An Irish Fairy Tale for St. Patrick's Day: "Jamie Freel & the Young Lady"

Jamie Freel & the Young Lady by Kentaro Kawashima

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Irish have so many fun stories and one of the unusual thing about their fairy tales is that they often have actual fairies (or faeries) or Fae in them too.

Another trait I love in Irish stories is of common people using their wits: farm girls become queens (and show their royal husbands how lucky they are) and ordinary boys trick faeries into giving up their secrets...

One of my favorites, which has a mix of other fairy tales I love too, is Jamie Freel & the Young Lady...

(Note: All illustrations shown through the tale are by Nilesh Mistry from The Illustrated Book of Fairy Tales Retold by Neil Philip. Also, I'm typing this up at midnight, which, although is a good time to tell fairy stories, is a little less kind to the quality of typing and writing...)

*******

It begins on Halloween where each year in an abandoned castle lights are seen dancing about and music of "the Wee Folk" is heard - something most people try to avoid as it rarely turns out well if one invites themselves to a faeries party.

But Jamie Freel, a poor widow's son, one Halloween decided tonight was the night he was going to go seek his fortune there. His mother wasn't too happy about it but Jamie was brave and determined and approached the castle in the moonlight.

When he finally got the courage to peer in, all the Wee Folk were wee indeed, with not one of them over the size of a child of five. Before long he was spotted and hailed with welcomes: "Jamie Freel, Jamie Freel! Welcome, welcome! We go tonight to Dublin to steal a young lady - will you ride with us?" Swallowing his nerves, Jamie boldly replied, "Yes, I will," and was mounted on a fairy horse that rode with great strides through and through the air.

His hosts whooped and swooped about him on their flying steeds, and they rode and rode over thatched roofs and hills, over dales and towns until the shining, shimmering Fae hoard stopped by a fine window of a fine house, where, there, a beautiful girl lay.

Jamie's eyes grew wide, then wider still as Folk swept into the room and stole her right from her bed. In her place they left a stick, which at once took her shape yet remained still, still as death, while the party galloped home through the air with their fair prize.

Tossed was she from rider to rider as they galloped and galloped until Jamie, once again seeing his mother's roof below, gathered his courage and boldly cried, "Do I not get a turn?" Laughing they gave her to him, but at once he leapt from his faery horse, and did his best to flee, girl in his arms, to the safety of his own threshold.

Before he could reach it, the Faeries, no longer laughing but yelling in a rage, turned the poor girl into a black dog, snarling and snapping, into a bar of hot iron, glowing and burning, into a sack of wool, loose and tangled, but Jamie held on and wouldn't let go. Finally, the smallest of the Folk cried, "Let him have her - I will make her no good. I will make her deaf and I will make her dumb!" and she threw some dust at the girl before the host rushed away into the darkness of the rest of the night.

Jamie, tired, took the girl inside but there was nought they could do but watch her cry. She could not hear and she could not speak and now there was one more mouth to feed...

A year passed and Jamie determined he'd pay another visit to the Fae to see what he might do. Just as he was about to enter the castle hall he heard the familiar voice of the smallest Fae say"If only Jamie Freel knew, three drops of my cup would unstop her ears and loosen her tongue!" Thinking fast, Jamie entered and, as before, was bid, "welcome, welcome!" when quick as a blink, he snatched the fairy glass and fled. By the time he reached home, only three drops left, but it was enough. He gave them to the girl and she was restored.

You might guess what happened next. The girl took Jamie to meet her mother and father, who, once they got over the shock of having buried a stick instead of a daughter, gave the young couple their blessing and brought Jamie and his mother into their fine home, where they all celebrated a very fine wedding.

And, I would like to think, that Jamie Freel never visited that castle again...

******

This story has much in common with Tam Lin, including  Halloween, the amount of time passing, and the rescuer having to hold on despite their intended changing from difficult form to difficult form. It also reminds me of Hans Andersen's The Tinder Box in which a sleeping girl is carried off by magical animals in the middle of the night. The changeling aspect is very fairy-like although this changeling is put in place of a grown girl and has no life except to replicate her form completely. As in Tam Lin, again, messing with the Fair Folk is akin to risking a curse of serious illness, possibly death, so all Jamie does is not done lightly. Irish people have traditionally been so seriously superstitious about this aspect of the Fae that it was considered unlucky to even tell stories about fairies during the daytime...

