fairytale forests.

As late as the 15th century, a squirrel could hop from tree to tree all the way from southern Spain to Denmark. All of Europe was one single forest.

Important trade routes ran through it; it was an important supplier of firewood, nuts and berries, of meat, but also of healing herbs. A refuge for the expelled, who were shut out of the cities secured by city walls, but also for outlaws.

No wonder, then, that so many stories are set in the forest. Little Red Riding Hood, running through the forest to visit her grandmother. Hansel and Gretel, abandoned in the forest by their parents. The Town Musicians of Bremen, who rest in a forest on their journey and find a robbers' house there.

The Nibelungs. The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Der Freischütz.

And modern stories are set in the forest too. Behind Hogwarts lies the Forbidden Forest, home to unicorns, centaurs and giant spiders. The way to Narnia leads through a forest. And it is the dancing trees that support Aslan in the battle against the White Queen.

Anything is possible in the forest. It is enchanted, mysterious, changeable – and it is endless. No fairy tale, no story in which the protagonists lose their way out of the forest, only ever into it.