how does a saw fish use its saw

The most distinctive feature of sawfish is their saw-like rostrum with a row of whitish teeth (rostal teeth) on either side of it. The rostrum is an extension of the chondrocranium ("skull"),[27] made of cartilage and covered in skin.[33] The rostrum length is typically about one-quarter to one-third of the total length of the fish,[5] but it varies depending on species, and sometimes with age and sex.[1] The rostal teeth are not teeth in the traditional sense, but heavily modified dermal denticles.[34] The rostal teeth grow in size throughout the life of the sawfish and a tooth is not replaced if it is lost.[34][35] In Pristis sawfish the teeth are found along the entire length of the rostrum, but in adult Anoxypristis there are no teeth on the basal one-quarter of the rostrum (about one-sixth in juvenile Anoxypristis).[36][37] The number of teeth varies depending on the species and can range from 14 to 37 on each side of the rostrum.[2][38][note 1] It is common for a sawfish to have slightly different tooth counts on each side of its rostrum (difference typically do not surpass three).[39][40] In some species, females on average have fewer teeth than males.[1][39] Each tooth is peg-like in Pristis sawfish, and flattened and broadly triangular in Anoxypristis.[2] A combination of features, including fins and rostrum, are typically used to separate the species,[2][38] but it is possible to do it by the rostrum alone.[41]

Sawfish

Anoxypristis White & Moy-Thomas, 1941
Pristis Linck, 1790

Sawfishes, also known as carpenter sharks, are a family of rays characterized by a long, narrow, flattened rostrum, or nose extension, lined with sharp transverse teeth, arranged in a way that resembles a saw. They are among the largest fish with some species reaching lengths of about 7 m (23 ft).[2] They are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine and brackish estuarine waters, as well as freshwater rivers and lakes.[3]

They should not be confused with sawsharks (order Pristiophoriformes) or the extinct sclerorhynchids (order Sclerorhynchiformes) which have a similar appearance, or swordfish (family Xiphiidae) which have a similar name but very different appearance.[1][4]

Sawfishes are relatively slow breeders and the females give birth to live young.[2] They feed on fish and invertebrates that are detected and captured with the use of their saw.[5] They are generally harmless to humans, but can inflict serious injuries when captured and defending themselves with the saw.[6]

Sawfish have been known and hunted for thousands of years,[7] and play an important mythological and spiritual role in many societies around world.[8]

Once common, sawfish have experienced a drastic decline in recent decades, and the only remaining strongholds are in Northern Australia and Florida, United States.[4][9] The five species are rated as Endangered or Critically Endangered by the IUCN.[10] They are heavily persecuted for their fins (shark fin soup), use of parts as traditional medicine, their teeth and saw. They also face habitat loss.[4] Sawfish have been listed by CITES since 2007, restricting international trade in them and their parts.[11][12] They are protected in Australia, the United States and several other countries, meaning that sawfish caught by accident have to be released and violations can be punished with hefty fines.[13][14]

The scientific names of the sawfish family Pristidae and its type genus Pristis are derived from the Ancient Greek: πρίστης, translit. prístēs, lit. 'saw, sawyer'.[15][16]

Despite their appearance, sawfish are rays (superorder Batoidea). The sawfish family has traditionally been considered the sole living member of the order Pristiformes, but recent authorities have generally subsumed it into Rhinopristiformes, an order that now includes the sawfish family, as well as families containing guitarfish, wedgefish, banjo rays and alike.[17][18] Sawfish quite resemble guitarfish, except that the latter group lacks a saw, and their common ancestor likely was similar to guitarfish.[5]

The species level taxonomy in the sawfish family has historically caused considerable confusion and was often described as chaotic.[7] Only in 2013 was it firmly established that there are five living species in two genera.[4][19]

Anoxypristis contains a single living species that historically was included in Pristis, but the two genera are morphologically and genetically highly distinct.[1][20] Today Pristis contains four living, valid species divided into two species groups. Three species are in the smalltooth group, and there is only a single in the largetooth group.[4] Three poorly defined species were formerly recognized in the largetooth group, but in 2013 it was shown that P. pristis, P. microdon and P. perotteti do not differ in morphology or genetics.[19] As a consequence, recent authorities treat P. microdon and P. perotteti as junior synonyms of P. pristis.[3][21][22][23][24][25]

In addition to the living sawfish, there are several extinct species that only are known from fossil remains. The oldest known is the monotypic genus Peyeria where the fossil remains are about 100 million years old from the Cenomanian age (Late Cretaceous),[1] but it may be a rhinid rather than a sawfish.[27] Indisputable sawfish genera are of Cenozoic age, only appearing about 60 million years ago after the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction. Among these are Propristis, a monotypic genus only known from fossil remains, as well as several extinct Pristis species and several extinct Anoxypristis species (both these genera also have living species).[1][28] Traditionally, palaeontologists have not separated Anoxypristis from Pristis.[1] In contrast, several additional extinct genera are occasionally listed, including Dalpiazia, Onchopristis, Oxypristis,[29] and Mesopristis,[28] but recent authorities generally include the first two in the family Sclerorhynchidae and the last two are synonyms of Anoxypristis.[1][30] Fossils of sawfish have been found around the world in all continents.[29]

The extinct family Sclerorhynchidae resemble sawfish, but they are only known from Cretaceous fossils,[1][31] and mostly only reached lengths of approximately 1 m (3.3 ft).[5][27] It has been suggested that sawfish and sclerorhynchids form a clade, the Pristiorajea,[31] while others believe they are not particularly close, making the proposed clade polyphyletic.[27]

Sawfish are dull brownish, greyish, greenish or yellowish above,[2] but the shade varies and dark individuals can be almost black.[32] The underside is pale,[32] and typically whitish.[2]

Sawfish have a strong shark-like body, a flat underside and a flat head. Pristis sawfish have a rough sandpaper-like skin texture because of the covering of dermal denticles, but in Anoxypristis the skin is largely smooth.[2] The mouth and nostrils are placed on the underside of the head.[2] There are about 88–128 small, blunt-edged teeth in the upper jaw of the mouth and about 84–176 in the lower jaw (not to be confused with the teeth on the saw). These are arranged in 10–12 rows on each jaw,[42] and somewhat resemble a cobblestone road.[43] They have small eyes and behind each is a spiracle, which is used to draw water past the gills.[44] The gill slits, five on each side, are placed on the underside of the body near the base of the pectoral fins.[43] The position of the gill openings separates them from the superficially similar, but generally much smaller (up to c. 1.5 m or 5 ft long) sawsharks, where the slits are placed on the side of the neck.[1][45] Unlike sawfish, sawsharks also have a pair of long barbels on the rostrum ("saw").[1][45]

Sawfish have two relatively high and distinct dorsal fins, wing-like pectoral and pelvic fins, and a tail with a distinct upper lobe and a variably sized lower lobe (lower lobe relatively large in Anoxypristis; small to absent in Pristis sawfish).[2] The position of the first dorsal fin compared to the pelvic fins varies and is a useful feature for separating some of the species.[2] There are no anal fins.[42]

Like other elasmobranchs, sawfish lack a swim bladder (instead controlling their buoyancy with a large oil-rich liver), have a skeleton consisting of cartilage,[46] and the males have claspers, a pair of elongated structures used for mating and positioned on the underside at the pelvic fins.[42] The claspers are small and indistinct in young males.[38]

Their small intestines contain an internal partition shaped like a corkscrew, called a spiral valve, which increases the surface area available for food absorption.[citation needed]

Sawfish are large to very large fish, but the maximum size of each species is generally uncertain. The smalltooth sawfish, largetooth sawfish and green sawfish are among the world's largest fish. They can certainly all reach about 6 m (20 ft) in total length and there are reports of individuals larger than 7 m (23 ft), but these are often labeled with some uncertainty.[2] Typically reported maximum total lengths of these three are from 7 to 7.6 m (23–25 ft).[2] Large individuals may weigh as much as 500–600 kg (1,102–1,323 lb),[47] or possibly even more.[48][49] Old unconfirmed and highly questionable reports of much larger individuals do exist, including one that reputedly had a length of 9.14 m (30 ft), another that had a weight of 2,400 kg (5,300 lb), and a third that was 9.45 m (31 ft) long and weighed 2,591 kg (5,712 lb).[48]

The two remaining species, the dwarf sawfish and narrow sawfish, are considerably smaller, but are still large fish with a maximum total length of at least 3.1 m (10 ft) and 3.5 m (11 ft) respectively.[2] In the past it was often reported that the dwarf sawfish only reaches about 1.4 m (4.6 ft), but this is now known to be incorrect.[50]

Sawfish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters.[3]

Historically they ranged in the East Atlantic from Morocco to South Africa,[51] and in the West Atlantic from New York (United States)[32] to Uruguay, including the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.[3] There are old reports from the Mediterranean Sea, but these were probably vagrants.[3] In the East Pacific they ranged from Mazatlán (Mexico) to northern Peru.[52] Although the Gulf of California occasionally has been included in their range, the only known Pacific Mexican records of sawfish are from south of its mouth.[52] They were widespread in the western and central Indo-Pacific, ranging from South Africa to the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, east and north to Korea and southern Japan, through Southeast Asia to Papua New Guinea and Australia.[3] Today sawfish have disappeared from much of their historical range.[3]

Sawfish are primarily found in coastal marine and estuarine brackish waters, but they are euryhaline (can adapt to various salinities) and also found in freshwater.[2] The largetooth sawfish, alternatively called the freshwater sawfish, has the greatest affinity for freshwater.[53] For example, it has been reported as far as 1,340 km (830 mi) up the Amazon River and in Lake Nicaragua, and its young spend the first years of their life in freshwater.[21] In contrast, the smalltooth, green and dwarf sawfish typically avoid pure freshwater, but may occasionally move far up rivers, especially during periods when there is an increased salinity.[50][54][55] There are reports of narrow sawfish seen far upriver, but these need confirmation and may involve misidentifications of other species of sawfish.[56]

