Who They Fear

About

Who They Fear draws inspiration from a classic German folktale collected by the Brothers Grimm in their famous compilation Grimm's Fairy Tales. The tale, known as "The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was," was catalogued as KHM 4 and later included by Andrew Lang in The Blue Fairy Book in 1889. The story belongs to the Aarne–Thompson index type 326, classified as a tale of fear, and centers on a male protagonist's attempts to learn how to feel fear. Though this particular tale type did not appear in early literary collections, it was heavily influenced by the medieval adventure of Sir Lancelot du Lac called The Marvels of Rigomer, in which the protagonist spends a night in a haunted castle and faces similar ordeals to those experienced by the youth in the Grimm tale. This rich folkloric heritage provides the foundation for the band's artistic identity and musical narrative.