And there I will leave you.

Why don't you pop a saucer of milk outside the door, just in case, and may the luck of the Irish be there with you!

Note: My version is told between memory, a storybook and a glance or three at this text HERE. I have tried to condense my telling and even so a little Irish seems to ha' crept in, as it is wont to do...
My apologies for the low quality images. I couldn't find any from this story in this book online and my scanner isn't working at the moment so pictures it is - but I do love these illustrations by Nilesh Mistry - wonderful story-flowing images..

Call for Papers for The Monash Fairy Tale Salon's Annual Event Celebrating 150 Yrs of Alice

Hot off the press from The Monash Fairy Tale Salon in Melbourne Australia:

Grand Western Arcade Handmade Boutique

Well, it's that time of year again when we start to gear up for our annual event! So excited. Though it's slightly outside the traditional definition of a fairy tale, we had to do something to celebrate the birthday of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

The Monash Fairy Tale Salon will be hosting a curious afternoon of madness and muchness as we go down the rabbit hole in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s classic, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. 

Long before Tim Burton and Walt Disney stepped through the looking-glass, a mathematician, a Reverend and three girls went for a boating trip on the Isis. During the journey the mathematician regaled the party with a nonsense story that has become known as one of the favourite stories for children and adults alike. 

For one afternoon only, we will be hosting an exploration of all the impossible things we can do before breakfast. Come along and learn about the author and illustrators who shaped literary history and gave us such wonderfully uncommon nonsense. For the bold at heart (or the Queen of Hearts), come dressed as your favourite Wonderland character! 

Grand Western Arcade Handmade Boutique

This event is open to anyone who has a love for nonsense and will take place at the Theatrette, Glen Eira Town Hall, on Saturday June 13th, starting at 1pm, as part of the Glen Eira Storytelling Festival.

We are looking for interested participants who would like to present papers or original work in the form of readings or performances.

Areas of interest:

– Alice's Adventures in Wonderland scholarship (incl. literary studies, film & TV, drama studies, gender studies) 

– Live performance of Carroll inspired work  

– Carroll inspired readings (incl. readings of Carroll's work or work inspired by Alice)

Please send a 100-200 word summary or abstract to arts-fairytale@monash.edu by April 27th.  For more information, please contact us at arts-fairytale@monash.edu.

"Song Of The Sea" To Be Released on DVD & Blu-ray St. Patrick's Day!

I couldn't make it to any of the showings in LA, so sadly I've missed the opportunity of a big screen experience (at least until there's another special showing) but nevertheless I am really looking forward to seeing this. If the watching experience is anything like The Secret Of Kells, it won't be long before I forget where I'm watching anyway.

I'm so very glad this film got nominated for an Academy Award so it's fairly widely known already.

This and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya seem to have people talking more and more about folktales again. I've even noticed that shift in many of the articles (by non-Disney-allied media) about Cinderella too. They're either about the costumes or are looking at the variety of Cinderella stories and why we're still telling that story today. That's very different from just a couple of years ago.

For Song Of The Sea, I'm curious to see all the old and 'new' folklore blended in as well as see how they handle a selkie story. One of the best made family fairy tale films I know is The Secret Of Roan Inish - a quiet but gorgeous film that isn't at all flashy but still has a very strong sense of magic. High time I dusted that one off and showed it around again!

The medium for Song Of The Sea is different, of course, but it sounds just as down to earth in many ways and that can only be a good thing.

You can currently pre-order this from Amazon at a special price, so that's great if you can take advantage before it's released on March 17th as well, otherwise, go grab yourself a little Irish gem for St. Patrick's Day!