Sawfish are mostly found in relatively shallow waters, typically at depths less than 10 m (33 ft),[3] and occasionally less than 1 m (3.3 ft).[54] Young prefer very shallow places and are often found in water only 25 cm (10 in) deep.[4] Sawfish can occur offshore, but are rare deeper than 100 m (330 ft).[3] An unidentified sawfish (either a largetooth or smalltooth sawfish) was captured off Central America at a depth in excess of 175 m (575 ft).[57]

The dwarf and largetooth sawfish are strictly warm-water species that generally live in waters that are 25–32 °C (77–90 °F) and 24–32 °C (75–90 °F) respectively.[50][53] The green and smalltooth sawfish also occur in colder waters, in the latter down to 16–18 °C (61–64 °F), as illustrated by their (original) distributions that ranged further north and south of the strictly warm-water species.[53][58] Sawfish are bottom-dwellers, but in captivity it has been noted that at least the largetooth and green sawfish readily take food from the water surface.[53] Sawfish are mostly found in places with soft bottoms such as mud or sand, but may also occur over hard rocky bottoms or at coral reefs.[59] They are often found in areas with seagrass or mangrove.[3]

Sawsharks are typically found much deeper, often at depths in excess of 200 m (660 ft), and when shallower mostly in colder subtropical or temperate waters than sawfish.[1][45]

Relatively little is known about the reproductive habits of the sawfish, but all species are ovoviviparous with the adults females giving birth to live young once a year or every second year.[3] In general, males appear to reach sexual maturity at a slightly younger age and smaller size than females.[3] As far as known, sexual maturity is reached at an age of 7–12 years in Pristis and 2–3 years in Anoxypristis. In the smalltooth and green sawfish this equals a total length of 3.7–4.15 m (12.1–13.6 ft), in the largetooth sawfish at 2.8–3 m (9.2–9.8 ft), in the dwarf sawfish about 2.55–2.6 m (8.4–8.5 ft), and in the narrow sawfish at 2–2.25 m (6.6–7.4 ft).[3] This means that the generation length is about 4.6 years in the narrow sawfish and 14.6–17.2 years in the remaining species.[3]

Mating involves the male inserting a clasper, organs at the pelvic fins, into the female to fertilize the eggs.[33] However, through genetic testing it has been shown that at least the smalltooth sawfish also can reproduce by parthenogenesis where no male is involved and the offspring are clones of their mother.[60] In Florida, United States, it appears that about 3% of the smalltooth sawfish offspring are the result of parthenogenesis.[61] It is speculated that this may be in response to being unable to find a partner, allowing the females to reproduce anyway.[60][61]

The pregnancy lasts several months.[33] There are 1–23 young in each sawfish litter, which are 60–90 cm (2–3 ft) long at birth.[3][33] In the embryos the rostrum is flexible and it only hardens shortly before birth.[33] To protect the mother the saws of the young have a soft cover, which falls off shortly after birth.[62][63] The pupping grounds are in coastal and estuarine waters. In most species the young generally stay there for the first part of their lives, occasionally moving upriver when there is an increase in salinity.[50][54][55][64] The exception is the largetooth sawfish where the young move upriver into freshwater where they stay for 3–5 years, sometimes as much as 400 km (250 mi) from the sea.[57] In at least the smalltooth sawfish the young show a degree of site fidelity, generally staying in the same fairly small area in the first part of their lives.[65] In the green and dwarf sawfish there are indications that both sexes remain in the same overall region throughout their lives with little mixing between the subpopulations. In the largetooth sawfish the males appear to move more freely between the subpopulations, while mothers return to the region where they were born to give birth to their own young.[66][67]

The length of the full lifespan of sawfish is labeled with considerable uncertainty. A green sawfish caught as a juvenile lived for 35 years in captivity,[53] and a smalltooth sawfish lived for more than 42 years in captivity.[68] In the narrow sawfish it has been estimated that the lifespan is about 9 years, and in the Pristis sawfish it has been estimated that it varies from about 30 to more than 50 years depending on the exact species.[3]

Sawfish are predators that feed on fish, crustaceans and molluscs.[2] Old stories of sawfish attacking large prey such as whales and dolphins by cutting out pierces of flesh are now considered to be myths and not factual.[1][58] Humans are also far too large to be considered potential prey.[69]

In captivity they are typically fed ad libitum or in set amounts that (per week) equal 1â€“4% of the total weight of the sawfish, but there are indications that captives grow considerably faster than their wild counterparts.[53]

The rostrum (saw) plays a significant role in both locating the prey and capturing it, which is unique among jawed fish.[70][71] The head and rostrum contain thousands of sensory organs, the ampullae of Lorenzini, that allow the sawfish to detect and monitor the movements of other organisms by measuring the electric fields they emit.[72] Electroreception is also known from some other families of fish. In sawfish the sensory organs are packed most densely on the upper- and underside of the rostum, although with minor differences in their position and numbers depending on exact species.[72] Those on the upperside allow sawfish to create an image of the three-dimensional area above it, even in waters of low visibility.[70] Utilizing their saw as an extended sensing device, sawfish are able to "view" their entire surroundings by maintaining a position low to the seafloor.[1] It appears that sawfish can detect potential prey items through electroreception from a distance of about 40 cm (16 in).[5] Some waters where sawfish live are very murky, limiting the possibility of hunting by sight.[67]

Exactly how they use their saw after the prey has been located has been labeled with some uncertainty and information was often based on speculations rather than actual observations.[5][71] In 2012 it was shown that there are three primary techniques, informally called "saw in water", "saw on substrate" and "pin".[71] If a prey item such as a fish is located in the open water, the sawfish uses the first method, making a rapid swipe at the prey with its saw to incapacitate it. It is then brought to the seabed and eaten.[5][53][71] The "saw on substrate" is similar, but used on prey at the seabed. The final method involves pinning the prey against the seabed with the underside of the saw, in a manner similar to that seen in guitarfish.[5][71] The "pin" is also used to manipulate the position of the prey, allowing fish to be swallowed head-first in the direction (not against) any possible fin spines.[5][71] The spines of catfish, a common prey, have been found imbedded in the rostum of sawfish.[33] Schools of mullets have been observed trying to escape sawfish.[73] Prey fish are typically swallowed whole and not cut into small pierces with the saw,[33] although on occasion one may be split in half during capture by the slashing motion.[5] Prey choice is therefore limited by the size of the mouth.[27] A 1.3 m (4.3 ft) sawfish had a 33 cm (13 in) catfish in its stomach.[67]

In the past it has been suggested that sawfish use their saw to dig/rake in the bottom for prey,[74] but this was not observed during the study in 2012.[71] Large sawfish often have rostal teeth with tips that are notably worn.[35]

Old stories often describe sawfish as highly dangerous to humans, sinking ships and cutting people in half, but today these are considered myths and not factual.[1][58] Sawfish are actually docile and harmless to humans, except when captured where they can inflict serious injuries when defending themselves by thrashing the saw from side-to-side.[6][16][53] The saw is also used in self-defense against predators such as sharks that potentially may eat sawfish.[33] In captivity they have been seen using their saws during fights over hierarchy or food.[67]

The largetooth sawfish (originally Squalus pristis, now Pristis pristis) was among the species described by Carl Linnaeus in Systema Naturae in 1758,[21] the starting point of modern zoological nomenclature, but sawfish were already known thousands of years earlier.[7]

Sawfish were occasionally mentioned in antiquity as much as 1800–2400 years ago,[4] in works such as Pliny's Natural History (77–79 AD).[75] Pristis, the scientific name formalised for sawfish by Linnaeus in 1758, was also in use as a name even before his publication. For example, sawfish or "priste" were included in Libri de piscibus marinis in quibus verae piscium effigies expressae sunt by Guillaume Rondelet in 1554, and "pristi" were included in De piscibus libri V, et De cetis lib. vnus by Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1613.[75] Outside Europe, sawfish are mentioned in old Persian texts, such as 13th century writings by Zakariya al-Qazwini.[4]

Sawfish have been found among archaeological remains in several parts of the world, including the Persian Gulf region, the Pacific coast of Panama, coastal Brazil and elsewhere.[4][76]

The cultural significance of sawfish varies significantly. The Aztecs in what is currently Mexico often included depictions of sawfish rostra (saws), notably as the striker/sword of the monster Cipactli.[77] Numerous sawfish rostra have been found buried at the Templo Mayor and two locations in coastal Veracruz had Aztec names referring to sawfish.[4] In the same general region, sawfish teeth have been found in Mayan graves.[78] The saw of sawfish is part of the dancing masks of the Huave and Zapotecs in Oaxaca, Mexico.[4][79] The Kuna people on the Caribbean coast of Panama and Colombia considers sawfish as rescuers of drowning people and protectors against dangerous sea creatures.[8] Also in Panama sawfish were recognized as containing powerful spirits that could protect humans against supernatural enemies.[8] In the Bissagos Islands off West Africa dancing dressed as sawfish and other sea creatures is part of men's coming-of-age ceremonies.[77][80] In Gambia the saws indicate courage; the more on display at a house the more courageous the owner.[80] In Senegal the Lebu people believe the saw can protect their family, house and livestock. In the same general region they are recognized as ancestral spirits with the saw as a magic weapon. The Akan people of Ghana see sawfish as an authority symbol. There are proverbs with sawfish in the African language Duala.[81] In some other parts of coastal African sawfish are considered extremely dangerous and supernatural, but their powers can be used by humans as their saw retains the powers against disease, bad luck and evil.[81] Among most African groups consumption of meat from sawfish is entirely acceptable, but in a few (in West Africa the Peul, Serer and Wolof people) it is a taboo.[80] In Asia sawfish are a powerful symbol in many cultures. The rostrum is used by some Asian shamans for exorcisms and other ceremonies to repel demons and disease.[82] They are believed to protect houses from ghosts when hung over doorways.[4] Illustrations of sawfish are often found at Buddhist temples in Thailand.[78] In the Sepik region of New Guinea locals admire sawfish, but also see them as punishers that will unleash heavy rainstorms on anyone breaking fishing taboos.[8] Among the Warnindhilyagwa, a group of Indigenous Australians, the ancestral sawfish Yukwurrirrindangwa and rays created the land. The ancestral sawfish carved out the river of Groote Eylandt with their saw.[8][83] Among European sailors sawfish were often feared as animals that could sink ships by piercing/sawing in the hull with their saw (claims now known to be entirely untrue),[58] but there are also stories of them saving people. In one case it was described how a ship almost sank during a storm in Italy in 1573. The sailors prayed and made it safely ashore where they discovered a sawfish that had "plugged" a hole in the ship with its saw. A sawfish rostum said to be from this miraculous event is kept at the Sanctuary of Carmine Maggiore in Naples.[4]

Sawfish have been used as symbols in recent history. During World War II, illustrations of sawfish were placed on navy ships, and used as symbols by both American and Nazi German submarines.[8] Sawfish served as the emblem of the German U-96 submarine, known for its portrayal in Das Boot, and was later the symbol of the 9th U-boat Flotilla. The German World War II Kampfabzeichen der KleinkampfverbÃ¤nde (Battle Badge of Small Combat Units) depicted a sawfish.

