• André Jolles' nineteenth century theory of Simple Forms proposed that seven distinctive genres of traditional narrative developed.

• The theory countered the prevailing notion that much traditional narrative was "degraded myth" (which is how the Grimms viewed fairytales, for example).

• Unfortunately, the theory implied that these genres developed some time in the distant past.

• Kurt Ranke's twentieth century revisitation of the theory asserted that the simple forms recur regularly in different cultures because they express perspectives that are universal to the human condition.

• As human universals, these genres are archetypal; to avoid the implications of Jungian usage, Ranke stressed ontology.

• Two of Ranke's ontological archetypes are what we call in English the legend and the fairytale. These two form a complementary pair. The legend stresses the dangers and vicissitudes of life, and the value of historical experience and perspective. The Märchen stresses the serendipitous aspects of life. (The notion that fairytale protagonists succeed through moral virtue is more a part of bowdlerizations than of the oral tradition.)