The Cry of the Banshee

Banshee by Jana Heidersdorf, Germany 1993

One of the most mysterious figures in the annals of folklore is the Banshee, stemming out of Scottish and Irish lore, a dark feminine figure who comes with a warning, a promise that mortal death is near. As Death collects souls, she is the figure who announces his travel. She is most notably depicted with long streaming hair and a dark cloak. She is known for her incessant weeping as she releases continual tears from her fiery red eyes.

Jana Heidersdorf, Germany

[The Banshee (from ban [bean], a woman, and shee [sidhe], a fairy) is an attendant fairy that follows the old families, and none but them, and wails before a death. Many have seen her as she goes wailing and clapping her hands. The keen [caoine], the funeral cry of peasantry, is said to be an imitation of her cry. When more than one banshee is present, and they will wail and sing in chorus, it is for the death of some holy or great one. An omen that sometimes accompanies the banshee is the coach-a-bower [cóiste-bodhar]---an immense black coach, mounted by a coffin, and drawn by headless horses driven by a Dullahan. It will go rumbling to your door, and if you open it, according to Croker, a basin of blood will be thrown in your face. --- W. B. Yeats, Irish Fairy & Folk Tales

http://fantasycreatureencyclopedia.blogspot.com

'The mourning of the deceased is not just the affair of surviving relatives in Ireland. In years past, the measure of a person's respect and stature in the community could be seen in the number of mourners at a funeral and the breadth of their grieving. Professional women keeners, often old women, were paid in drink to weep at the graveside of eminent figures in the community. The Church frowned upon the entanglement of these often alcoholic women and their funerary services, perhaps giving rise to another theory that banshees are the ghosts of professional keeners doomed to unrest as a result of their insincere grieving. Interestingly, this does touch on a basic component of the banshee legend: that banshees follow certain families. If banshees are the ghosts of deceased keeners, their accompaniment is probably due more to a sense of loyalty than a sense of guilt.'--- C. Austin, The Banshee, Celtic Death Messenger

A Hateful Banshee on a Windy Night by H.R. Heaton

According to Irish legend the banshee can only cry for a few major families, the O'Briens, the O'Neills,  O'Connors, O'Gradys, O'Donnells and Kavanaghs. Intermarriage has since extended this list. Documented superstitions follow families even into Colonial America. Sightings have been reported allegedly even as of 1948. The most prevalent American tales see the banshee traveling to to the likes of Tar River in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Legend has it that she can still be seen and heard on a hill in the badlands of South Dakota near Watch Dog Butte.  

Banshee, Brian Froud

The BEAN-NIGHE as she is referred to in Sottish Highlands is comparable to LITTLE-WASHER-BY-THE-FORD (essentially a euphemistic name for the banshee), a figure who is seen at the edge of a river washing the bloodstained clothes of those who are going to die, typically they remain near the water. It is said that if you dare to ask the bean-nighe for who she cries, she will tell you.

Bean-nighe, Brian Froud 1978

'It is said that these spirits are the ghosts of women who died in childbirth and that they are fated to perform their task until the day when they would have normally died.' ---Brian Froud & Alan Lee, Faeries

Les Lavandières de la nuit, Yan Dargent, 1861

"Women dying in childbed were looked at as dying prematurely, and it was believed that, unless all the clothes left by them were washed, they should have to wash them themselves till the natural period of their death." ---J.G. Campbell, Superstitions of the Scottish Highlands

Death, Brian Froud

Where she stands or sits is really no different and is most likely comparable to a faerie-ring, for once you are in her dwelling you fall under her spell. She can appear in the form of a young maiden adorned in white, wearing a shroud, but more frequently as a wretched old hag with long finger nails and a black veil. And as she disguises herself in various female forms, there is no deception, for once you look into her eyes you will see that she never stops shedding tears. Popular urban tales attribute her as a death deity, perhaps the incessant cries are for the too soon departed. Although it is easy to wrap this figure up as a ghost or a demon, she is none of the sort. Bean-si refers to a female dweller of a fairy mound. Her Scottish counterpart bean-shídh in deeper esoteric culture is also known as aos si, spirits or ancestors of nature and the survivals of pre Christian Gaelic Dieties.

 La Belle Dame sans Merci, Henry Meynell Rheam 1897

Source Materials:

• Irish Fairy & Folk Tales, W. B. Yeats, Dorset Press 1986, New York
• Tales of the Banshee, Patrick F. Byrne, Litho Press 1987, Midleton Co. Cork
• An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Katherine Briggs, Pantheon Books 1976, NY
• Good Faeries & Bad Faeries, Brian Froud, Simon & Schuster 1998, New York, NY
• Faeries, Brian Froud and Alan Lee, Abrams 1978, NY
• www.irelandseye.com
• merganser.math.gvsu.edu
• www.yourirish.com
• fantasycreatureencyclopedia.blogspot.com
• wikipedia.com
• pinterest.com

Spinning Wheels, Spindles & Sleeping Death

Faerie stories are incomplete without complication, beyond evil villains and their action there is a core element that drives a true fairytale narrative and that is the mystery of the unknown. Heroes travel through complicated circumstances, in Little Red Riding Hood's case it is escaping a dark prison after she is pulled from the Wolf's stomach, but she longed to take the unknown path. Cinderella must remember that there is a time limit to her enchantment, what will her future be after the stroke of midnight? Hansel and Gretel must brave the cannibalistic witch, by coaxing her into the oven. Snow White and the Sleeping Beauty are tied together by the a curse called: Sleeping Death.

Book as seen on Main Street USA, Disneyland CA

The Sleeping Death Curse seems by far one of the most peculiar circumstances in faery realms. In the Snow White and the Seven Dwarf's it is not reavealed how these powers came to be, only that the wicked Queen had a jealous heart and crafted a poisoned apple .

'When she heard the looking-glass speak thus she trembled and shook with anger. "Snow-white shall die," cried she, "though it should cost me my own life!" And then she went to a secret lonely chamber, where no one was likely to come, and there she made a poisonous apple. It was beautiful to look upon, being white with red cheeks, so that any one who should see it must long for it, but whoever ate even a little bit of it must die.' ---The Brothers Grimm

Walt Disney's 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves', 1937

The wicked Queen then disguises herself as an old peasant woman, having already appeared to the child in two different costumes(, perhaps this is where the idiom 'Third time's a charm' derives from.) She then makes her way back to Snow White to offer her an apple.

'Snow White', Charles Santore

"All right," answered the woman; "I can easily get rid of my apples elsewhere. There, I will give you one." "No," answered Snow-white, "I dare not take anything." "Are you afraid of poison?" said the woman, "look here, I will cut the apple in two pieces; you shall have the red side, I will have the white one." For the apple was so cunningly made, that all the poison was in the rosy half of it. Snow-white longed for the beautiful apple, and as she saw the peasant woman eating a piece of it she could no longer refrain, but stretched out her hand and took the poisoned half. But no sooner had she taken a morsel of it into her mouth than she fell to the earth as dead.' ---The Brothers Grimm

There are many peculiar notions here, one predominantly being the allusion to the biblical parable of Adam and Eve. Here the apple is split into two parts and the wicked Queen takes the first bite, and then Snow White falls after taking her bite. Fading into her Sleeping Death Snow White is allegorically experiencing the same plight of Adam and Eve. Beyond Looking Glasses and Spinning Wheels, apples appear in mythology all around the world transcending nearly every culture. In Greek mythology a golden apple is present when Aphrodite is determined to be the 'fairest' of all gods. 

'Mirror Mirror', Artwork by Douglas Smith, 2003 

In a 2003 Novel titled Mirror Mirror, Gregory Maguire (, of Wicked fame,) explores the parallels to the eden myth in the 16th Century with Lucrezia Borgia painted as the wicked Queen. The apple in the tale is the believed to be from the 'Tree of Wisdom' in the 'Garden of Eden'. Although uncredited Maguire is really the first popular author to explore the reversal of roles. He is known for telling the side of tales you haven't heard. In the case of Mirror Mirror, he toys with the tradition in which Snow White is liberated from her curse, for it was the Huntsman's kiss that woke her. It was perhaps this very literary twist that inspired the 2012 Universal film titled: Snow White and the Huntsman, in which Snow White is awoken by the Huntsman's kiss. 

Irish Elderly Spinner, Anonymous 1890-1900, Library of Congress Collection 

Of all the mysterious enchanted items in tales, the spindle or the spinning wheel is arguably the most eerie, for it is never described why the object is so dangerous or why it is so powerful. Perhaps it is more startling to women who could not escape the fate of spinning wool into thread for garments to wear. We must remember that these tales have been around for a great amount of time and when they were originally told people were closer to these experiences, such as peddlers knocking upon your door or needing to use a spinning wheel. 

'Thumb' by Marianne Stokes, 1894 

The spinning wheel or the spindle make appearances in more than a few tales. Most famously the Sleeping Beauty is cursed by the Sleeping Death when she pricks her finger. In the tale of Rumpelstiltskin a spinning wheel is given to a poor Millers daughter after her father lies to the King, announcing that his daughter can spin straw into gold. Trapped within a cell the girl is told that if she can spin a heap of straw into gold she will be liberated. The girl is saved when she bargains with a malevolent imp that magically appears to her in the cell, bargaining for her first born child. In similar fashion three deformed women appear to a young girl when she is faced with a similar task in Grimm's tale The Three Spinners, the girl is saved when she makes a promise to invite the women to her royal wedding, socially transforming them into figures of nobility. 

In the tale of Sleeping Beauty an infant princess is cursed at her Christening party. This plight occurs when one wise woman/fairy is not invited to the celebration. There are thirteen fairies and they can only eat from golden plates. When the King and Queen discover that there are only twelve plates, they decide that one woman must not be invited.

