I found some earlier less exact matches than some others here, and while not technically answering the question regarding the exact phrase "happily ever after", the question may not actually be more definitively answerable than pointing at the earliest known attestation (already posted), so I am posting these, as they may give clues as to how the phrase settled to the "happily ever after" form. If you're curious about the origin of the other fairytale phrase, see my answer to What is the origin of the “once upon a time” idiom as the way to begin a fairy tale? Here's Eight sermons preached on several occasions by Nathanael Whaley (1675):īut suppose, it were possible for us to be discharged from this Obligation to a Life of Virtue and Religion, or that we might safely break it without drawing the displeasure of God upon us, yet since Heaven is Promised us upon this condition, that we live soberly, Righteously and Godly, for the little time we have to spend in this World, how is it Possible that we should refuse it, when we have the prospect of so glorious a Reward, and may be sure to be completely Happy ever after? Once Upon a Time? Moreouer Iohn had commended faith sufficiently when he sayde, that the dead whiche dye in the Lord are happie euer after. Here's A catholike exposition vpon the Reuelation of Sainct Iohn: I was also able to find some instances of " happy ever after" (also via EEBO), but they're always in the middle of the text (and it's all religious stuff, not sci-fi/fantasy). that the houses vnited in mariage, liued euer after in much loue, & the souldiers al commanded to laie by their Armes, after much feasting, and manie triumphes returned home with no little ioie. It's The strange fortunes of two excellent princes in their liues and loues, to their equall ladies in all titles of true honour (1600): The story appears to be fiction, just not science fiction (or fantasy). Notably, I was able to find a story that has it at the end. Here's the earliest hit, from the middle of Here begynneth the treatys of Nycodemus gospell (1507 not sci-fi/fantasy):Īnd so they leuyd euer after in our lordys seruyce. Using the paywalled site Early English Books Online, I was able to find some examples of "lived ever after". "that maid was well paid ever afterward" Lived Ever After Þat maide was wel a-paid euere-aftur-ward The first instance I can find (via both the OED and the Middle English Dictionary) is from c1300, right in the middle-not the end-of The early South-English legendary or, Lives of saints (also not actually sci-fi or fantasy): Something else worth mentioning is that the expression "ever after(ward)" has been used in English for a long time. Paganino, hearing the News, married the Widow, and as they were very well acquainted, so they lived very lovingly, and happily, ever after. Although I don't think it is sci-fi or fantasy, this expression appears in the 1702 English translation of the Italian Boccaccio's Il Decamerone, listed as the Oxford English Dictionary's earliest citation for the phrase:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |