Storytelling: Tattercoats

She was beautiful and she didn't even know it.

I still remember the first time I ever saw her. She was dancing down the road with a gooseherd and his geese. It was definitely a sight to see. She had tattered clothes and bare feet. Her sandy blonde hair looked like it hadn't been brushed in ages. Despite her worn down appearance, she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Her smile shone brighter than a sky full of stars and her eyes were filled with a joy I had never seen before. It took me all of five seconds to fall in love with her.

I knew this was the girl I had to marry. So, I dismounted my horse and slowly made my way up to her. "Excuse me," I said. "Would you happen to know where the king is staying? I have been invited to a party he is hosting and cannot seem to find my way."

"Why yes I do," this stunning girl replied. "In fact we are headed there ourselves! Why don't you join us on the journey!"

I of course was not going to pass up the opportunity to be near her, so I agreed to walk with them. As we were walking, the gooseherd continued to play his pipe. I don't know if it was the music or just simply being in this girl's presence, but I was falling even more in love with her. I couldn't contain myself any longer.

"Will you marry me?" I blurted out. "I know we just met, but you are the most exquisite being I have ever seen and I would be so honored if you would be my wife."

She looked at me like I had lost my mind and then laughed. "That is quite the joke sir. You would be put to shame if you were to wed me and my low status. Save your proposal for one of the lovely ladies you will see tonight at the king's ball."

I will admit the rejection hurt, but I would not take no for an answer. One way or another I was going to convince her that I wanted her to be my wife. The more we walked and the more the gooseherd played his pipe, the more I fell in love with this girl. She may not have been of a high stature, but she had a heart of pure gold and that was even more valuable. She had a natural elegance and grace that made her even more precious than any gemstone a wealthy man could offer. Despite my best efforts to convince her of this, she did not believe that it was true. Her humility and modesty only made me fall for her more.

"Miss I will do anything to convince you that you are the one for me! Please meet me at the ball at midnight tonight. Come as you are and bring your friend and his geese. Come in your torn dress and bare feet and dance with me in front of the king and his court and allow me to present you as my beloved bride."

"I will consider your request kind sir. I have always wanted to attend a ball. This is where we part ways. For now," she said with a wry smirk.

These words were all I needed to give me hope that she would finally say yes. Waiting at the ball was agonizing. Every second I looked at the clock and then the grand doors and back to the clock and so on.

Finally the clock stuck twelve. I have never been so relieved in my life than when I saw that beautiful woman walk through those doors, gooseherd and flock in tow. The people of the court whispered and laughed, but I didn't care. The only thing that mattered to me was that she was there. I quickly stepped down from beside the throne and kissed her hand. I then turned my attention to the king.

"Father," I began, "I have decided that this is the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. She is the sweetest and most beautiful girl in all the land and she would make me the happiest man alive."

She was a little surprised that I was actually the prince. However, she was more surprised by what the gooseherd did next, as were we all. As soon as I had finished presenting her to my father, the gooseherd played a few low notes and her raggedy clothes turned into beautiful silk robes with jewels encrusted along the seams. A golden crown appeared upon her sandy blonde hair and the geese transformed into pages that helped hold her long train.

My father rose to greet her and accepted her as his new daughter. The trumpets sounded loudly and the people in the street congratulated me on finding the loveliest girl in all the land. The gooseherd was never heard from again; he seemed to have vanished into thin air.

As for me and the beautiful young woman, we went on to be married and are living happily ever after. To this day she still doesn't know just how truly beautiful she is. For it wasn't her clothes or representation of her wealth that made me fall in love with her, but rather her genuine smile and sparkling eyes and her humble personality. She was beautiful in appearance, but you could tell just by looking at her that there was so much more to her than that. She likes to believe that she is the lucky one of the two of us, but in all reality I am the lucky one to be able to call this one of a kind woman my wife and I will spend the rest of my life showing her just how precious she really is.


Author's Note: My story is based off of the English Fairy Tale Tattercoats from More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs. In the original it gives the back story of how Tattercoats was the granddaughter of an old, rich lord. However, his favorite daughter died giving birth to her so he did not want anything to do with her. Tattercoats' nurse was the one who raised her and provided for her as best she could. One day news traveled through the town that the king was having a ball so that his son could choose a wife. Tattercoats wanted to attend the ball desperately and the old nurse tried to convince her grandfather to take her, but he refused. Tattercoats then relays the sad news to her friend the gooseherd who then convinces her to go to the ball with him just as they are. This is where my story picks up. It is very similar to the original in plot. The main difference is the point of view. I thought it would be cute to tell the story from the Prince's perspective to emphasize what made him fall in love with her. I loved that he fell in love with her despite her ragged appearance and I wanted to make that the most prominent part of the story. I also thought it would be cute to tell the story as a memory. It gives it a nostalgic feeling, but also really shows the Prince's love for her.

Bibliography: More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs; Mythology and Folklore Untextbook

Image information:
-Image 1: Taken from More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, illustrated by John Dickson Batten
-Image 2: Taken from Fairy Ring by Kate Douglas Wiggen, illustrated by Elizabeth MacKinstry

Reading Notes: More English Fairy Tales Part A

The Golden Ball was an interesting read. The whole time I just wanted to know what was so important about that ball that the girl had to be hung if she lost it. I also wondered how the guy who gave it to her would even know if she lost it. I could write a story that answered one or both of those questions. This story already has a love aspect in it, so I could also incorporate that into my version to keep up with my running theme.

I liked Tattercoats. It reminded me of Cinderella a little bit. I love that the Prince fell in love with her just as she was instead of the dolled up version. I think it would be fun to take this story and make it into a modern day love story. I think I'm leaning towards this one.

Illustration by John Dickson Batten taken from the book More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jaocbs

The Old Witch caught my attention mainly because of the moral. I like that it was a story about treating others how you want to be treated. I'm not really sure how I could adapt this story, but I really enjoyed reading it.

Bibliography: More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs; Mythology and Folklore Untextbook

Storytelling: Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree

 

 My name is Alastrina and I am the second wife of the beloved prince. His first wife, Gold-Tree, died tragically not too long ago. Many say it was at the hands of her own mother, but nothing was ever proven. She was the most beautiful woman in all of the land. It's kind of hard to compete with that. My husband does make an effort to be happy or at least pretend. I can tell that he still misses her and probably always will, but that doesn't keep me from loving him. I would give anything to see him smile again.

     My husband has taken leave on a hunting trip and has left me to my own devices. I have wandered this palace many times and have explored every room. Well, there is actually one room I have never been inside. My husband keeps it locked and always carries the key with him. However, I did not see him wearing it this morning when he departed on his trip. I will find the key and finally see what he has painstakingly been keeping a secret. 

     It has been at least ten minutes since I opened the secret door and I still cannot believe what I am seeing. Lying in the center of the room, on a gorgeous canopied bed, is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. This must be my beloved husband's first wife. She is even more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. Her hair is as dark as ebony and shines in the sunlight peaking through the window. Her skin is as fair as the snow that covers the mountain peaks in the winter. Her face is peaceful as if she is merely sleeping. No wonder he never buried her, a beauty like this must be preserved, not discarded. 

     I wonder if I could wake her up. I know she is dead, but if I could wake her up I could make my husband the happiest man in the world. There is nothing I wouldn't give to see his eyes light up one more time. Hmmm what is that in her finger? It looks like a stab, that has no place on such a beautiful woman so I'll remove it. Even if I can't wake her up, there is no point in keeping this unsightly splinter in her finger. 

     I still can't comprehend what just happened. As soon as I removed the stab from Gold-Tree's finger she woke up. The stab must have been poisoned or something of that nature. My husband will be so thrilled to have his first love back. I guess this means he will no longer have a use for me, but his happiness is the most important thing to me and I am willing to step aside so they can be together again. He will be home tonight; I will share the wonderful news with him then and inform him of my departure from the palace. 

     I have never seen my husband so happy in all the time that we have been together. His face lit up brighter than the sun or any other star I have ever laid eyes on. It was a magnificent sight to see. I have to admit I was surprised that he asked me to stay, but I am overjoyed to be able to share in the happiness that has now filled the castle. It is nice to see everyone so happy.

     The happiness was short lived I am afraid. Our husband is away on a hunting trip and Silver-Tree, Gold-Tree's mother, is on her way for visit. Gold-Tree is terrified. She keeps saying that her mother will kill her as soon as she gets here. I am not going to let that happen. The prince's happiness as well as Gold-Tree's are the most important thing to me and I will not let anyone take that away from them. When Silver-Tree gets here, we will take care of her once and for all.  

     Silver-Tree thought she was clever, but she was not more clever than I. She tried to trick Gold-Tree into drinking the wine that she had brought as a gift. I knew better than to believe she was being sincere, so I told her that it is customary for the person bearing the drink to take the first sip. When Silver-Tree put the cup to her lip I quickly hit the bottom of it, tilting upward just enough for some of the wine to go down her throat. It was poisoned, just as I had suspected, and Silver-Tree immediately fell dead. Gold-Tree is so relieved and she no longer has to live in fear. Now we are able to live out the remainder of our days peacefully and happily and that is exactly what we are going to do. 

Author's note: My story is based of off the Celtic Fairy tale Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree. My story very closely relates to the original. In the original the story begins by describing how Silver-Tree is jealous of her daughter's beauty and asks her husband to kill Gold-Tree so that she may be the most beautiful in the land. However, the king marries Gold-Tree to a prince in a far off land and lies to his wife about the completion of the task. However, Silver-Tree soon finds out about the lie when she visits the trout and asks if she is the fairest of them all and it tells her that Gold-Tree is still the fairest. Silver-Tree quickly makes arrangements to visit her daughter and despite Gold-Tree's efforts to stay away from her, Silver-Tree is able to jab Gold-Tree in the finger with a poisoned stab, killing her. This is where my story begins. I did however change the perspective of the story. It was my first attempt at writing a story in first person. I wanted to tell the story from her perspective so the audience could get a first hand feel of what she went through and to also emphasize the love she had for her husband and later on Gold-Tree. I also thought that the fact that she was willing to leave so that Gold-Tree and the Prince could live in happiness showed how much she loved the prince and how selfless she was. It goes with my theme of love, but it is a different take on the concept. I got the idea for the name "Alastrina" because I wanted to use a Celtic name since it was a celtic fairy tale and after researching names I chose this one because it means "defend mankind," which I thought was fitting since she wanted her husband to be happy and protected Gold-Tree. 

Bibliography: Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs; Mythology and Folklore Untextbook

Image information: 1st image is what I imagined Alastrina to look like. She is pretty, but has a plain nature about her as to not outshine Gold-Tree. The image is called Young Fauna and is by Kawaiibrit. 2nd Image is of Snow White, who is very similar to Gold-Tree. The image is called Snow White and is by Kawaiibrit.

Reading Notes: Celtic Fairy Tales Part A

The Shepard of Myddvai was an interesting read. It starts off like a fairy tale  with the man being able to pick out his love among his sisters. It was frustrating to see him "strike" her three times and ultimately lose the love of his life. I use quotation marks because I don't think what he did constitutes a striking but that's just me. I feel like I could take this story and spin it into a happy ending. I'm still pondering the ways in which I could do this. 

In Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree it's interesting that it is the mother not the step mother that is jealous. I also thought it was interesting that it was the king who was given the task of getting the heart and the liver not a huntsmen. I really enjoyed the fact that it was the prince's second wife who brought Gold-Tree back to life. It showed her selflessness because she seemingly knew that her husband still longed for Gold-Tree and woke her anyway and was even willing to leave so that they may be together. I think I'd like to take this story and write a new one from the perspective of the second wife when she finds Gold-Tree and the events that unfold from that point in time. I think it would be interesting to see what was going through her mind. 

Snow White by Kawaiibrit

Bibliography: Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs; Mythology and Folklore Untextbook

Storytelling: The Woman Stolen by Killer Whales

There was once a woman named Nakoma who lived alone near the sea. She had been married before, but her husband passed and she hadn't found another man who she could see herself being with. So, she lived alone. Nakoma was a strong woman and had learned to be independent. She missed her husband, but she didn't mind living alone. She knew how to take care of herself.

One day she was out at sea fishing for future meals. Her husband had been a fisherman and taught her his trade before he had passed. Nakoma was very grateful to him for this because she didn't know how she would have survived other wise. She was sitting out at sea thinking about her gratitude for her late husband when she felt something extremely heavy on her hook. Nakoma tried to pull it up, but to no avail. So, she tied the line to her boat and paddled back to shore. Once she got back to the beach she tried to pull the fish onto the shore and through much struggle she finally succeeded. It was a strange looking fish. She had never seen anything like it before. It was black and white and very large. It would feed her for week! Nakoma quickly killed it and set to work cutting it up and hanging it out to dry.

When her work was finished, she went to the edge of the shore to wash her hands in the water. As soon as she dipped her fingers in the sea, something quickly grabbed her and dragged her underneath the water. It was the Killer-Whales who had taken Nakoma because they wanted to get revenge on her for killing their friend.

News of the kidnapping soon became the talk of the underwater scene. It soon found the ears of the Shark. He knew exactly who Nakoma was, for he had watched her many times. After her husband died he took pity on her and was going to help take care of her, but soon realized she didn't need help from anyone. He liked this about Nakoma and so he observed her instead. After a while, Shark began to fall in love with Nakoma. So, when he heard of her kidnapping he wasted no time jumping into action to save her.