'A Book of Fairy Tales' Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone, 1977 

'And when the eleventh of them had their say, in came the uninvited thirteenth, burning herself to revenge herself, and without greeting or respect, she cried with a loud voice, "In the fifteenth year of her age the Princess shall prick herself with a spindle and shall fall down dead." And without speaking one more word she turned away and left the hall. Every one was terrified at her saying, when the twelfth came forward, for she had not yet bestowed her gift, and though she could not do away with the evil prophesy, yet she could soften it, so she said, "The Princess shall not die, but fall into a deep sleep for a hundred years.' ---The Brothers Grimm  

'The Sleeping Beauty', Maxfield Parrish

In one of the earliest variants of this tale (1634) Italian, Giambattista Basile's Sun, Moon and Talia. The Princess' fate is foretold by wise men and astrologers who predict the childs' fate at her birth, and her danger here is with a splinter of flax upon which she uses to spin, as opposed to the spindle itself. This is perhaps a more relatable circumstance, as most traditional spindles did not have a needle upon them. The curious thing about the Grimm version of the tale, is what virtue the Princess was missing as the wise fairy had to change her plans? It is arguably 'wisdom', as paradoxically that would be the very thing that would prevent her from touching a spindle. 

A radical anthropological study published in 1987, by Chris Knight, Doctor of Philosophy, University College London, seeks a more physical truth behind familiar tales. In his thesis titled: Menstruation and the Origins of Culture he explores the metaphorical allegory in our most famous tales. In his essay he describes a pre Christian (Gregorian) calendar in which the moon was recognized in thirteen lunar months, as opposed to twelve. 

Walt Disney's 'Sleeping Beauty', 1959

"The menstrual spell is a cyclical occurrence, just as is seasonal change. Time, in the traditional view, is itself cyclical. The king, in attempting to destroy all spindles, is symbolically attempting to suppress the spinning by women of the threads of time – threads which wind like yarn around a spool. We may also infer that he is hostile to “spinsterhood”. A traditional occupation for unmarried or secluded women may have been spinning, so that a woman who never married became seen as permanently a “spinster”. Be that as it may, when the princess explores the unfamiliar stairway and discovers the old witch spinning flax in her turret in the sky, she is contacting the world of seclusion and discovering for herself the ancient feminine mistress of lunar time. Like the thirteenth fairy, this old woman brings menstrual bleeding as a gift – or, if socially-rejected, as a curse.

The girl “pricks her finger.” She bleeds, as any girl of her age eventually must. The King was foolish to try to banish the spinning-wheels or spindles, for time cannot be suppressed – every girl will come of age and bleed, her cycle itself being among the most ancient of all clocks. And as the princess bleeds, the ancient power of the blood strikes out with a vengeance against all who had believed they could defy it. The whole palace, the whole kingdom is plunged into another realm beyond waking life. All normal domestic activities cease. It is as if time stood still. Those who believed that they could alter the ancient calendar, they could abolish the thirteenth month, they could suppress the hallowed logic of menstrual time are now put firmly in their place. They will be excluded from time’s flow for a hundred years.

As the princess sleeps on, it is as if her blood had erected around her an impenetrable barrier to her ever getting married. Would-be suitors are kept at bay by a deadly hedge of thorns. She herself is now in menstrual seclusion of a particularly rigorous, long-lasting kind, with the whole palace in seclusion with her.
But every period of seclusion – even a hundred-year one – must eventually expire. And when the time has come, lovers are free once more to approach. The spell breaks, the thorns turn into flowers. The hedge parts, allowing the young hero to enter and deliver his kiss. The sex-strike and the cooking-strike are over; the palace servants resume their domestic chores. Marital relations are resumed, and are celebrated in the palace with a royal wedding and feast." (Chris Knight, Doctor of Philosophy, University College London, 1987) You can read the full essay here.

Chris Knight's essay goes on further with other tales, in the case of Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack's exploration up the erect vine and to a giantess is metaphorically allegorical of his sexual awakening. The most curious thoughts we are led to in the tales of the spindle and the spinning wheel weave around issues of time, the spinning of the wheel itself is represented by time in passing. In the case of the Miller's daughter and Rumpelstiltskin, it took many years for the Princess to escape her promise to the wicked imp. In Sleeping Beauty, she lay in the state of sleeping death for one hundred years.

Fortuna, as seen in European Iconography

In the ancient medieval practice of Tarot reading, The Wheel of Fortune expresses the positive and negative dynamics of fate, and paradoxically it exists alongside minor arcana that bare the names King and Queen.    

Visconti Tarot, 1450

Source Materials:

• Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales, Barnes and Noble Inc. 1993
• An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Katherine Briggs, Pantheon Books, New York, 1976
• The Sleeping Beauty: Illustrated by Arthur Rackham, Exter Books, 1972
• English Fairy Tales, Joseph Jacobs, first published in 1890, Every Man's: Library Children's Classics
• Mastering the Tarot, by Eden Gray, Signet Books 1971
• radicalanthropologygroup.org
• dictionary.com
• wikipedia.com

   

True Love's Kiss & Grim Beginnings

The modern Fairytale has developed certain expectations, whether you recognize them or not. There are recipes that have become a staple in the tales and myths surrounding folklore. The first is that the story must begin with: Once Upon a Time, then through exposition we are introduced to a character who has experienced some form of hardship whether it's social status, economic hardship or simply put, a curse. As with most enchantments we come to expect that the only way a spell can be broken is not necessarily by fighting dragons or finding the right counter-spell but through an act of innocence, True Love's Kiss. This act has become almost as prevalent as the opening and conclusion of modern fairytales. When we think about Snow White and Sleeping Beauty they are tied together by True Love's Kiss, for it was the Prince who came to wake them from their enchantment. And as for the cursed Frog Prince, it is widely accepted that it was a kiss that lifted his curse, this is not really the case. While we see these acts through out the media, through children books and now big budgeted movie productions we stride further from more grim elements that made these tales stand out. There is irony in the largest collections of folktales, even in Jacob & Wilhelm's last name: Grimm, for that's what they were, dark and gruesome. Witches were more than old hags, they were wicked and malevolent, most wanting to destroy any and all who had the potential to gain any power over them. In the whole catalog of fairytales there are actually few circumstances where True Love's Kiss held any power, it is the advent of a modern desire for repetition and expectation. Most tales are shared as: Faithful Retellings, they are anything but.

'Rapunzel',Trina Schart Hyman 1982 

The original version of the Frog Prince saw a lonely frog who in returning a priceless golden ball to a carless Princess is granted his greatest desire. The Princess loses the item to a deep pool of water and cannot retrieve the object herself.

plus.maths.org

"Never mind, do not weep," answered the frog; "I can help you; but what will you give me if I fetch up your ball again?" (This suggests perhaps it was not the first time of her carelessness.)

"Whatever you like, dear frog," said she; "any of my clothes, my pearls and jewels, or even the golden crown that I wear." (Here it is understood that the little creature is not wearing a crown or any other item that might expose his true form, although in recent culture we always see him depicted with a tiny crown.)

"Your clothes, your pearls and jewels, and your golden crown are not for me," answered the frog; "but if you would love me, and have me for your companion and play-fellow, and let me sit by you at the table, and eat from your plate, and drink from your cup and sleep in your little bed---if you would promise all this, then would I dive below the water and fetch you your golden ball again." ---Brothers Grimm 

Janet & Anne Grahame Johnstone, Dean's: A Book of Fairy Tales 1977

After the ball is retrieved the Princess runs from the small creature ignorant of her promise. Later he comes knocking upon the palace door demanding what was promised to him. When the King learns of his daughters promise he orders that she must see it through. This perhaps is a lesson to what seems a very spoiled Princess. After feasting with the frog and letting him eat off of her plate the Princess is mortified.

Janet & Anne Grahame Johnstone, Dean's: A Book of Fairy Tales 1977

"I have had enough now," said the frog at last, "and as I am tired, you must carry me to your room, and make ready your silken bed, and we will lie down and go to sleep."

Then the King's daughter began to weep, and was afraid of the cold frog, that nothing would satisfy him but he must sleep in her pretty clean bed. now the King grew angry with her, saying, "That which tho hast promised in thy time of necessity, must tho now perform."

So she picked up the frog with her finger and thumb, carried him upstairs and put him in a corner, and when she had lain down to sleep, he came creeping up, saying, "I am tired and want to sleep as much as you; take me up, or I will tell your father."

Arthur Rackham, Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm 1900

Then she felt beside herself with rage, and picking him up, she threw him with all her strength against the wall, crying, "Now will you be quiet, you horrid frog!"

But as he fell, he ceased to be a frog, and became all at once a prince with beautiful kind eyes. And it came to pass that, with her father's consent, they became bride and bridegroom." ---Brothers Grimm

Originally this tale had no moment even closely resembling True Love's Kiss, it is the Princesses' brut rage that breaks the spell upon the poor creature and in it's glory this tale is successful without kisses. The twisted notion of having a a slimy creature in your clean silky bed is the original element that made this tale memorable. (*Frogs make appearances in many other familiar tales. The other most notable appearance is in the beginning of Sleeping Beauty, when a Queen is bathing in a pool and is told by a frog who emerges out of the water that she will bare a child. It is sort of gruesome thinking about frogs watching women silently, even more disturbing them watching Queens, for as in the Frog Prince's tale perhaps it was he who calculated everything. Ewe.)

Another circumstance where True Loves Kiss is not the element that breaks a curse is found in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This is rather disheartening for all children who grew up watching this...

Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dawarfs

        As is tradition for the Brothers Grimm, Snow's awakening is out of macabre circumstances.

'The dwarfs, when they came home in the evening, found Snow-White lying on the ground, and there came no breath out of her mouth, and she was dead. They lifted her up, sought if anything poisonous was to be found, cut her laces, combed her hair, washed her face with water and wine, but all was of no avail, the poor child was dead, and remained dead. Then they laid her on a bier, and sat all seven of them round it, and wept and lamented three whole days. And then they would have buried her, but that she looked still as if she were living, with her beautiful blooming cheeks.

Charles Santore

So they said, "We cannot hide her away in the black ground." And they had made a coffin of clear glass, so as to be looked into from all sides, and they laid her in it, and wrote in golden letters upon it her name, and that she was the King's daughter. Then they set the coffin out upon a mountain, and one of them always remained by it to watch. And the birds came too, and mourned for Snow-white, first an owl, then a raven, and lastly, a dove.

Now, for a long while Snow-white lay in the coffin and never changed, but looked as if she were asleep, for she was still as white as snow, as red as blood, and her hair was as black as ebony.

'Snow White' by Marianne Stokes

It happened, however, that one day a king's son rode through the wood and up to the dwarf's house, which was near it. He saw on the mountain the coffin, and beautiful Snow-white within it, and he read what was written in golden letters upon it. Then he said to the dwarfs, "Let me have the coffin, and I will give you whatever you like to ask for it."

But the dwarfs told him that they could not part with it for all the gold in the world. But he said, "I beseech you give it to me, for I cannot live without looking upon Snow-white; if you consent I will bring you to great honor, and care for you as if you were my brethren."

Belz & Gelber

When he spoke the good little dwarfs had pity upon him and gave him the coffin, and the King's son called his servants and bid them carry it away on their shoulders. Now it happened that as they were going along they stumbled over a bush, and with the shaking the bit of poisoned apple flew out of her throat. It was not long before she opened her eyes, threw up the cover of the coffin, and sat up, alive and well.' ---The Brothers Grimm

'The Glass Coffin', Paul Hey

The grim notion here is that many men were involved with Snow White's remains and made deals with her body. Another gruesome thought is that if not for her beauty she might have been buried, and as her beauty was a danger in her life now it has become her saving grace. The Sleeping Death Curse (,which is cause for another whole post,) is worse than death because in it, meticulously the subject appears dead. It was most likely the Queen's plan that Snow-white be buried alive.

The most bizarre and disturbing way that a Princess is awoken occurs in one of the earliest versions of Sleeping Beauty predating the Brothers Grimm, written in the 1600's. The majority of tales that the Brothers Grimm collected were directly from French and Germanic oral tradition. Sleeping Beauty's oldest variant comes from Italy by an author named Giambattista Basile. Basile's tale sees a young Princess who is cursed into a sleeping death by means of a splinter of flax that becomes lodged into her fingernail. The Princess, named Talia is left upon her velvet throne by her father, who's grief leaves him to abandon the palace without her remains. After much time has past she is discovered by another King who climbs into the abandoned palace. After he finds the sleeping beauty he cries aloud that he cannot wake her, then proceeds to carry her to a bed and rape her. Afterwards he abandons the Princess and travels back to his palace. In her unconsciousness she births two twins. One of the hungry infants sucks upon her finger and removes the splinter of flax. Later it is revealed that before he happened upon the Princess the King was married. The second half of the story surrounds the Queens efforts to have the twins killed. At one point she orders the Royal Cook to prepare the twins into a dinner for the King, who is unaware. The Cook cannot complete this task and prepares lamb to convince the Queen. The Queen who thinks herself successful, announces to the King after he compliments the food, "Eat,eat, you are eating of your own."  The evil Queen invites Talia to her kingdom with the plan to burn her alive. After the King Discovers the truth of her actions he turns around and has his Queen burned, along with everyone who betrayed him. Talia and the King then marry and live happily ever after.

Read the full version Here.

Arthur Rackham, Richard Wagner's Die Walküre 1910

  While variants on our beloved tales offer up faithful folkloric elements, they were originally anything but tales for children. The moments of panic and malevolent force drove these narratives. In a dangerous world these are more relatable, and while most classics don't end with a Happily Ever After, it can be argued that they lived better lives after their toils were over. Tales about Prince's and Princesses emerge out of a medieval culture when men did not have the capability of living long lives, when men still wondered about magic and the old spiritual ways.


Source Material:

• Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales, Barnes & Noble 1993 Edition
• Sleeping Beauty--- Giambattista Basile (The Sun, Moon, and Talia), uncoy.com
• Wikipedia.com
• Dictionary.com

Winter Witches & Spring Goddesses

'The Snow Queen', PJ Lynch 1994

Long before the advent of 'Frozen', winter witches subtly graced the pages of literature. Though limited appearances till now, they are some of the most intriguing and powerful sorceresses in the whole catalogue of folklore.

'The Snow Queen',Vladislav Erko 2000

In December of 1844 one of the first winter witches was fictionalized by an author named Hans Christian Andersen, in a story titled: The Snow Queen. Andersen is most famous for his tragic tale of the sea titled: The Little Mermaid. The Snow Queen, second in popularity to Andersen's work is actually one of a few of his tales that does not end on a tragic note. The story is weaved with subtle Christian folkloric elements, utilizing the means of Angels and Demons.

'The Snow Queen', Tomislav Tomić 2010

The tale begins when an evil Troll called the 'Devil' creates a magic mirror that manipulates the appearance of it's reflections. He toils with personal pupils who follow him around the earth carrying the heavy mirror.