In cartoons and humorous popular culture, the sawfish—particularly its rostrum ("nose")—has been employed as a sort of living tool. Examples of this can be found in Vicke Viking and Fighting Fantasy volume "Demons of the Deep".[citation needed]

A stylized sawfish was chosen by the Central Bank of the West African States to appear on coins and banknotes of the CFA currency. This was due to the mythological value representing fecundity and prosperity. The image takes its form from an Akan and Baoule bronze weight used for exchanges in the commercial trade of gold powder.[80]

Sawfish are popular in public aquariums, but require very large tanks. In a review of 10 North American and European public aquariums that kept sawfish, their tanks were all very large and ranged from about 1,500,000 to 24,200,000 l (400,000–6,390,000 US gal).[53] In captivity sawfish are quite robust, appear to grow faster than their wild counterparts (perhaps due to consistent access to food) and individuals have lived for decades, but breeding them have proven difficult.[53] In 2012, four smalltooth sawfish pups were born at Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas and this remains the only time a member of this family has been successfully bred in captivity[53][84] (unsuccessful breeding attempts had happened earlier at the same facility, including a miscarriage in 2003).[85] Nevertheless, it is hoped that this success may be the first step in a captive breeding program for the threatened sawfish.[4] It is speculated that seasonal variations in water temperature, salinity and photoperiod are necessary to encourage breeding.[53]

Among the five sawfish species, only the four Pristis species are known to be kept in public aquariums. The most common is the largetooth sawfish with studbooks including 16 individuals in North America in 2014, 5 individuals in Europe in 2013 and 13 individuals in Australia in 2017, followed by the green sawfish with 13 individuals in North America and 6 in Europe.[53] Both these species are also kept at public aquariums in Asia and the only captive dwarf sawfish are in Japan.[86] In 2014, studbooks included 12 smalltooth sawfish in North America,[53] and the only kept elsewhere are at a public aquarium in Colombia.[86]

Sawfish were once common, locally even abundant,[4][7] but they have declined drastically and are now possibly the most threatened group of marine fish.[3]

Sawfish and their parts have been used for numerous things. In approximate order of impact, the four most serious threats today are use in shark fin soup, as traditional medicine, rostal teeth for cockfighting spurs and the saw as a novelty item.[4] Despite being rays rather than sharks,[2] sawfish have some of most prized fins for use in shark fin soup, on level with tiger, mako, blue, porbeagle, thresher, hammerhead, blacktip, sandbar and bull shark.[87] As traditional medicine (especially Chinese medicine, but also known from Mexico, Brazil, Kenya, Eritrea, Yemen, Iran, India and Bangladesh) sawfish parts, oil or powder have been claimed to work against respiratory ailments, eye problems, rheumatism, pain, inflammation, scabies, skin ulcers, diarrhea and stomach problems, but there is no evidence supporting any of these uses.[4] The saws are used in ceremonies and as curiosities. Until relatively recently many saws were sold to visiting tourists, or through antique stores or shell shops, but they are now mostly sold online, often illegally.[4] In 2007 it was estimated that the fins and saw from a single sawfish potentially could earn a fisher more than US$5,000 in Kenya and in 2014 a single rostal tooth sold as cockfighting spurs in Peru or Ecuador had a value of up to US$220.[4] Secondary uses are the meat for consumption and the skin for leather.[4] Historically the saws were used as weapons (large saws) and combs (small saws).[83] Oil from the liver was prized for use in boat repairs and street lights,[88] and as recent as the 1920s in Florida it was regarded as the best fish oil for consumption.[4]

Sawfish fishing goes back several thousand years,[7] but until relatively recently it typically involved traditional low-intensity methods such as simple hook-and-line or spearing. In most regions the major population decline in sawfish started in the 1960sâ€“1980s.[7][80][88] This coincided with a major growth in demand of fins for shark fin soup, the expansion of the international shark finning fishing fleet,[80] and a proliferation of modern nylon fishing nets.[88] The exception is the dwarf sawfish which was relatively widespread in the Indo-Pacific, but by the early 1900s it had already disappeared from most of its range, only surviving for certain in Australia (there is a single recent possible record from the Arabian region).[3][89] The saw has been described as sawfish's Achilles' heel, as it easily becomes entangled in fishing nets.[90] Sawfish can also be difficult or dangerous to release from nets, meaning that some fishers will kill them even before bringing them aboard the boat,[54] or cut off the saw to keep it/release the fish. Because it is their main hunting device, the long-term survival of saw-less sawfish is highly questionable.[91] In Australia where sawfish have to be released if caught, the narrow sawfish has the highest mortality rate,[64] but it is still almost 50% for dwarf sawfish caught in gill nets.[89] In an attempt of lowering this, a guide to sawfish release has been published.[92]

Although fishing is the main cause of the drastic decline in sawfish, another serious problem is habitat destruction. Coastal and estuarine habitats, including mangrove and seagrass meadows, are often degraded by human developments and pollution, and these are important habitats for sawfish, especially their young.[4][93] In a study of juvenile sawfish in Australia's Fitzroy River about 60% had bite marks from bull sharks or crocodiles.[94] Changes to river flows, such as by dams, can increase the risk faced by sawfish young by bringing them into more contact with predators.[65][95]

The combined range of the five sawfish species encompassed 90 countries, but today they have certainly disappeared entirely from 20 of these and possibly disappeared from several others.[3] Many more have lost at least one of their species, leaving only one or two remaining.[3]

The only remaining stronghold of the four species in the Info-Pacific region (narrow, dwarf, largetooth and green sawfish) is in Northern Australia, but they have also experienced a declined there.[4][67] Pristis sawfish are protected in Australia and only Indigenous Australians can legally catch them.[93][96] Violations can result in a fine of up to AU$121,900.[13] The narrow sawfish does not receive the same level of protection as the Pristis sawfish.[93][97] Under CITES regulations, Australia was the only country that could export wild-caught sawfish for the aquarium trade from 2007 to 2013 (no country afterwards).[21] This strictly involved the largetooth sawfish where the Australian population remains relatively robust, and only living individuals "to appropriate and acceptable aquaria for primarily conservation purposes".[21] Numbers traded were very low (eight between 2007 and 2011),[4] and following a review Australia did not export any after 2011.[21] Except for Australia, sawfish have been extirpated or only survive in very low numbers in the Indo-Pacific region. For example, among the four species only two (narrow and largetooth sawfish) certainly survive in South Asia, and only two (narrow and green sawfish) certainly survive in Southeast Asia.[3]

The status of the two species of the Atlantic region, the smalltooth and largetooth sawfish, is comparable to the Indo-Pacific. For example, sawfish have been entirely extirpated from most of the Atlantic coast of Africa (only survives for certain in Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone), as well as South Africa.[3][98] The only relatively large remaining population of the largetooth sawfish in the Atlantic region is at the Amazon estuary in Brazil, but there are smaller in Central America and West Africa, and this species is also found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.[99] The smalltooth sawfish is only found in the Atlantic region and it is possibly the most threatened of all the species, as it had the smallest original range (range c. 2,100,000 km2 or 810,000 sq mi) and has experienced the greatest contraction (disappeared from c. 81% of its original range).[4] It only survives for certain in six countries,[100] and it is possible that the only remaining viable population is in the United States.[90] In the United States the smalltooth sawfish once occurred from Texas to New York, but its numbers have declined by at least 95% and today it is essentially restricted to Florida.[101][102] However, the Florida population retains a high genetic diversity,[101] has now stabilised and appears to be slowly increasing.[78][102] A Recovery Plan for the smalltooth sawfish has been in effect since 2002.[93] It has been strictly protected in the United States since 2003 when it was added to the Endangered Species Act as the first marine fish.[103] This makes it is "illegal to harm, harass, hook, or net sawfish in any way, except with a permit or in a permitted fishery".[14] The fine is up to US$10,000 for the first violation alone.[14] If accidentally caught, the sawfish has to be released as carefully as possible and a basic how-to guide has been published.[14] In 2003 an attempt of adding the largetooth sawfish to the Endangered Species Act was denied, in part because this species does not occur in the United States anymore[103] (last confirmed US record in 1961).[99] However, it was added in 2011,[104] and all the remaining sawfish species were added in 2014, restricting trade in them and their parts in the United States.[36]

