Family, Feuds, and Fairy Tales

Reading up recently on The Mabinogi has reminded me of the strong role of family in fairy tales and the sagas that came before them.  The Saga of Hrolf Kraki is a veritable family drama-fest, with brothers stealing each others' wives, and wives betraying husbands, and blood feuds, and boons and curses passing over generations.

Family ties were of utmost import in these pre-Christian societies, so that the slight of a kinsman was considered a grievous offense against one's person.  The same loyalty could start a war or keep a dangerous man from justice.  Often, disputes would arise between one's spouse and one's family member.  In my reading, the side of the blood-relative is almost always taken over that of the spouse.  And children, being tainted by half their blood, might suffer or be spared for the offending parent.

In the Mabinogi, Branwen, sister of the high king of Britain, is betrothed to the king of Ireland to keep peace between the two lands.  Branwen's other brother, however, finds insult in not being consulted about the marriage, and in a fit, slaughters the Irish king's horses.  The high king, Bran the Blessed, is himself greatly offended by their brother's doings, but rather than punish or disown him, offers recompense to the Irish king.  The Irish king takes the gifts and his bride, but does not forget the slight, and a series of events unfold that lead to the scouring of two mighty lands.  Branwen loses her child and dies of a broken heart before the end of it.

Branwen releasing a starling to send a message to her brother of her mistreatment at the hands of the Irish king, source

A similar deterioration occurs in late Arthurian legend, when Arthur will not--or cannot--decry the adultery between his wife and Sir Lancelot, a brother in honor and oath--since the arrival of Christianity, an even stronger bond than blood.  The adultery weakens the kingdom, and in this weakness, King Arthur's nephews are able to overthrow and mortally wound him.

Alan Lee,  the head of Bran the Blessed

I used to pinch the covers of my books in frustration at Bran and Arthur--surely, they could have avoided such tragedy by a firm decision and a swift act.  But the truth is that their situations are universal and entirely relevant.  The conflict of family loyalty and honor is as alive now as it was then.  And in the news on the television, and in our own personal lives, we too often encounter those who let toxic family relationships destroy all hope for happiness.

You Know You're a Fairy Tale Blogger When

Kristin from Tales of Faerie and Gypsy from Once Upon a Blog have instigated a bloggy carnival of fairy tale goodness and invited me to join!  Some of my admissions aren't a result of being a blogger so much as a general lover (and a passionate lover I am at that!), but blogging certainly aggravates the pre-existing condition.  So, without further ado:

You know you're a fairy tale blogger when . . .

• you always check the backs of wardrobes, just in case
• you tell your child not to pick flowers or kick rocks in the woods because "the fairies wouldn't like that"
• you ruin Disney viewings with friends with this helpful introduction: "in the original/oldest version of the tale. . ."
• you're on alert for even the slightest fairy tale tropes and underlying themes in modern movies and television shows
• ditto books
• you judge which television series to watch next on Netflix according to two criteria: (1) is this a fairy tale show? and (2) can I blog about it?  (see post on Ever After High here)
• you tell Grimm and Anderson versions of Disney movies whenever an opportunity arises (I told Anderson's The Little Mermaid to a seven-year-old while washing dishes)
• you swear you keep seeing Ents on your evening walks
• you dedicate an entire Pinterest account to collecting fairy tale art and images
• collecting and organizing those images take up an unwholesome amount of your time
• you pen letters (or want to) with a quill and ink
• you resolve to read the Harry Potter series because it's such a major player in the mythic/fairy tale genre
• you never tire of the observation that there are next to no fairies in fairy tales but plenty of fairies in folktales
• you write your college senior project on fairy tales
• you have more than one blog, and wrestle with simplifying by combining them, but just can't drop your fairy tale blog, even if it means less time and more work for you
• you know the difference between dwarfs, elves, goblins, pixies, gnomes, and fairies
• you know the difference between "dwarfs" and "dwarves"
• you sometimes "lose" fairy tale library books which are no longer in print (but they were so lonely and hadn't been checked out since 1968!)
• you leave cake out on All Hallows' Eve, to welcome lonely spirits, but would only ever admit this on a blog!
• the names Gerda and Kai and Hansel and Gretel are on your list of potential future baby names--bonus points for twins
• you're a bit of a snob about prissy boutiques and their cutesy "happily ever after" pillows and frogs-in-crowns cartoons on hand towels; like, what, are fairy tales a joke to you?
• and think, "they have no idea what a real fairy tale is" and "if only they knew they're creating the opposite of their desired effect!"
• you tire of the phrase "real life Cinderella," because you doubt there were any fairy godmothers or magical birds involved
• it's been said already but bears saying again: your Amazon wishlist is hurting for it!
• you learn to spin on a drop spindle on the sole merit of spinning's popularity in fairy tales
• you want to purchase a spinning wheel some day
• and fully intend to use it, not just for decoration
• your dream home is just short of a gingerbread house in the woods
• and you decorate your current home like one!
• you have a love-hate relationship with fairy tale interpretations because they are so interesting but because just the fairy tales themselves are more powerful than our attempts to understand them
• you make G.K. Chesterton the patron saint of your blog
• you write a fairy tale novel approximately ten years in the making
• you consider the admonition "you're living in a fairy tale!" a supreme compliment