Here are the Special Features we can look forward to:

• Audio Commentary with Director Tomm Moore
• Behind the Scenes with Optional Commentary from Director Tomm Moore
• Animation Tests with Optional Commentary from Director Tomm Moore
• The Art of Song of the Sea
• Conceptual Trailer
• U.S. Trailers

Now I just need a 'Making Of' book please!

"Timeless Tales" Submissions For Issue #4 Closing Soon...

Just a reminder that you have one week to get in your "Perseus and Medusa" retellings for Timeless Tales Magazine's Issue #4.

Writers will be paid $15 per story, have their work published on the website, and have their story narrated for the magazine's audio edition. 

For more information, check out Timeless Tales Magazine's submission page.

Get those fingers typing and good luck!

Review: "Disney's 2015 Cinderella: A Safe Story but the Shoe Does not Fit" by Jennifer Culver

Disney's 2015 Cinderella: A Safe Story but the Shoe Does not Fit

Review by Jennifer Culver 

Cinderella opened  amidst controversy about Cinderella’s waist. Was her waist slimmer via CGI? Does this impossibly thin waist continue to send messages to young women about unattainable standards of beauty? With the clamor regarding Lily James’s waist, an interesting tidbit went largely unnoticed: Cinderella’s shoe did not fit. Costume designer Sandy Powell admitted that the glass shoe designed for the film fit no one, including Lily James. Like the shoe, much about Cinderella’s character does not fit her surroundings, which could actually be a good thing. 

But don't expect a whole lot from the "quiet revolution" Branagh claims he's making with this film. He presents a safe retelling that sticks close to it's source, the 1950 animated Disney film. There are subtle changes that do make a difference, for instance how diverse the ballroom scene is in terms of ethnicities, but for the most part, the story is the same; the talking animals used for comic effect, the bumbling Fairy Godmother, even Cinderella meeting her Prince ahead of time isn't "new". The portrayal of Cinderella as “underdog survivor,” a trait Zipes notes* regarding Cinderella retellings since 1899, and a prince who has “more democratic” leanings, meeting Cinderella earlier in the film, these are things we, for the most part, expect to see.

With The Walt Disney Company having already created two popular direct-to-video animated sequels that portray Cinderella as a far more rounded out character, while still being the same girl, this film seems even more conservative in many ways. 

A standout difference, however, is the portrayal of the stepmother, played dramatically by Cate Blanchett. She eavesdrops on conversations, blackmails dukes, and appears omniscient at times. When she delivers her backstory, told in the style of a fairy tale, her desperation to survive and secure a decent future for her daughters overwhelms all other, crueler aspects, yet the film does not fall into the trap of excusing them.

Throughout the film, Cinderella finds herself uneasy yet she remains in her subservient situation in order to “cherish” the home her parents loved. When confronted with the chance to claim a future with the prince, the narrator tells the audience that coming down the stairs means Cinderella takes one of the biggest risks any of us can take, “to be seen as we truly are.” 

Maybe Cinderella does not fit because of her outlook. She sees the world “not as it was but possibly could be, with a little bit of magic.” Sure, Cinderella still needs help to escape her situation, but she does not need help to improve her outlook. Fueled by the promise to her mother to have courage and be kind, Cinderella lives on her own terms no matter the dress she wears, an attitude that can fit any movie-goer of any shoe size. 

Branagh intends to be subtle and show strength through kindness, something that should endear Cinderella to us even more, but one has to wonder if this message isn't a little lost amidst the stronger impressions handed to us by the very marketing campaign pushing us to see it in the first place.

* Zipes, Jack. The Enchanted Screen: The Unknown History of Fairy Tale Films. New York: Routledge, 2011. Book.

Jennifer Culver works as a Digital Learning Specialist while finishing her dissertation. Her study focuses on the rhetoric within fairy tale adaptations in film. She enjoys continuing the tradition of sharing fairy tales with her children and godchildren.

Ask Baba Yaga: How Can I Be Myself In a Place That I Hate?

Baba Yaga, Ivachko and the Bears - Artist Unknown

For a dancer I know whose feet are currently frozen in place and for another dear friend who is far, far from home. You both know who you are. Sending courage from my heart to yours and a little support from one whose home has feet of its own...