Since 2007, all sawfish species have been listed on CITES Appendix I, which prohibits international trade in them and their parts.[11][12][105] The only exception was the relatively robust Australian population of the largetooth sawfish that was listed on CITES Appendix II, which allowed trade to public aquariums only.[11] Following reviews Australia did not use this option after 2011 and in 2013 it too was moved to Appendix I.[21] In addition to Australia and the United States, sawfish are protected in Spain (outside their general range), Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, Nicaragua, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Guinea, Senegal and South Africa, but they are likely already functionally extirpated or entirely extirpated from the last seven countries.[3][7][21][98][100] Illegal fishing continues and in many countries enforcement of fishing laws is lacking.[3][21] Even in Australia where relatively well-protected, people are occasionally caught illegally trying to sell sawfish parts, especially the saw.[13] The saw is distinctive, but it can be difficult to identify flesh or fins as originating from sawfish when cut up for sale at fish markets. This can be resolved with DNA testing.[106] If protected their relatively low reproduction rates make these animals especially slow to recover from overfishing.[82] An example of this is the largetooth sawfish in Lake Nicaragua where once abundant. The population rapidly crashed during the 1970s when tens of thousands were caught. It was protected by the Nicaraguan government in the early 1980s, but remains rare today.[4] Uniquely in this family, the narrow sawfish has a relatively fast reproduction rate (generation length about 4.6 years, less than one-third the time of the other species), it has experienced the smallest contraction of its range (30%) and it is one of only two species considered Endangered rather than Critically Endangered by the IUCN.[3] The other rated as Endangered is the dwarf sawfish, but this primarily reflects that its main decline happened at least 100 years ago and IUCN ratings are based on the time period of the last three generations (estimated about 49 years in dwarf sawfish).[3][89]

There are several research projects aimed at sawfish in Australia and North America, but also a few in other continents.[107] The Florida Museum of Natural History maintains the International Sawfish Encounter Database where people worldwide are encouraged to report any sawfish encounters, whether it was living or a rostrum seen for sale in a shop/online.[4][14][78] Its data is used by biologists and conservationists for evaluating the habitat, range and abundance of sawfish around the world.[4] In an attempt of increasing the knowledge of their plight the first "Sawfish Day" was held on 17 October 2017.[79][108]


where does the term fairy tale come from

Although the fairy tale is a distinct genre within the larger category of folktale, the definition that marks a work as a fairy tale is a source of considerable dispute.[9] The term itself comes from the translation of Madame D'Aulnoy's Conte de fées, first used in her collection in 1697.)[10] Common parlance conflates fairy tales with beast fables and other folktales, and scholars differ on the degree to which the presence of fairies and/or similarly mythical beings (e.g., elves, goblins, trolls, giants, huge monsters) should be taken as a differentiator. Vladimir Propp, in his Morphology of the Folktale, criticized the common distinction between "fairy tales" and "animal tales" on the grounds that many tales contained both fantastic elements and animals.[11] Nevertheless, to select works for his analysis, Propp used all Russian folktales classified as a folklore Aarne-Thompson 300-749 – in a cataloguing system that made such a distinction – to gain a clear set of tales.[12] His own analysis identified fairy tales by their plot elements, but that in itself has been criticized, as the analysis does not lend itself easily to tales that do not involve a quest, and furthermore, the same plot elements are found in non-fairy tale works.[13]

Fairy tale

A fairy tale, wonder tale, magic tale, or MÃ¤rchen is a folklore genre that takes the form of a short story. Such stories typically feature entities such as dwarfs, dragons, elves, fairies, giants, gnomes, goblins, griffins, mermaids, talking animals, trolls, unicorns, or witches, and usually magic or enchantments. Fairy tales may be distinguished[by whom?] from other folk narratives such as legends (which generally involve belief in the veracity of the events described)[1] and explicit moral tales, including beast fables. The term is mainly used for stories with origins in European tradition and, at least in recent centuries, mostly relates to children's literature.

In less technical contexts, the term is also used to describe something blessed with unusual happiness, as in "fairy-tale ending" (a happy ending)[2] or "fairy-tale romance". Colloquially, the term "fairy tale" or "fairy story" can also mean any far-fetched story or tall tale; it is used especially of any story that not only is not true, but could not possibly be true. Legends are perceived[by whom?] as real; fairy tales may merge into legends, where the narrative is perceived both by teller and hearers as being grounded in historical truth. However, unlike legends and epics, fairy tales usually do not contain more than superficial references to religion and to actual places, people, and events; they take place "once upon a time" rather than in actual times.[3]

Fairy tales occur both in oral and in literary form; the name "fairy tale" was first ascribed to them by Madame d'Aulnoy in the late 17th century. Many of today's fairy tales have evolved from centuries-old stories that have appeared, with variations, in multiple cultures around the world.[4] The history of the fairy tale is particularly difficult to trace because only the literary forms can survive. Still, according to researchers at universities in Durham and Lisbon, such stories may date back thousands of years, some to the Bronze Age more than 6,500 years ago.[5]  Fairy tales, and works derived from fairy tales, are still written today.

Folklorists have classified fairy tales in various ways. The Aarne-Thompson classification system and the morphological analysis of Vladimir Propp are among the most notable. Other folklorists have interpreted the tales' significance, but no school has been definitively established for the meaning of the tales.

Some folklorists prefer to use the German term MÃ¤rchen or "wonder tale"[6] to refer to the genre over fairy tale, a practice given weight by the definition of Thompson in his 1977 [1946] edition of The Folktale: "a tale of some length involving a succession of motifs or episodes. It moves in an unreal world without definite locality or definite creatures and is filled with the marvellous. In this never-never land, humble heroes kill adversaries, succeed to kingdoms and marry princesses."[7] The characters and motifs of fairy tales are simple and archetypal: princesses and goose-girls; youngest sons and gallant princes; ogres, giants, dragons, and trolls; wicked stepmothers and false heroes; fairy godmothers and other magical helpers, often talking horses, or foxes, or birds; glass mountains; and prohibitions and breaking of prohibitions.[8]

A fairy tale with a tragic rather than a happy end is called an anti-fairy tale.

Were I asked, what is a fairytale? I should reply, Read Undine: that is a fairytale... of all fairytales I know, I think Undine the most beautiful.

As Stith Thompson points out, talking animals and the presence of magic seem to be more common to the fairy tale than fairies themselves.[14] However, the mere presence of animals that talk does not make a tale a fairy tale, especially when the animal is clearly a mask on a human face, as in fables.[15]

In his essay "On Fairy-Stories", J. R. R. Tolkien agreed with the exclusion of "fairies" from the definition, defining fairy tales as stories about the adventures of men in Faërie, the land of fairies, fairytale princes and princesses, dwarves, elves, and not only other magical species but many other marvels.[16] However, the same essay excludes tales that are often considered fairy tales, citing as an example The Monkey's Heart, which Andrew Lang included in The Lilac Fairy Book.[15]

Steven Swann Jones identified the presence of magic as the feature by which fairy tales can be distinguished from other sorts of folktales.[17] Davidson and Chaudri identify "transformation" as the key feature of the genre.[6] From a psychological point of view, Jean Chiriac argued for the necessity of the fantastic in these narratives.[18]

In terms of aesthetic values, Italo Calvino cited the fairy tale as a prime example of "quickness" in literature, because of the economy and concision of the tales.[19]

Originally, stories that would contemporarily be considered fairy tales were not marked out as a separate genre. The German term "Märchen" stems from the old German word "Mär", which means story or tale. The word "Märchen" is the diminutive of the word "Mär", therefore it means a "little story". Together with the common beginning "once upon a time" it means a fairy tale or a märchen was originally a little story from a long time ago when the world was still magic. (Indeed, one less regular German opening is "In the old times when wishing was still effective".)

The English term "fairy tale" stems from the fact that the French contes often included fairies.

Roots of the genre come from different oral stories passed down in European cultures. The genre was first marked out by writers of the Renaissance, such as Giovanni Francesco Straparola and Giambattista Basile, and stabilized through the works of later collectors such as Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm.[20] In this evolution, the name was coined when the précieuses took up writing literary stories; Madame d'Aulnoy invented the term Conte de fée, or fairy tale, in the late 17th century.[21]

Before the definition of the genre of fantasy, many works that would now be classified as fantasy were termed "fairy tales", including Tolkien's The Hobbit, George Orwell's Animal Farm, and L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.[22] Indeed, Tolkien's "On Fairy-Stories" includes discussions of world-building and is considered a vital part of fantasy criticism. Although fantasy, particularly the subgenre of fairytale fantasy, draws heavily on fairy tale motifs,[23] the genres are now regarded as distinct.

The fairy tale, told orally, is a sub-class of the folktale. Many writers have written in the form of the fairy tale. These are the literary fairy tales, or KunstmÃ¤rchen.[10] The oldest forms, from Panchatantra to the Pentamerone, show considerable reworking from the oral form.[24] The Brothers Grimm were among the first to try to preserve the features of oral tales. Yet the stories printed under the Grimm name have been considerably reworked to fit the written form.[25]

Literary fairy tales and oral fairy tales freely exchanged plots, motifs, and elements with one another and with the tales of foreign lands.[26] The literary fairy tale came into fashion during the 17th century, developed by aristocratic women as a parlour game. This, in turn, helped to maintain the oral tradition. According to Jack Zipes, "The subject matter of the conversations consisted of literature, mores, taste, and etiquette, whereby the speakers all endeavoured to portray ideal situations in the most effective oratorical style that would gradually have a major effect on literary forms."  [27] Many 18th-century folklorists attempted to recover the "pure" folktale, uncontaminated by literary versions. Yet while oral fairy tales likely existed for thousands of years before the literary forms, there is no pure folktale, and each literary fairy tale draws on folk traditions, if only in parody.[28] This makes it impossible to trace forms of transmission of a fairy tale. Oral story-tellers have been known to read literary fairy tales to increase their own stock of stories and treatments.[29]

The oral tradition of the fairy tale came long before the written page. Tales were told or enacted dramatically, rather than written down, and handed down from generation to generation. Because of this, the history of their development is necessarily obscure and blurred.[30] Fairy tales appear, now and again, in written literature throughout literate cultures, as in The Golden Ass, which includes Cupid and Psyche (Roman, 100â€“200 AD),[31] or the Panchatantra (India 3rd century BC),[31] but it is unknown to what extent these reflect the actual folk tales even of their own time. The stylistic evidence indicates that these, and many later collections, reworked folk tales into literary forms.[24] What they do show is that the fairy tale has ancient roots, older than the Arabian Nights collection of magical tales (compiled circa 1500 AD),[31] such as Vikram and the Vampire, and Bel and the Dragon. Besides such collections and individual tales, in China, Taoist philosophers such as Liezi and Zhuangzi recounted fairy tales in their philosophical works.[32] In the broader definition of the genre, the first famous Western fairy tales are those of Aesop (6th century BC) in ancient Greece.