Vilhelm Pedersen, 1845

"In this mirror the most beautiful landscapes looked like boiled spinach, and the best persons were turned into frights, or appeared to stand on their heads; their faces were so distorted that they were not to be recognised; and if anyone had a mole, you might be sure that it would be magnified and spread over both nose and mouth." (Andersen, 1844)

'The Snow Queen',Vladislav Erko 2000

"That's glorious fun!" said the sprite. If a good thought passed through a man's mind, then a grin was seen in the mirror, and the sprite laughed heartily at his clever discovery. All the little sprites who went to his school--for he kept a sprite school--told each other that a miracle had happened; and that now only, as they thought, it would be possible to see how the world really looked. They ran about with the mirror; and at last there was not a land or a person who was not represented distorted in the mirror. So then they thought they would fly up to the sky, and have a joke there. The higher they flew with the mirror, the more terribly it grinned: they could hardly hold it fast. Higher and higher still they flew, nearer and nearer to the stars, when suddenly the mirror shook so terribly with grinning, that it flew out of their hands and fell to the earth, where it was dashed in a hundred million and more pieces. And now it worked much more evil than before; for some of these pieces were hardly so large as a grain of sand, and they flew about in the wide world, and when they got into people's eyes, there they stayed; and then people saw everything perverted, or only had an eye for that which was evil. This happened because the very smallest bit had the same power which the whole mirror had possessed. Some persons even got a splinter in their heart, and then it made one shudder, for their heart became like a lump of ice. Some of the broken pieces were so large that they were used for windowpanes, through which one could not see one's friends. Other pieces were put in spectacles; and that was a sad affair when people put on their glasses to see well and rightly. Then the wicked sprite laughed till he almost choked, for all this tickled his fancy. The fine splinters still flew about in the air: and now we shall hear what happened next." (Andersen, 1844)

'The Snow Queen',Vladislav Erko 2000

The story centers around two childhood friends Gerda and Kai who live amidst lush flowers and vegetables that grow in window boxes on the garrets of their adjacent roofs. After likening falling snow to a swarm of bees, Kai asks his grandmother if "Snow Bees" have a queen. She responds,"she flies where the swarm hangs in the thickest clusters. She is the largest of all; and she can never remain quietly on the earth, but goes up again into the black clouds. Many a winter's night she flies through the streets of the town, and peeps in at the windows; and they then freeze in so wondrous a manner that they look like flowers." Later looking out the window Kai sees the Snow Queen who beckons him to follow. He draws back in fear, "at last it was like a young lady, dressed in the finest white gauze, made of a million little flakes like stars. She was so beautiful and delicate, but she was of ice, of dazzling, sparkling ice; yet she lived; her eyes gazed fixedly, like two stars; but there was neither quiet nor repose in them." 

'The Snow Queen', Debra McFarlane 2007

Later in the summertime Kai is affected by the 'Devil's' broken mirror when several shards fall from the sky and pierce his eyes and heart. He is corrupted and becomes cruel. He pokes fun at his Grandmother and no longer cares for his friend Gerda. The next winter Kai hitches his sled to a white snow carriage that is being operated by the Snow Queen, she offers him two magic kisses, one to numb his body to the cold and another to make him forget his past, a third kiss would surely kill him. (This magical kiss of protection predates the most famous one given to Dorothy before she sets down the Yellow Brick Road in the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The Sorceress who kisses the child is called the Good Witch of the North, the North perhaps is allegorical to the Winter.) 

The Snow Queen by Anastasia Arkhipova

The journey in this tale really begins when Gerda sets out to find her companion, traveling through many lands and working through many obstacles to save him. While in the Snow Queens dominion, the Land of Permafrost, Kai is given a task. If he can form the pieces of a puzzle that spell 'Eternity' together then the sorceress will set him free. Kai is ultimately saved by Gerda's love when she cries warm tears upon him, melting his heart and melting the piece of mirror lodged inside. In turn Kai's tears remove the fragments from his eyes and his vision is no longer distorted. They delight in joyful dance and ironically kick the pieces of the puzzle into their rightful place, securing Kai's freedom from the sorceress. 

'The Snow Queen',Vladislav Erko, 2000

Though very powerful and superior to the central characters, the Snow Queen does not dominate or try to destroy the heroines success. Rather, she provides a pseudo-safe haven for Kai as Gerda adventures to him. It can be argued that the true hero in this tale is she, for without her protection Kai might have been lost to the world. The Snow Queen is in league with knowing both of the angels and demons sensibilities, and she exists behind the scenes overseeing forces that are more intune to her senses, i.e. winter and snow. 

Vera Smirnova, Palekh, 2011

Over a hundred years after the publication of The Snow Queen, another sorceress emerged into literature, Jadis the White Witch. Jadis is the antagonist of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. She first appears to one of the central characters named Edmond Pevensie in a similar fashion to The Snow Queen and Kai. She approaches the child by means of sleigh and wears an elaborate fur coat. Her greatest feat was freezing the whole of Narnia for a hundred years. C.S. Lewis in later books eventually characterizes her as a Northern Witch (,perhaps another origin for the famous witch in Oz). 