Today's question and answer (via poet and oracle Taisia Kitaiskaia* of The Hairpin):

(Originally posted at The Hairpin HERE)

You can survive this and your stories will be fierce. And free. And strong. (And I'm saving a bottle of bubbly especially for that phone call I get when you both let me know you are finally Home.)

What do you think of Baba Yaga's advice?

Want to ask Baba Yaga a question of your own?

You can!

There's now an email address where you can send your questions

directly to Baba Yaga herself.

AskBabaYaga AT gmail DOT com

To encourage Baba Yaga to continue imparting her no-bones-about-it wisdom (ok, there may be some gristle in there... bones too), I suggest we not to leave her box empty... 

Thank you Baba Yaga (& Taisia).

* Taisia Kitaiskaia is a poet, writer, and Michener Center for Writers fellow. Born in Russia and raised in America, she's had her poems and translations published in Narrative Magazine, Poetry International, and others.

The Rose Elf by Veronica Dye Johnson

Illustrator Veronica Dye Johnson, recently sent me an image of one of her latest personal works and has kindly given me permission to share it with you all, it being inspired by a fairy tale.

Have you heard of this one, The Rose Elf? It's another Hans Christian Andersen one and used to be much better known.

The tale has always struck me as being a little bit of a split personality. As you can see from the above, beautifully rendered image, it has quite the dark side to it. This is of a girl holding her lover's head, after she dug it up out of the snowy wood, where her brother had buried it (after he'd cut it off). Sounds a little soap opera-ish in many ways but it actually has a lot of tragic romance to it.

(Note: Forgive me if I get the details wrong - I'm going from memory here.)

The girl, having just found out who killed her love, secretly takes the head home and buries it in a flower pot, over which she weeps every day. Her brother, who lives in the same house (and whom she keeps it for) has no idea why she's so sad but at least he doesn't have to worry about her taking off and getting married anymore.

Rose Elf in progress

She grieves greatly, pines, dies, and is reunited with her love in heaven BUT her brother, seeing this amazing plant that she's been keeping in her bedroom, decides all that was hers is now his, and he takes it to his room and puts it beside his bed. The plant, having grown on tears of anguish and with a wish for revenge, plunges poisoned barbs into the man while he sleeps, killing him rather painfully. His body is discovered shortly after and in the horror of the scene, the flower pot is knocked onto the bed and breaks, where the skull inside is revealed and so is the brother's secret. I believe he's then buried in an unmarked grave.. (it's been a while).

But I haven't told you the weirdest part.

How does the girl find out in the first place? Because of a 'rose elf'. He lived in a rose that wouldn't open and let him in due to the cold one night, so he went seeking shelter, finding some blooms near these lovers meeting where he overhears their love, their story and their trials. He finds that sweet but then through some slip or accident, ends up in the man's pocket. He's with the lover when he's murdered, escaping by holding onto a dead leaf that's floating through the air in the ruckus, only to land back on the hat of the brother-murderer and end up back at the girl's house. He whispers in her ear what happened when she's asleep, citing that she'll know this is true by the proof of a dead leaf on her chest when she wakes. She wakes, there's a dead leaf, she goes and finds the head, you know the rest now.

Rose Elf early color test

Isn't that just the oddest juxtaposition? You have this happy little elf looking for flowers, floating around so small he's undetected on one side (and there's a whole bit about him going to find the Queen Bee to tell her what happened too) and this macabre plant growing out of a lover's skull on the other.

It just doesn't feel to me like it was constructed by the same person (and when you read it, the language is bizarrely different too). I always felt I had heard the part about the head in the pot with the plant before somewhere - that feels really familiar to me and sort of Slavic too. The Rose Elf character just sounds.. like a construct.

I haven't researched it but it's like someone edited together part of a Disney film and part of an adult epic. Perhaps I'm wrong but in a weird way, it's the plant that feels most fairy tale like to me. The elf just kind of gives me the creeps.. I presume he ends up OK though? I can't remember.

Let me go find a link for you, so you can read the proper tale... HERE.