Jack Zipes writes in When Dreams Came True, "There are fairy tale elements in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, and ... in many of William Shakespeare plays."[33] King Lear can be considered a literary variant of fairy tales such as Water and Salt and Cap O' Rushes.[34] The tale itself resurfaced in Western literature in the 16th and 17th centuries, with The Facetious Nights of Straparola by Giovanni Francesco Straparola (Italy, 1550 and 1553),[31] which contains many fairy tales in its inset tales, and the Neapolitan tales of Giambattista Basile (Naples, 1634–6),[31] which are all fairy tales.[35] Carlo Gozzi made use of many fairy tale motifs among his Commedia dell'Arte scenarios,[36] including among them one based on The Love For Three Oranges (1761).[37] Simultaneously, Pu Songling, in China, included many fairy tales in his collection, Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (published posthumously, 1766).[32] The fairy tale itself became popular among the précieuses of upper-class France (1690–1710),[31] and among the tales told in that time were the ones of La Fontaine and the Contes of Charles Perrault (1697), who fixed the forms of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.[38] Although Straparola's, Basile's and Perrault's collections contain the oldest known forms of various fairy tales, on the stylistic evidence, all the writers rewrote the tales for literary effect.[39]

In the mid-17th century, a vogue for magical tales emerged among the intellectuals who frequented the salons of Paris. These salons were regular gatherings hosted by prominent aristocratic women, where women and men could gather together to discuss the issues of the day.

In the 1630s, aristocratic women began to gather in their own living rooms, salons, in order to discuss the topics of their choice: arts and letters, politics, and social matters of immediate concern to the women of their class: marriage, love, financial and physical independence, and access to education. This was a time when women were barred from receiving a formal education. Some of the most gifted women writers of the period came out of these early salons (such as Madeleine de Scudéry and Madame de Lafayette), which encouraged women's independence and pushed against the gender barriers that defined their lives. The salonnières argued particularly for love and intellectual compatibility between the sexes, opposing the system of arranged marriages.

Sometime in the middle of the 17th century, a passion for the conversational parlour game based on the plots of old folk tales swept through the salons. Each salonnière was called upon to retell an old tale or rework an old theme, spinning clever new stories that not only showcased verbal agility and imagination but also slyly commented on the conditions of aristocratic life. Great emphasis was placed on a mode of delivery that seemed natural and spontaneous. The decorative language of the fairy tales served an important function: disguising the rebellious subtext of the stories and sliding them past the court censors. Critiques of court life (and even of the king) were embedded in extravagant tales and in dark, sharply dystopian ones. Not surprisingly, the tales by women often featured young (but clever) aristocratic girls whose lives were controlled by the arbitrary whims of fathers, kings, and elderly wicked fairies, as well as tales in which groups of wise fairies (i.e., intelligent, independent women) stepped in and put all to rights.

The salon tales as they were originally written and published have been preserved in a monumental work called Le Cabinet des Fées, an enormous collection of stories from the 17th and 18th centuries.[10]

The first collectors to attempt to preserve not only the plot and characters of the tale, but also the style in which they were told, was the Brothers Grimm, collecting German fairy tales; ironically, this meant although their first edition (1812 & 1815)[31] remains a treasure for folklorists, they rewrote the tales in later editions to make them more acceptable, which ensured their sales and the later popularity of their work.[40]

Such literary forms did not merely draw from the folktale, but also influenced folktales in turn. The Brothers Grimm rejected several tales for their collection, though told orally to them by Germans, because the tales derived from Perrault, and they concluded they were thereby French and not German tales; an oral version of Bluebeard was thus rejected, and the tale of Little Briar Rose, clearly related to Perrault's The Sleeping Beauty, was included only because Jacob Grimm convinced his brother that the figure of Brynhildr, from much earlier Norse mythology, proved that the sleeping princess was authentically Germanic folklore.[41]

This consideration of whether to keep Sleeping Beauty reflected a belief common among folklorists of the 19th century: that the folk tradition preserved fairy tales in forms from pre-history except when "contaminated" by such literary forms, leading people to tell inauthentic tales.[42] The rural, illiterate, and uneducated peasants, if suitably isolated, were the folk and would tell pure folk tales.[43] Sometimes they regarded fairy tales as a form of fossil, the remnants of a once-perfect tale.[44] However, further research has concluded that fairy tales never had a fixed form, and regardless of literary influence, the tellers constantly altered them for their own purposes.[45]

The work of the Brothers Grimm influenced other collectors, both inspiring them to collect tales and leading them to similarly believe, in a spirit of romantic nationalism, that the fairy tales of a country were particularly representative of it, to the neglect of cross-cultural influence. Among those influenced were the Russian Alexander Afanasyev (first published in 1866),[31] the Norwegians Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe (first published in 1845),[31] the Romanian Petre Ispirescu (first published in 1874), the English Joseph Jacobs (first published in 1890),[31] and Jeremiah Curtin, an American who collected Irish tales (first published in 1890).[28] Ethnographers collected fairy tales throughout the world, finding similar tales in Africa, the Americas, and Australia; Andrew Lang was able to draw on not only the written tales of Europe and Asia, but those collected by ethnographers, to fill his "coloured" fairy books series.[46] They also encouraged other collectors of fairy tales, as when Yei Theodora Ozaki created a collection, Japanese Fairy Tales (1908), after encouragement from Lang.[47] Simultaneously, writers such as Hans Christian Andersen and George MacDonald continued the tradition of literary fairy tales. Andersen's work sometimes drew on old folktales, but more often deployed fairytale motifs and plots in new tales.[48] MacDonald incorporated fairytale motifs both in new literary fairy tales, such as The Light Princess, and in works of the genre that would become fantasy, as in The Princess and the Goblin or Lilith.[49]

Two theories of origins have attempted to explain the common elements in fairy tales found spread over continents. One is that a single point of origin generated any given tale, which then spread over the centuries; the other is that such fairy tales stem from common human experience and therefore can appear separately in many different origins.[50]

Fairy tales with very similar plots, characters, and motifs are found spread across many different cultures. Many researchers hold this to be caused by the spread of such tales, as people repeat tales they have heard in foreign lands, although the oral nature makes it impossible to trace the route except by inference.[51] Folklorists have attempted to determine the origin by internal evidence, which can not always be clear; Joseph Jacobs, comparing the Scottish tale The Ridere of Riddles with the version collected by the Brothers Grimm, The Riddle, noted that in The Ridere of Riddles one hero ends up polygamously married, which might point to an ancient custom, but in The Riddle, the simpler riddle might argue greater antiquity.[52]

Folklorists of the "Finnish" (or historical-geographical) school attempted to place fairy tales to their origin, with inconclusive results.[53] Sometimes influence, especially within a limited area and time, is clearer, as when considering the influence of Perrault's tales on those collected by the Brothers Grimm. Little Briar-Rose appears to stem from Perrault's The Sleeping Beauty, as the Grimms' tale appears to be the only independent German variant.[54] Similarly, the close agreement between the opening of the Grimms' version of Little Red Riding Hood and Perrault's tale points to an influence, although the Grimms' version adds a different ending (perhaps derived from The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids).[55]

Fairy tales tend to take on the color of their location, through the choice of motifs, the style in which they are told, and the depiction of character and local color.[56]

The Brothers Grimm believed that European fairy tales derived from the cultural history shared by all Indo-European peoples and were therefore ancient, far older than written records. This view is supported by research by the anthropologist Jamie Tehrani and the folklorist Sara Graca Da Silva using phylogenetic analysis, a technique developed by evolutionary biologists to trace the relatedness of living and fossil species. Among the tales analysed were Jack and the Beanstalk, traced to the time of splitting of Eastern and Western Indo-European, over 5000 years ago. Both Beauty and the Beast and Rumpelstiltskin appear to have been created some 4000 years ago. The story of The Smith and the Devil (Deal with the Devil) appears to date from the Bronze Age, some 6000 years ago.[57]

Originally, adults were the audience of a fairy tale just as often as children.[58] Literary fairy tales appeared in works intended for adults, but in the 19th and 20th centuries the fairy tale became associated with children's literature.

