Past literary critics of the Marchen defined the genre by identifying it in terms of a relatively small number of presumably universal traits. This study considers the extent to which the Marchen of the Appalachian and Ozark regions embody three of those 'universals': 1) a perfectly memorable plot constructed to convey an invariant meaning; 2) sharp, bright, and sparse imagery, and 3) a tone of magical wonder. I examine the published tales of the regions' best-known collectors: Richard Chase, Leonard Roberts, and Vance Randolph. Comparing Chase's written renditions to the oral performances of Sam Harmon, I find that Chase misrepresents and undercuts the Marchen aesthetics of the family from whom he claimed to have gotten his tales. I examine Leonard Roberts's published versions of tales told by Jane Muncy and, considering the oral testimony and performances of Sam Harmon, I find that Chase misrepresents and undercuts the Marchen aesthetics of the family from whom he claimed to have gotten his tales. I examine Leonard Roberts's published versions of tales told by Jane Muncy and, considering the oral testimony and performances of the Muncy family, conclude that Roberts's tales are largely faithful to the tellers' oral styles. I end with an appreciation of Vance Randolph, whose tales demonstrate a regional tendency to treat the Marchen not as a tale of wonder, but as legend or a joke. None of the three universals posited by literary scholars effectively characterizes the oral styles of the American mountain Marchen.