Jadis, the White Witch. Art by Leo and Diane Dillon

The Narnian Snow Queen is a little more ruthless than Andersen's. She takes pleasure toiling with the world and desires full control, where Andersen's was simply interested in the powers of winter. And while Edmond is taken to her frozen palace, it is definitely not for protection. Although Human in appearance, Jadis is eventually described as half-Jinn and half-giantess. C.S. Lewis, like Hans Christian Andersen also pays homage to Christian folklore. In his tale the central characters from our world are described as 'Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve'. Folkloric theologians have claimed that Jadis is the descendant of Adam's first wife Lilith, and thus from pure evil and not human at all.  

Tilda Swinton as Jadis the White Witch, Disney's Lion Witch and the Wardrobe 2005

C.S. Lewis definitely drew inspiration for his queen from Hans Christian Andersen's earlier work, for she has the ultimate power and  casts the world into perpetual winter. In a later work titled: The Magicians Nephew, we learn of Jadis' powerful sister who was also considered a Northern Witch. (Again there are influences most assuredly between Hans Christian Andersen's Snow Queen, C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia and L. Frank Baum's Wonderful Wizard of Oz.)

'The Snow Queen', Nika Goltz

Andersen's Snow Queen also had a sister tied to nature, but in antithesis is likened to the ancient earth goddess Mother Nature. She is called, 'The Old Lady Who Knew Magic'. In the story she keeps a small home near a river where she has enchanted the area around her cottage to constantly remain in summer. Gerda on her quest to save Kai stumbles upon the witches garden and is so enchanted she nearly remains trapped in the witches simple realm, where the enchantments have cleared her mind of her quest. Gerda breaks the simple spell when she thinks upon roses, which were among Kai's favorite. 

"The Snow Queen', Boris Diodorov

'The Old Lady Who Knew Magic' is relatable to classic ideas about an anthropomorphized Mother Nature, as she is giving and nurturing. The fascinating element here is that by trying to keep Gerda from her path she is also overbearing, like so many mothers. 

Goddess of Earth by Phung Vu Lien Phuong

Traces of Mother Nature can be found throughout the world dating back as far as the middle ages and ancient Greece. The word nature in Latin (Natura) translates to meaning birth, or character. In an old English world earth was personified (Eorthe) as a goddess. The Grecian Goddess "Mother Gaia", the Mesopotamian "Ishtar", and the Norse Goddess "Jord" (Earth) are all representatives of the personification of Earth. Many Native tribes all over the world, American and aboriginal refer to the Earth as Mother. 

By Roslyne Sophia Breillat

Myths about Mother Nature around the world share a common element, water. Water is a representation of the constant flow of life. People have searched the world for sacred water, to cure ailments, to even regenerate life. "Water is the source of our existence, nurtured as we were in our mothers' amniotic fluid. The faeries gift of pure water is thus a potent one, cleansing and purifying the soul. It is the gift of life. In times past, the water of faeries springs was sought as a cure for infertility. Fertility Faeries, or Green Ladies, could become overenthusiastic in their work, however, enticing men into the woods, leading them on a merry dance, and leaving them exhausted...or worse."--- (Brian Froud, Good Faeries & Bad Faeries, 1998) 

'The Snow Queen',Vladislav Erko 2000

Snow Queens are likened to Green Ladies because they take the power of water and translate it into a 'frozen' realm.    

  Source Material: 

• Dictionary.com
• Online-literature.com
• Pinterest.com
• Wikipedia.com
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis , Macmillan Publishing Co, 1950
• Good Faeries & Bad Faeries by Brian Froud, Simon & Schuster, 1998
• The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, 1844

Artists:

• PJ Lynch
• Vladislav Erko
• Tomislav Tomić
• Vilhelm Pedersen
• Debra McFarlane
• Anastasia Arkhipova
• Leo & Diane Dillon
• Nika Goltz
• Boris Diodorov
• Phung Vu Lien Phuong
• Roslyne Sophia Breillat
  
  

Undines or Sea-Faeries: Part 2

The element of water has many temperaments, rage through heavy tides and weeping through storms.  It has the power to mold the earth, carving through rock. It has a bold temperament that can support or take life away. This element runs through our bodies and gives us life. It weaves around us and our many experiences as the ocean, streams, rivers, lakes, pools, rain drops, they are the ribbons that thread us to earth. Without the power of this element, we could not exist. 'Water could bring death as well as life, as mortals knew too well. In a time before history, divine wrath unleashed a raging flood that drowned the entire world.' (The Enchanted World Series: Water Spirits, Time-Life)

Surface of the Atlantic Ocean meeting the Earth's planetary boundary layer and troposphere.

When we look at the ocean anthropologically we see a history rich with the culture of myth. Gazing upon the largest body of water, we are left to our own curiosity. What lies deep below in uncharted waters? There are worlds we cannot see, worlds that stretch deeper and further than our limited plots of land. There are even plots of earth where the water flows beneath rocks.

Andrea Doria as Neptune, by Angelo Bronzino.