The précieuses, including Madame d'Aulnoy, intended their works for adults, but regarded their source as the tales that servants, or other women of lower class, would tell to children.[59] Indeed, a novel of that time, depicting a countess's suitor offering to tell such a tale, has the countess exclaim that she loves fairy tales as if she were still a child.[60] Among the late précieuses, Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont redacted a version of Beauty and the Beast for children, and it is her tale that is best known today.[61] The Brothers Grimm titled their collection Children's and Household Tales and rewrote their tales after complaints that they were not suitable for children.[62]

In the modern era, fairy tales were altered so that they could be read to children. The Brothers Grimm concentrated mostly on sexual references;[63] Rapunzel, in the first edition, revealed the prince's visits by asking why her clothing had grown tight, thus letting the witch deduce that she was pregnant, but in subsequent editions carelessly revealed that it was easier to pull up the prince than the witch.[64] On the other hand, in many respects, violence—particularly when punishing villains—was increased.[65] Other, later, revisions cut out violence; J. R. R. Tolkien noted that The Juniper Tree often had its cannibalistic stew cut out in a version intended for children.[66] The moralizing strain in the Victorian era altered the classical tales to teach lessons, as when George Cruikshank rewrote Cinderella in 1854 to contain temperance themes. His acquaintance Charles Dickens protested, "In an utilitarian age, of all other times, it is a matter of grave importance that fairy tales should be respected."[67][68]

Psychoanalysts such as Bruno Bettelheim, who regarded the cruelty of older fairy tales as indicative of psychological conflicts, strongly criticized this expurgation, because it weakened their usefulness to both children and adults as ways of symbolically resolving issues.[69]  Fairy tales do teach children how to deal with difficult times. To quote Rebecca Walters (2017, p. 56) “Fairytales and folktales are part of the cultural conserve that can be used to address children’s fears …. and give them some role training in an approach that honors the children’s window of tolerance”. These fairy tales teach children how to deal with certain social situations and helps them to find their place in society.[70] Fairy tales teach children other important lessons too. For example, Tsitsani et al. carried out a study on children to determine the benefits of fairy tales. Parents of the children who took part in the study found that fairy tales, especially the color in them, triggered their child's imagination as the read them.[71]Jungian Analyst and fairy tale scholar, Marie Louise Von Franz interprets fairy tales[72] based on Jung‘s view of fairy tales as a spontaneous and naive product of soul, which can only express what soul is.[73] That means, she looks at fairy tales as images of different phases of experiencing the reality of the soul. They are the “purest and simplest expression of collective unconscious psychic processes” and “they represent the archetypes in their simplest, barest and most concise form” because they are less overlaid with conscious material than myths and legends. “In this pure form, the archetypal images afford us the best clues to the understanding of the processes going on in the collective psyche”. “The fairy tale itself is its own best explanation; that is, its meaning is contained in the totality of its motifs connected by the thread of the story. [...] Every fairy tale is a relatively closed system compounding one essential psychological meaning which is expressed in a series of symbolical pictures and events and is discoverable in these”. “I have come to the conclusion that all fairy tales endeavour to describe one and the same psychic fact, but a fact so complex and far-reaching and so difficult for us to realize in all its different aspects that hundreds of tales and thousands of repetitions with a musician’s variation are needed until this unknown fact is delivered into consciousness; and even then the theme is not exhausted. This unknown fact is what Jung calls the Self, which is the psychic reality of the collective unconscious. [...] Every archetype is in its essence only one aspect of the collective unconscious as well as always representing also the whole collective unconscious.[74]

Other famous people commented on the importance of fairy tales, especially for children. For example, Albert Einstein once showed how important he believed fairy tales were for children’s intelligence in the quote “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairytales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairytales."[75]

The adaptation of fairy tales for children continues. Walt Disney's influential Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was largely (although certainly not solely) intended for the children's market.[76] The anime Magical Princess Minky Momo draws on the fairy tale Momotarō.[77] Jack Zipes has spent many years working to make the older traditional stories accessible to modern readers and their children.[78]

In contemporary literature, many authors have used the form of fairy tales for various reasons, such as examining the human condition from the simple framework a fairytale provides.[79] Some authors seek to recreate a sense of the fantastic in a contemporary discourse.[80] Some writers use fairy tale forms for modern issues;[81] this can include using the psychological dramas implicit in the story, as when Robin McKinley retold Donkeyskin as the novel Deerskin, with emphasis on the abusive treatment the father of the tale dealt to his daughter.[82] Sometimes, especially in children's literature, fairy tales are retold with a twist simply for comic effect, such as The Stinky Cheese Man by Jon Scieszka and The ASBO Fairy Tales by Chris Pilbeam. A common comic motif is a world where all the fairy tales take place, and the characters are aware of their role in the story,[83] such as in the film series Shrek.

Other authors may have specific motives, such as multicultural or feminist reevaluations of predominantly Eurocentric masculine-dominated fairy tales, implying critique of older narratives.[84] The figure of the damsel in distress has been particularly attacked by many feminist critics. Examples of narrative reversal rejecting this figure include The Paperbag Princess by Robert Munsch, a picture book aimed at children in which a princess rescues a prince, and Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, which retells a number of fairy tales from a female point of view.[85]

There are also many contemporary erotic retellings of fairy tales, which explicitly draw upon the original spirit of the tales, and are specifically for adults. Modern retellings focus on exploring the tale through use of the erotic, explicit sexuality, dark and/or comic themes, female empowerment, fetish and BDSM, multicultural, and heterosexual characters. Cleis Press has released several fairy tale themed erotic anthologies, including Fairy Tale Lust, Lustfully Ever After, and A Princess Bound.

It may be hard to lay down the rule between fairy tales and fantasies that use fairy tale motifs, or even whole plots, but the distinction is commonly made, even within the works of a single author: George MacDonald's Lilith and Phantastes are regarded as fantasies, while his "The Light Princess", "The Golden Key", and "The Wise Woman" are commonly called fairy tales. The most notable distinction is that fairytale fantasies, like other fantasies, make use of novelistic writing conventions of prose, characterization, or setting.[86]

Fairy tales have been enacted dramatically; records exist of this in commedia dell'arte,[87] and later in pantomime.[88] The advent of cinema has meant that such stories could be presented in a more plausible manner, with the use of special effects and animation. The Walt Disney Company has had a significant impact on the evolution of the fairy tale film. Some of the earliest short silent films from the Disney studio were based on fairy tales, and some fairy tales were adapted into shorts in the musical comedy series "Silly Symphonies", such as Three Little Pigs. Walt Disney's first feature-length film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, released in 1937, was a ground-breaking film for fairy tales and, indeed, fantasy in general.[76] Disney and his creative successors have returned to traditional and literary fairy tales numerous times with films such as Cinderella (1950), Sleeping Beauty (1959) and Beauty and the Beast (1991). Disney's influence helped establish the fairy tale genre as a genre for children, and has been accused by some of bowdlerizing the gritty naturalism – and sometimes unhappy endings – of many folk fairy tales.[82] However, others note that the softening of fairy tales occurred long before Disney, some of which was even done by the Grimm brothers themselves.[89][90]

Many filmed fairy tales have been made primarily for children, from Disney's later works to Aleksandr Rou's retelling of Vasilissa the Beautiful, the first Soviet film to use Russian folk tales in a big-budget feature.[91] Others have used the conventions of fairy tales to create new stories with sentiments more relevant to contemporary life, as in Labyrinth,[92] My Neighbor Totoro, Happily N'Ever After, and the films of Michel Ocelot.[93]

Other works have retold familiar fairy tales in a darker, more horrific or psychological variant aimed primarily at adults. Notable examples are Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast[94] and The Company of Wolves, based on Angela Carter's retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.[95] Likewise, Princess Mononoke,[96] Pan's Labyrinth,[97] Suspiria, and Spike[98] create new stories in this genre from fairy tale and folklore motifs.

In comics and animated TV series, The Sandman, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Princess Tutu, Fables and MÄR all make use of standard fairy tale elements to various extents but are more accurately categorised as fairytale fantasy due to the definite locations and characters which a longer narrative requires.

A more modern cinematic fairy tale would be Luchino Visconti's Le Notti Bianche, starring Marcello Mastroianni before he became a superstar. It involves many of the romantic conventions of fairy tales, yet it takes place in post-World War II Italy, and it ends realistically.

Any comparison of fairy tales quickly discovers that many fairy tales have features in common with each other. Two of the most influential classifications are those of Antti Aarne, as revised by Stith Thompson into the Aarne-Thompson classification system, and Vladimir Propp's Morphology of the Folk Tale.

This system groups fairy and folk tales according to their overall plot. Common, identifying features are picked out to decide which tales are grouped together. Much therefore depends on what features are regarded as decisive.

For instance, tales like Cinderella – in which a persecuted heroine, with the help of the fairy godmother or similar magical helper, attends an event (or three) in which she wins the love of a prince and is identified as his true bride—are classified as type 510, the persecuted heroine. Some such tales are The Wonderful Birch; Aschenputtel; Katie Woodencloak; The Story of Tam and Cam; Ye Xian; Cap O' Rushes; Catskin; Fair, Brown and Trembling; Finette Cendron; Allerleirauh.

Further analysis of the tales shows that in Cinderella, The Wonderful Birch, The Story of Tam and Cam, Ye Xian, and Aschenputtel, the heroine is persecuted by her stepmother and refused permission to go to the ball or other event, and in Fair, Brown and Trembling and Finette Cendron by her sisters and other female figures, and these are grouped as 510A; while in Cap O' Rushes, Catskin, and Allerleirauh, the heroine is driven from home by her father's persecutions, and must take work in a kitchen elsewhere, and these are grouped as 510B. But in Katie Woodencloak, she is driven from home by her stepmother's persecutions and must take service in a kitchen elsewhere, and in Tattercoats, she is refused permission to go to the ball by her grandfather. Given these features common with both types of 510, Katie Woodencloak is classified as 510A because the villain is the stepmother, and Tattercoats as 510B because the grandfather fills the father's role.

This system has its weaknesses in the difficulty of having no way to classify subportions of a tale as motifs. Rapunzel is type 310 (The Maiden in the Tower), but it opens with a child being demanded in return for stolen food, as does Puddocky; but Puddocky is not a Maiden in the Tower tale, while The Canary Prince, which opens with a jealous stepmother, is.

