At the time of their telling, these stories were not viewed as fiction; most, including gruesome ones by the Brothers Grimm, purported to be true. Some parents, moreover, clearly understood them as how-to manuals for dealing with disabled or otherwise divergent children. D. L. Ashliman, a leading scholar of folk legends who has studied the origins and legacy of changeling mythology, writes that they were often based on actual events—sadistic ways that families, under the guidance of other community members, actually treated children with disabilities. “There is ample evidence,” he notes, “that these legendary accounts do not misrepresent or exaggerate the actual abuse of suspected changelings.”

XREF: Connects to the modern concern about stigmatization of neurodivergent children and how folklore has historically sanctioned exclusion. QUESTION: Worth investigating how similar folk rationalizations of child abuse operate in other cultures or eras.

Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, loc. 675