In Ancient Greece the 'God of the Sea' was called Poseidon, traditionally depicted as an older man with curly hair and a beard, carrying with him a Trident. (A three-pronged spear traditionally used for fishing, but representing an extremely powerful tool when carried by a god.) Poseidon's Trident was associated to the creation of all water sources. This tool had the power to stir up storms and tidal waves. Poseidon is also known as the 'Earth Shaker', because when he was angry and struck his spear it had the power to rattle the earth. This weapon is also carried by the Hindu god Shiva. In Taoism the Trident is used as a symbol in direct relation to a Taoist Trinity called the 'Three Pure Ones', it is a tool that represents the highest authority of Heaven. Poseidon is credited for the creation of mares and stallions. He is referred to as the 'Tamer of Horses'.

Kelpie on Pintrest

Horses are not unusual to discover in mythologies that dance around water. In Welsh and Scottish countries there is a legend surrounding a beast called the Kelpie. 'Although sometimes appearing in the guise of a hairy man, this is more often seen in the form of a young horse. The Kelpie haunts rivers and streams and, after letting unsuspecting humans mount him, will dash into the water and give them a ducking.' (Faeries: Brian Froud and Alan Lee)

'The Kelpie'' by Herbert James Draper, 1913

The Kelpie is known for haunting smaller bodies of water such as rivers, as opposed to lochs or the sea. When the Kelpie takes the shape of a human he appears rough and shaggy, most known to haunt solitary riders by leaping up out of the depths and grasping and clawing at them. His surprise stunt could be enough to frighten someone to death. Before storms, the Kelpie in his human form, could be heard howling and wailing into the wind, not unlike another certain female creature called the Banshee. In Scottish legend if the beast is properly bridled he could aid in many magical feats, such as pulling heavy objects, performing duties that a simple man could not.

http://lack-lustin.tumblr.com

While the Kelpie resides in rivers and streams, the Irish Aughisky (Agh-iski) resides in lochs and seas. He is much more dangerous than the other, for when caught, unsuspecting victims will be carried into the water then torn apart. The Aughisky will then consume the human leaving nothing behind but the liver. Because of his immense power and carnal history, people in the Highlands were extremely cautious of strangers and lone animals by the waters edge.

Faeries, Brian Froud & Alan Lee 1978

Next to gods and beasts there are tales about hags, water and swamp witches. The English Peg Prowler and Jenny Greenteeth are two nursery tale bogies who reside in pools and river banks. Most likely the invention of over cautious mothers, to keep their children out of rivers and pools, these creatures are known to drown and devour children. 'The Lanncanshire version...Jenny Greenteeth, who is suppose to seize children in her long, green fangs and drag them down into stagnant pools at the rivers edge. Her counterpart in the river Tees is Peg Powler.' (An Encyclopedia of Fairies: Katharine Briggs) Like Jenny Greenteeth, Peg Powler is green of skin but she attacks naughty children, her primary mythical location is out of the River Tees in Northern England.

Meg Mucklebones, Inspired by Jenny Greenteeth & Peg Powler, in Ridley Scott's 1985 fantasy epic Legend.

The most elegant of sea faeries, Mermaids, are found throughout English, Scottish, and Celtic lore. Traditionally depicted as beautiful maidens like the sirens, with upper torsos like women, and lower tails like a fish. Many myths explore the allure of these maidens singing songs on a bed of rocks beside the sea. Like sirens they are known to allure men to their deaths and are tied to storms and disaster. While the Celts myths explored the dangerous side of these creatures Scandinavian myths explored a much softer side, there they were known to lament human lovers with kindness and sometimes save them from the perils of the sea. Like many other gentle faeries, if caught it was believed they could grant wishes.

Edmond Dulac, 'The little Mermaid', Hodder & Stoughton 1911.

The most famous tale of a sea faerie is perhaps Hans Christian Anderson's 'Little Mermaid', in this short tale a mermaid gives up her life as a mer-creature to gain a soul and the love of a mortal prince. Although it ends on a tragic note, this tale written in 1836 has been paired and compared to the likes Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm. It has been shelved next to Snow White, Cinderella and Alice, but perhaps it rises above all of them because it is the first time that a folk tale explores the mystery of being human, the wonder of looking at humanity through a faeries eyes. The mermaid longs for a human life and trades the procession of her ocean life to a sea witch. After various trials and mortal pain the maiden learns that in order to to go back to her ocean life she must kill the only one she loves. Unable to complete the task the girl throws herself back to the sea dissolving into foam, but without complete departure she feels the sun and transforms into a spirit of the air, learning that by doing good deeds she can rise into the kingdom of heaven.      

Edmond Dulac, 'The little Mermaid', Hodder & Stoughton 1911.

Source Material:

• Wikipedia.org
• Pintrest.com
• Merriam-webster.com
•  abuddhistlibrary.com---Search: Elementals
• Faeries, Brian Froud & Alan Lee, Abrams Inc. 1978
•  norse-mythology.org
• oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/exploration.html (National Ocean Service)
• The Enchanted World Series, Water Spirits, Time-Life Books 1984
• An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Katherine Briggs, Pantheon Books 1976
• Faeries and Demons and other Magical Creatures, Edouard Brasey, Barnes and Noble Books 2003