The Grimm versions are far more violent than todays fairy tales,
here is the end from Grimm's Cinderella,

"When the wedding with the king's son was to be celebrated, the
two false sisters came and wanted to get into favor with
Cinderella and share her good fortune. When the betrothed
couple went to church, the elder was at the right side and the
younger at the left, and the pigeons pecked out one eye from
each of them. Afterwards as they came back the elder was at
the left, and the younger at the right, and then the pigeons
pecked out the other eye from each. And thus, for their
wickedness and falsehood, they were punished with blindness
all their days."

The Grimm versions have a lot more violence because they were originally intended to keep children from doing things they shouldn't. They were used more as a boogyman story. Don't talk to strangers (witch in the woods), don't wander away, don't bother large animals, don't treat your siblings badly you never know when they will have more power... etc...

Fairy tales now are intended more for entertainment than as a lesson. They are meant to put children to sleep and make them dream of sugarplums. Grimm's tales are a mixture of classic folk tales passed down through generations to teach the children how to be an adult.

As far as religion is concerned that is easy people were more religious in the times of Grimm. It was not an option to be religious, you were and that was all there was to it. It's like someone paying your bills now. You really don't have an option, if you want a home a computer and a car you pay your bills. Religion used to be very much like that the church controlled everything and so it really wasn't a choice. People were born religious and religion was a part of every aspect of their lives.

The grammatical structures are different because there are hundreds of years between now and then and so naturally language has changed. Time changes every language and creates new terms while loosing track of old ones. Plus the Bros Grimm used stories that were verbally passed down and so the language is more of a spoken sceme and has many cultural references to the politics and ways of life of the time that are no longer relevant.

when you read "scemed" did you read:
schemed or scene?