It also lends itself to emphasis on the common elements, to the extent that the folklorist describes The Black Bull of Norroway as the same story as Beauty and the Beast. This can be useful as a shorthand but can also erase the coloring and details of a story.[99]

Vladimir Propp specifically studied a collection of Russian fairy tales, but his analysis has been found useful for the tales of other countries.[100] Having criticized Aarne-Thompson type analysis for ignoring what motifs did in stories, and because the motifs used were not clearly distinct,[101] he analyzed the tales for the function each character and action fulfilled and concluded that a tale was composed of thirty-one elements ('functions') and seven characters or'spheres of action' ('the princess and her father' are a single sphere). While the elements were not all required for all tales, when they appeared they did so in an invariant order – except that each individual element might be negated twice, so that it would appear three times, as when, in Brother and Sister, the brother resists drinking from enchanted streams twice, so that it is the third that enchants him.[102] Propp's 31 functions also fall within six'stages' (preparation, complication, transference, struggle, return, recognition), and a stage can also be repeated, which can affect the perceived order of elements.

One such element is the donor who gives the hero magical assistance, often after testing him.[103] In The Golden Bird, the talking fox tests the hero by warning him against entering an inn and, after he succeeds, helps him find the object of his quest; in The Boy Who Drew Cats, the priest advised the hero to stay in small places at night, which protects him from an evil spirit; in Cinderella, the fairy godmother gives Cinderella the dresses she needs to attend the ball, as their mothers' spirits do in Bawang Putih Bawang Merah and The Wonderful Birch; in The Fox Sister, a Buddhist monk gives the brothers magical bottles to protect against the fox spirit. The roles can be more complicated.[104] In The Red Ettin, the role is split into the mother—who offers the hero the whole of a journey cake with her curse or half with her blessing—and when he takes the half, a fairy who gives him advice; in Mr Simigdáli, the sun, the moon, and the stars all give the heroine a magical gift. Characters who are not always the donor can act like the donor.[105] In Kallo and the Goblins, the villain goblins also give the heroine gifts, because they are tricked; in Schippeitaro, the evil cats betray their secret to the hero, giving him the means to defeat them. Other fairy tales, such as The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was, do not feature the donor.

Analogies have been drawn between this and the analysis of myths into the Hero's journey.[106]

Many fairy tales have been interpreted for their (purported) significance. One mythological interpretation saw many fairy tales, including Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, and The Frog King, as solar myths; this mode of interpretation subsequently became rather less popular.[107] Freudian, Jungian, and other psychological analyses have also explicated many tales, but no mode of interpretation has established itself definitively.[108]

Specific analyses have often been criticized[by whom?] for lending great importance to motifs that are not, in fact, integral to the tale; this has often stemmed from treating one instance of a fairy tale as the definitive text, where the tale has been told and retold in many variations.[109] In variants of Bluebeard, the wife's curiosity is betrayed by a blood-stained key, by an egg's breaking, or by the singing of a rose she wore, without affecting the tale, but interpretations of specific variants have claimed that the precise object is integral to the tale.[110]

Other folklorists have interpreted tales as historical documents. Many[quantify] German folklorists, believing the tales to have preserved details from ancient times, have used the Grimms' tales to explain ancient customs.[111]

One approach sees the topography of European MÃ¤rchen as echoing the period immediately following the last Ice Age.[112]
Other folklorists have explained the figure of the wicked stepmother in a historical/sociological context: many women did die in childbirth, their husbands remarried, and the new stepmothers competed with the children of the first marriage for resources.[113]

In a 2012 lecture, Jack Zipes reads fairy tales as examples of what he calls "childism". He suggests that there are terrible aspects to the tales, which (among other things) have conditioned children to accept mistreatment and even abuse.[114]

Fairy tales have inspired music, namely opera, such as the French Opéra féerie and the German Märchenoper. French examples include Gretry's Zémire et Azor, and Auber's Le cheval de bronze, German operas are Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel, Siegfried Wagner's An allem ist Hütchen schuld!, which is based on many fairy tales, and Carl Orff's Die Kluge. Even contemporary fairy tales have been written for the purpose of inspiration in the music world. "Raven Girl" by Audrey Niffenegger was written to inspire a new dance for the Royal Ballet in London.

Authors and works:


where did the solomon islands get their name

Ships of the Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira first sighted Santa Isabel island on 6 February 1568. Finding signs of alluvial gold on Guadalcanal, Mendaña believed he had found the source of King Solomon's wealth, and consequently named the islands "The Islands of Solomon".

History of the Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in the Melanesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. This page is about the history of the nation state rather than the broader geographical area of the Solomon Islands archipelago, which covers both Solomon Islands and Bougainville Island, a province of Papua New Guinea. For the history of the archipelago not covered here refer to the former administration of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, the North Solomon Islands and the History of Bougainville.

The human history of Solomon Islands begins with the first Papuan settlement at least 30,000 years ago from New Guinea. They represented the furthest expansion of humans into the Pacific until the expansion of Austronesian-language speakers through the area around 4000 BC, bringing new agricultural and maritime technology. Most of the languages spoken today in Solomon Islands derive from this era, but some thirty languages of the pre-Austronesian settlers survive (see East Papuan languages).

There are preserved numerous pre-European cultural monuments in Solomon Islands, notably Bao megalithic shrine complex (13th century AD), Nusa Roviana fortress and shrines (14th – 19th century), Vonavona Skull island – all in Western province. Nusa Roviana fortress, shrines and surrounding villages served as a hub of regional trade networks in 17th – 19th centuries. Skull shrines of Nusa Roviana are sites of legends. Better known is Tiola shrine – site of legendary stone dog which turned towards the direction where enemy of Roviana was coming from.[1] This complex of archaeological monuments characterises fast development of local Roviana culture, through trade and head hunting expeditions turning into regional power in 17th – 18th centuries.[2]

In 1595 and 1605 Spain again sent several expeditions to find the islands and establish a colony, however these were unsuccessful. In 1767 Captain Philip Carteret rediscovered the Santa Cruz Islands and Malaita. Later, Dutch, French and British navigators visited the islands; their reception was often hostile.

Museums with significant collections of Solomon Islands artifacts include the Bishop Museum, the Peabody Museum of Salem and the South Sea Islands Museum.

Sikaiana, then known as the Stewart Islands, was annexed to the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1856. Hawai'i did not formalize the annexation, and the United States refused to recognize Hawaiian sovereignty over Sikaiana when the United States annexed Hawai'i in 1898.

Missionary activity then started at the mid 19th century and European colonial ambitions led to the establishment of a German Protectorate over the North Solomon Islands, which covered parts of what is now Solomon Islands, following an Anglo-German Treaty of 1886. A British Solomon Islands Protectorate over the southern islands was proclaimed in June 1893. German interests were transferred to the United Kingdom under the Samoa Tripartite Convention of 1899, in exchange for recognition of the German claim to Western Samoa.

Japanese forces occupied the Solomon Islands in January 1942. The counter-attack was led by the United States; the 1st Division of the US Marine Corps landed on Guadalcanal and Tulagi in August 1942. Some of the most bitter fighting of World War II took place on the islands for almost three years.

Tulagi, the seat of the British administration on the island of Nggela Sule in Central Province was destroyed in the heavy fighting following landings by the US Marines. Then the tough battle for Guadalcanal, which was centred on the capture of the airfield, Henderson field, led to the development of the adjacent town of Honiara as the United States logistics centre.

Islanders Biuku Gasa (deceased 2005) and Eroni Kumana (Gizo) were Allies scouts during the war. They became famous when they were noted by National Geographic for being the first men to find the shipwrecked John F. Kennedy and his crew of the PT-109 using a traditional dugout canoe. They suggested the idea of using a coconut which was later kept on the desk of the president to write a rescue message for delivery. Their names had not been credited in most movie and historical accounts, and they were turned back before they could visit President Kennedy's inauguration, though the Australian coastwatcher would also meet the president. They were visited by a member of the Kennedy family in 2002, where they lived in traditional huts without electricity.

The impact of the war on islanders was profound. The destruction caused by the fighting and the longer-term consequences of the introduction of modern materials, machinery and western cultural artefacts, transformed traditional isolated island ways of life. The reconstruction was slow in the absence of war reparations and with the destruction of the pre-war plantations, formerly the mainstay of the economy. Significantly, Solomon Islanders experience as labourers with the Allies led some to a new appreciation of the importance of economic organisation and trade as the basis for material advancement. Some of these ideas were put into practice in the early post-war political movement "Maasina Ruru" â€“ often corrupted to "Marching Rule".17

Stability was restored during the 1950s, as the British colonial administration built a network of official local councils. On this platform Solomon Islanders with experience on the local councils started participation in central government, initially through the bureaucracy and then, from 1960, through the newly established Legislative and Executive Councils. Positions on both Councils were initially appointed by the High Commissioner of the British Protectorate but progressively more of the positions were directly elected or appointed by electoral colleges formed by the local councils. The first national election was held in 1964 for the seat of Honiara, and by 1967 the first general election was held for all but one of the 15 representative seats on the Legislative Council (the one exception was the seat for the Eastern Outer Islands, which was again appointed by electoral college).

Elections were held again in 1970 and a new constitution was introduced. The 1970 constitution replaced the Legislative and Executive Councils with a single Governing Council. It also established a 'committee system of government' where all members of the Council sat on one or more of five committees. The aim of this system was to reduce divisions between elected representatives and the colonial bureaucracy, provide opportunities for training new representatives in managing the responsibilities of government.

It was also claimed that this system was more consistent with the Melanesian style of government, however this was quickly undermined by opposition to the 1970 constitution and the committee system by elected members of the council. As a result, a new constitution was introduced in 1974 which established a standard Westminster form of government and gave the Islanders both Chief Ministerial and Cabinet responsibilities. Solomon Mamaloni became the country's first Chief Minister in July 1974.

As late as 1970, the British Protectorate did not envisage independence for Solomon Islands in the foreseeable future. Shortly thereafter, the financial costs of supporting the Protectorate became more trying, as the world economy was hit by the first oil price shock of 1973. The imminent independence of Papua New Guinea (in 1975) was also thought to have influenced the Protectorate's administrators.

