What is the difference between fairy tales and modern tales?

Fantasy is a story set in a make-believe world, or a setting with extraordinary conditions. Possibly it contains a story where the cows talk, or the mice are great cooks. Fantasy is most often associated with dungeons and dragons and sWords and bows.

The differentiate between traditional fantasy and modern fantasy one has to ask, "Is the author identifiable?"

Traditional fantasy, as far as I know, is a term used for legends, myths, folktales, fables and ballads.

Modern fantasy sometimes includes influences from the afore-mentioned, but has an identifiable author. Today modern fantasy is split into hundreds of subgenres.