Anyway, I can see why such a tale inspired illustrators though I don't think I've seen an image of the girl holding her lover's head quite like this before. Thanks Veronica! There's a lot of interesting stuff about this tale that it's definitely worth remembering for.

Veronica Dye Johnson is a working and published illustrator who specializes in narrative images that showcase the human figure. You can find Veronica's website HERE, see more about her process of creating the illustration HERE and follow her and her work on Twitter HERE.

Family Theater: "The Brothers Grimm & A Showgirl" & "Cinderella Italiano"

Despite the implication in the name, The Brothers Grimm & A Showgirl is a family theater production and has a short run starting TONIGHT. Pantochino Productions Inc ("ridiculously entertaining") is an award winning professional non-profit family theater productions company specializing in family friendly musical theater with a large dollop of fun.

From the New Haven Register:

The show features spoofs and goofs of favorite fairy tales such as Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty. In the play, the Brothers Grimm arrive to perform their stories and are taken by surprise when a sequined and feathered Showgirl appears and helps tell the tales in her own special way.

More information can be found on the Facebook page HERE and at the Pantochino theater company website HERE. You can see some photos via BroadwayWorld HERE.

The company is also staging an intriguing production titled Cinderella Italiano. Cinderella Italiano begins on April 24th, 2015.
                   

UK Trailer for "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" (Coming to UK Theaters in English & Japanese March 20)

What lucky folks our British friends are! The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is coming to theaters on March 20, 2015, and can be seen with either the English dubbing OR in the original Japanese! #slightlyenviousoverhere

The trailer is the first proper English trailer I've seen and is wonderful, and a very different presentation from what we've seen to date. (I don't understand why this didn't get advertised like this in the US - it would have drawn a huge audience.) If you were on the fence about seeing it before this will likely to change your mind to a "yes - gotta see that!".

For the rest of us, we'll have to be content to watch on DVD and Blu-ray, though we still won't have the original Japanese language, with English subtitles option. (Why?)

I'm hoping to have a "home viewing" of the movie myself (finally!) this weekend. And if I do, I will review...

In the meantime, enjoy - and be inspired:

"Frozen 2" Officially in Development

Fan made banner

So: Tumblr exploded today (Thursday, March 12) because this was announced at D23:

Today at The Walt Disney Company’s annual meeting at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, California, Chairman and CEO Robert A. Iger told shareholders and D23 Members in attendance ...that Frozen 2 is officially in development at Walt Disney Animation Studios.

The Oscar®-winning team behind Frozen—directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee and producer Peter Del Vecho—are returning for the new film. “We enjoyed making Frozen Fever so much and being back in that world with those characters,” said John Lasseter. “Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck have come up with a great idea for a sequel and you will be hearing a lot more about it, and we’re taking you back to Arendelle. We are so excited about that.”

As are many, many (maaaany) Tumblr users but there's also a lot of worry too.

And with regard to fairy tales, well, Frozen is barely connected to a fairy tale to start, Frozen Fever, from all reports has nothing that puts it on par with the movie even in terms of theme (it's goes for the Olaf and the cute, but otherwise...) and Frozen 2 will... very unlikely be a fairy tale either.

But it will be sold to the public as one, and likely have more magic and more Elsa. Would it be too much to ask that at least some regional folklore from Scandinavia and the Sami people (aka Laplanders) get woven in?

And in the meantime, what's happening with Giants - our Disney-fied modern Jack and the Beanstalk story that's supposed to be in production currently? I see it was moved to 2018 at the end of last year but other than that, I haven't heard a peep about it for months and months.

Not an official logo

And Moana, a "mythic musical adventure set in Polynesia", which is supposed to be released in 2016, has barely had any press either, apart from this announcement back in November:

The film will tell the story of MOANA, a teenage girl and “born navigator” who “sets sail in search of a fabled island,” according to a summary from Disney. “During her incredible journey, she teams up with her hero, the legendary demi-god Maui, to traverse the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous sea creatures, breathtaking underworlds and ancient folklore,” Disney reveals.

I wouldn't be surprised if Giants gets bumped (again) and Frozen 2 is put on the fast track because, ya know...