I better stop before I use up everyone else's.  But I promise all of the above is true!  Other posts in the series so far by

Kristin from Tales of Faerie
Gypsy from Once Upon a Blog
Heidi of SurLaLune
Adam of Fairy Tale Fandom
Tahlia from Diamonds and Toads and Timeless Tales
Kate at Enchanted Conversation
Kristina at Twice Upon a Time
Reilly, co-founder of the Australian Fairy Tales Society

Reilly tagged me, and now I tag Megan of The Dark Forest!

Saint Walpurgis Eve

Saint Walpurga
source
(please note: accuracy of article questionable)

Hallowe'en is a popular modern holiday evolved from the medieval festival, with roots in pre-Christian Europe.  But the average person doesn't celebrate, let alone know about, Hallows Eve's opposite and counterpart, St. Walpurgis Eve, the night before May Day, whose ancient name is Beltane.

Here in Wales, the holy day of May 1st survives only as a disembodied bank holiday, floating around the days of the week depending on the calendar year.  But that wasn't always the case.  It used to be a night of bonfires and blessings, drinking and feasting, of ritualistic acknowledgement of the changing seasons, and a celebration to usher in the fullness of spring.

There are four seasonal festivals that have been celebrated, in some shape or form, for over 2,000 years in the west: Hallowe'en/All Souls Day and Christmas Eve/Christmas survived the test of time, but Saint Walpurgis/May Day and Midsummer's Eve/Day, for some reason, lost their potency.  Their remnants are found in our cultural traditions.  Midsummer's Night was fortunate to be memorialized by Shakespeare's play, but vintage pictures of maypoles and skimming literary references keep May Day buzzing in the back of our consciousnesses, like static low on the television.  Even still, they are better known than the all-but-forgotten Saint Brigid's Day and Lamas Day, celebrated on February 1st and August 1st, respectively.

Ida Waugh, source

Some of these holy days mark the middle of the seasons rather than the beginning of them.  The summer and winter solstices recognize the approximate time when the lengthening or shortening of the days reverse or, as we know now, when the earth stands still and pauses before it starts to tilt in reverse direction.  But the ancient Gaelic festivals were somewhere between the end of one season and the beginning of another; associated with transitions, in all their forms, as thresholds where one is neither in nor out, neither here nor there.

The difference in calendars and the reckoning of seasons is difficult to grasp; I can hardly get my bearings on them myself.  I grew up with the popular seasonal groupings of spring (March, April, May), summer (June, July, August), autumn (September, October, November), and winter (December, January, February), but the ancient holy days suggest a different kind of division--especially in the remaining Catholic tradition of a the vigil, in which a new day begins at nightfall rather than sunrise.  By celestial time-keeping, however, all the seasons are bumped forward about a month.  By this reckoning, autumn starts in October, winter in January, etc.  Look up the "first day of autumn" and "the first day of winter" in your calendar diary, and you'll see what I mean!*

neo-Pagan "wheel of the year," source

Awareness of the season and where one is in the calendar is integral to folklore and fairy tales.  Brushes with the otherworld were most likely to occur on the liminal days (equinoxes), and even Midsummer could mean trouble for maidens and wandering children.  We can see how the seasonal waxing and waning, dying and awakening of the earth inspired folk traditions and daily living.  The seasonal changes weren't just about the weather.  They were near--and sometimes dear--realities.  Just like fairy tales.



*Tolkien adapted and elaborated on the seasons and the folk traditions to engineer personalized calendars for the races populating Middle Earth--right down to the Leap Days!