Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were scholars under patronage of various German princes (Jacob was librarian at Kassel and Göttingen), famous for their contributions to Indo-European and Germanic philology/linguistics.  Their fairy-tale collection came in part because of this scholarly background; they were seeking data on the German language for their linguistic studies.  They also were strongly influenced by feelings of national pride, especially following a period in which the culture of neighboring France had been enormously influential; by collecting examples of German folk literature, and emphasizing the uniquely German characteristics of that literature, the Grimms hoped tomake a statement about the importance and value of German culture.
        The general view of their work is that of English folklorists Iona and Peter Opie, that the Grimms were the first to collect and appreciate folk literature for its own sake and to record tales as ordinary people told them; they were the first to record the identity of the teller in their field notes (which has allowed some of their reputation to be undermined).  The first translation of their work into English, by Edgar Taylor in 1823, almost instantly turned fairy tales into a respectable subject of antiquarian study and children's entertainment.
        However, more recent scholarship has called into question the extent to which the Grimms actually carried out what they claimed to do in terms of folklore collecting techniques.  Many of their sources were young, literate, middle-class women (one later married Wilhelm) - not the older, illiterate peasant storytellers of tradition.  Many had backgrounds that included familiarity with French sources such as Perrault.  Many came from the Grimms' own circle of acquaintance - thus they really weren't conducting broad-based research into folk literature.
        There is also substantial evidence of editing changes as the brothers (particularly Wilhelm) produced new and expanded editions.  These changes have been seen by some critics as adding up to "a general, all-pervasive rewriting" into literary language (Ellis, 21).  Ellis claims that Grimms domesticated stories by reducing or eliminating disturbing situations (e.g., the hostility of parents in "Hansel and Gretel") and even dropping "objectionable" stories such as those where crime succeeds, or where the sexual content or violence quotient is too high.  Other fairly striking changes appear random and arbitrary, suggesting tinkering with little respect for the quality of the original.
        Other scholars express a more charitable view, such as that of Linda Degh, who says that the Grimms' tales reinforce earlier (folk) narratives but adapt them to a standardized style and ideology and suggests that the tales needed some rewriting to get the attention of a more educated, intellectual audience.  Stith Thompson has argued that the Grimms tried to give the effect of oral folktales, even if they did not record them accurately according to later standards.  Further, their work is important for its influence in bringing other writers and artists to use the Marchen.
        At any rate, almost all of the tales underwent at least two major revisions from the first to the seventh edition.  Typical changes included a greater standardization of language, the elimination of sexually oriented elements, the addition of Christian elements, a consistent tendency to change mothers into stepmothers, and in some cases an intensification of violent content.
        Unlike the fairy tales of Basile and Perrault, the Grimms' tales much more frequently feature genuine peasant heroes or heroines, and often show the royalty as duplicitous in relation to the lower classes, making them much more class-conscious than their predecessors.  The Grimms' fairy tales also cover a wider spectrum, including trickster tales and folk tales that include no magic at all (e.g., "Clever Gretel") as well as holy legends.

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