed through it, it was an important supplier of firewood, nuts and berries, for meat, but also healing herbs. A shelter for the exiles who were excluded from the walled cities, but also for the outlaws. No wonder, then, that so many stories are set in the forest. Little Red Riding Hood running through the forest to visit her grandmother. Hansel and Gretel, abandoned by their parents in the forest. The Bremen Town Musicians, who stop in a forest on their journey and find a robber's house there. The Nibelungen. The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. The Freischütz. And modern stories are also set in the forest. Behind Hogwarts lies the forbidden forest, where unicorns, centaurs and giant spiders live. The road to Narnia leads through a forest. And it is the dancing trees that support Aslan in the battle against the Whitest Queen. Everything is possible in the forest. It is enchanted, mysterious, changeable - and it is infinite. No fairy tale, no story in which the protagonists lose their way out of the forest, always only into the forest.