Outside of a very small educated elite in Honiara, there was little in the way of an indigenous independence movement in the Solomons. Self-government was granted in January 1976 and after July 1976, Sir Peter Kenilorea became the Chief Minister who would lead the country to independence. Independence was granted on 7 July 1978, and Kenilorea automatically became the country's first Prime Minister.

In early 1999 long-simmering tensions between the local Gwale people on Guadalcanal and more recent migrants from the neighbouring island of Malaita erupted into violence. The ‘Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army’, later called Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFM), began terrorising Malaitans in the rural areas of the island to make them leave their homes. About 20,000 Malaitans fled to the capital and others returned to their home island; Gwale residents of Honiara fled. The city became a Malaitan enclave.

Meanwhile, the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF) was formed to uphold Malaitan interests. The Government appealed to the Commonwealth Secretary General for assistance. The Honiara Peace Accord was agreed on 28 June 1999. Despite this apparent success the underlying problems remained unresolved and had already resulted in the death or serious injury of 30,000 civilians.[citation needed] The accord soon broke down and fighting broke out again in June 2000.

Malaitans took over some armouries at their home island and Honiara and helped by that, on 5 June 2000 the MEF seized the parliament by force. Through their spokesman Andrew Nori, they claimed that the government of the then Prime Minister, Bartholomew Ulufa'alu, had failed to secure compensation for loss of Malaitan life and property. Ulufaâ€™alu was forced to step down.

On 30 June 2000 Parliament elected by a narrow margin a new Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare. He established a Coalition for National Unity, Reconciliation and Peace, which released a program of action focused on resolving the ethnic conflict, restoring the economy and distributing the benefits of development more equally. However, Sogavareâ€™s government was deeply corrupt and its actions led to the downward economic spiral and the deterioration of law and order.

The conflict was foremost about access to land and other resources and was centered on Honiara. Since the beginning of the civil war it is estimated that 100 have been killed. About 30,000 refugees, mainly Malaitans, had to leave their homes, and economic activity on Guadalcanal was severely disrupted.

Continuing civil unrest led to an almost complete breakdown in normal activity: civil servants remained unpaid for months at a time, and cabinet meetings had to be held in secret to prevent local warlords from interfering. The security forces were unable to reassert control, largely because many police and security personnel are associated with one or another of the rival gangs.

In July 2003 the Governor General of Solomon Islands issued an official request for international help, which was subsequently endorsed by a unanimous vote of the parliament. Technically, only the Governor General's request for troops was necessary. However, the government then passed legislation to provide the international force with greater powers and resolve some legal ambiguities.

On 6 July 2003, in response to a proposal to send 300 police and 2,000 troops from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Papua New Guinea to Guadalcanal, warlord Harold Keke announced a ceasefire by faxing a signed copy of the announcement to the Solomons Prime Minister, Allan Kemakeza. Keke ostensibly leads the Guadalcanal Liberation Front, but has been described as marauding bandit based on the isolated southwestern coast (Weather Coast) of Guadalcanal. Despite this ceasefire, on 11 July 2003 the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation broadcast unconfirmed reports that supporters of Harold Keke razed two villages.

In mid-July 2003, the Solomons parliament voted unanimously in favour of the proposed intervention. The international force began gathering at a training facility in Townsville. In August 2003, an international peacekeeping force, known as the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) and Operation Helpem Fren, entered the islands. Australia committed the largest number of security personnel, but with substantial numbers also from other South Pacific Forum countries such as New Zealand, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea (PNG). It acts as an interim police force and is responsible for restoring law and order in the country because the Royal Solomon Islands Police force failed to do so for a variety of reasons. Peacekeeping forces have been successful in improving the country's overall security conditions, including brokering the surrender of a notorious warlord Harold Keke in August 2003.

In 2009, the government is scheduled to set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, with the assistance of South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, to "address peopleâ€™s traumatic experiences during the five year ethnic conflict on Guadalcanal".[3][4]

The government continues to face serious problems, including an uncertain economic outlook, deforestation, and malaria control. At one point, prior to the deployment of RAMSI forces, the country was facing a serious financial crisis. While economic conditions are improving, the situation remains unstable.

In 1992, Cyclone Tia struck the island of Tikopia, wiping out most housing and food crops. In 1997, the Government asked for help from the USA and Japan to clean up more than 50 sunken World War II shipwrecks polluting coral reefs and killing marine life.

In December 2002, Severe Tropical Cyclone Zoe struck the island of Tikopia and Anuta, cutting off contact with the 3,000 inhabitants. Due to funding problems, the Solomon Islands government could not send relief until the Australian government provided funding.

In April 2014 the islands were struck by the tropical low that later became Cyclone Ita.

Throughout the Solomons, at least 23 people were killed while up to 40 others remained unaccounted for as of 6 April. An estimated 49,000 people were affected by the floods, of whom 9,000 were left homeless.[5][6]

As the precursor tropical low to Ita affected the Islands, local authorities issued heavy flood warnings, tropical disturbance and cyclone watches.[7]

Nearly two days of continuous heavy rains from the storm caused flash flooding in the Islands.[8] Over a four-day span, more than 1,000 mm (39 in) fell at the Gold Ridge mine in Guadalcanal, with 500 mm (20 in) falling in a 24‑hour span.[9] The Matanikau River, which runs through the capital city Honiara, broke its banks on 3 April and devastated nearby communities. Thousands of homes along with the city's two main bridges were washed away, stranding numerous residents.[8] The national hospital had to evacuate 500 patients to other facilities due to flooding.[10] Graham Kenna from Save the Children stated that, "the scale of destruction is like something never seen before in the Solomon Islands."[11] According to Permanent Secretary Melchoir Mataki, the majority of homes destroyed in Honiara were built on a flood plain where construction was not allowed.[5]

Severe flooding took place on Guadalcanal.[8] Immediately following the floods, Honiara and Guadalcanal were declared disaster areas by the Solomon Government.[12] Debris left behind by the floods initially hampered relief efforts, with the runway at Honiara International Airport blocked by two destroyed homes. Food supplies started running low as the Red Cross provided aid to the thousands homeless. The airport was reopened on 6 April, allowing for supplies from Australia and New Zealand to be delivered.[6] Roughly 20 percent of Honiara's population relocated to evacuation centers as entire communities were swept away.[13] There were fears that the flooding could worsen an already ongoing dengue fever outbreak and cause outbreaks of diarrhea and conjunctivitis.[5]

New Zealand offered an immediate NZ$300,000 in funds and deployed a C-130 Hercules with supplies and emergency response personnel.[13] Australia donated A$250,000 on 6 April and sent engineers and response teams to aid in relief efforts.[14] On 8 April, Australia increased its aid package to A$3 million while New Zealand provided an additional NZ$1.2 million.[5][15] Taiwan provided US$200,000 in funds.[16]


who wrote my tribute to god be the glory

"My Tribute (To God Be The Glory)" is a gospel song that first appeared in 1972 by American gospel singer and songwriter Andraé Crouch on the album Keep on Singin''. Crouch wrote the song and it is considered one of his most well-known songs.

My Tribute (To God Be The Glory)

"My Tribute (To God Be The Glory)" has been covered by numerous other artists over the years, including:


1. from the command prompt type netstat . what information does it attempt to give you

In computing, netstat (network statistics) is a command-line network utility tool that displays network connections for the Transmission Control Protocol (both incoming and outgoing), routing tables, and a number of network interface (network interface controller or software-defined network interface) and network protocol statistics. It is available on Unix-like operating systems including macOS, Linux, Solaris, and BSD, and is available on Windows NT-based operating systems including Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10.

netstat

It is used for finding problems in the network and to determine the amount of traffic on the network as a performance measurement.[1] On Linux this program is mostly obsolete, although still included in many distributions.

On Linux, netstat (part of "net-tools") is superseded by ss (part of iproute2). Replacement for netstat -r is ip route. Replacement for netstat -i is ip -s link, replacement for netstat -g is ip maddr, all of which are recommended instead.[2][3][4][5]

Parameters used with this command must be prefixed with a hyphen (-) rather than a slash (/). If a parameter is supported only on some platform or platforms, the platform or platforms is listed in parentheses after the parameter.

Netstat provides statistics for the following:

To display the statistics for only the TCP or UDP protocols, type one of the following commands:

netstat -sp tcp

netstat -sp udp

On Unix-like systems:

netstat -aop | grep "pid"

sudo netstat -nutpacw

On Microsoft Windows:

netstat -o 5

netstat -no

Netstat uses a asterisk * as a wildcard which means "any". An example would be

Example output:

Under "Local Address" *, in *:smtp, means the process is listening on all of the network interfaces the machine has for the port mapped as smtp (see /etc/services for service resolution). This can also be shown as 0.0.0.0. The second *, in *:*, means connections can come from any IP address, and the third *, in *:*, means the connection can originate from any port on the remote machine.

Some versions of netstat lack explicit field delimiters in their printf-generated output, leading to numeric fields running together and thus corrupting the output data.

Under Linux, raw data can often be obtained from the /proc/net/dev to work around the printf output corruption arising in netstat's network interface statistics summary, netstat -i, until such time as the problem is corrected.[citation needed]

On the Windows platform, netstat information can be retrieved by calling the GetTcpTable and GetUdpTable functions in the IP Helper API, or IPHLPAPI.DLL. Information returned includes local and remote IP addresses, local and remote ports, and (for GetTcpTable) TCP status codes. In addition to the command-line netstat.exe tool that ships with Windows, GUI-based netstat programs are available.

On the Windows platform, this command is available only if the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) protocol is installed as a component in the properties of a network adapter in Network Connections.

On the Windows platform running Remote Desktop Services (formerly Terminal Services) it will only show connections for the current user, not for the whole computer.

On macOS, the /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications folder (or /Applications/Utilities in OS X Mountain Lion and earlier) contains a network GUI utility called Network Utility, the Netstat tab of which runs the netstat command and displays its output in the tab.