He arrived at the place the Killer-Whales resided right as night was falling. He waited until they fell asleep and snuck into their house to rescue Nakoma. He untied the rope that the Killer-Whales had bound her with. "Stay quiet and hold on to my fin," he whispered. Nakoma nodded her head and did as she was told. Once she had secured herself, Shark took off and swam as quickly as he could to Nakoma's house.

When they arrived on the beach, Nakoma laid on the sand overwhelmed with the events of the day. However, she felt strangely calm and safe. She hadn't truly felt that way since her husband died. She realized it was because of Shark and that his selfless rescue of her might have made her develop feelings for him. "Thank you for rescuing me," she said. "I haven't felt this safe since my husband passed. I don't mean to be forward, but would you mind staying with me? It doesn't have to be forever, just until we are sure the Killer-Whales won't return."

Shark was overjoyed. He had been in love with Nakoma for a while and this gave him hope that she might fall for him to. "I will stay with you as long as you would like," he said. "I must confess something. I have watched you since your husband passed away. I wanted to help take care of you, but I soon discovered that you did not need my help. So, instead I just observed you and ended up falling for you. That being said, I will be happy to stay with you for as long as you please."

Nakoma was surprised by Shark's confession, but it made her smile. "After tonight I think it is safe to say that I have started developing similar feelings for you as well and would like you to stay with me for as long as I am living." The two smiled at each other and embraced. They went on to live a happy life and were never again bothered by the Killer-Whales.

Author's Note: In the original story it was a married couple and the husband was the one who killed the whale. The Killer-Whales took his wife as revenge for killing their friend. So, the husband follows their trail and winds up at the house of the Fish Chief and asked where his wife was and if anyone would help him save her. The shark volunteers and takes the man to their house. The man waits outside while the Shark distracts them and he fends them off while the couple gets away. I wanted to change it more into a love story to go with my theme. So, I made the woman into a widow and the Shark in to her lover. I wanted to make the transition of her falling in love with Shark as seamless as possible and so I decided to go with the feeling of being safe first. I think that in a relationship that is very important and I thought that it would be a good basis for her love of Shark. I chose the name Nakoma because I wanted a strong name since she was independent. I researched Native American names and found Nakoma which was said to mean "Great warrior" or "Great Spirit." I chose this image because I wanted to give a visual of what I thought her cottage would look like. This is definitely a more modern version, but it does give a good sense of a lone cottage on the beach.

Bibliography: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson; Mythology and Folklore Untextbook

Image Information: Taken from the High Tide Cottages rental website

Reading Notes: Marriage Tales Part B

The Girl and the Turkeys is very similar to Cinderella. I love it! It was so interesting to the different cultural take on a classic fairy tale that most people know. I really liked that the stipulation for her to return to normal was if she forgot about her Turkey friends. It drove home the idea that it doesn't really matter what you look like, dress like, or own but rather how you treat and care for others. I also thought it was interesting that there wasn't really a happy ending. It might be interesting to make one of the Turkeys turn into a man and marry the girl for her kind heart after returning to them.

 The Birds of America by John James Audubon

The True Bride had a Snow White feel to it, which made it interesting because my mind was comparing the two as I was reading. I like that step sister was made to spit toe nails. Out of everything that I could have thought of her spitting from her mouth, I never would have thought of toe nails. I thought that was humorous. I'm not sure what I could change about this story, but I really did enjoy reading it.

photo taken by Marco Verch

Bibliography: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson; Mythology and Folklore Untextbook

Reading Notes: Marriage Tales Part A

I wasn't able to pick out a specific story I liked for this reading. They were all interesting, but I couldn't decide which one specifically to retell.

While I was reading The Piqued Buffalo-Wife I thought about changing the story to where the man and woman have a fight and she leaves. Then, the man has to pick out his wife from a group but is able to do so without any hints. I thought it would be interesting to keep the plot similar, but change it up enough to make it new. It could also tie in with my theme of love stories because he is able to identify his wife through his unrequited love for her. Just a thought.

By Jack Dykinga

The Bear-Woman and Deer-Woman could maybe be a tale of jealousy. The doe and the grizzly could be "friends" but they both have eyes for the same guy. The guy likes the doe back, but the grizzly becomes jealous and kills her. Maybe I could throw a Sleeping Beauty/Snow White element into it where his kiss is able to bring her back to life, or maybe just the strength of his love could do it?


I also had some ideas for The Woman Stolen by Killer Whales. Instead of the woman already being married, I thought it could be interesting to have her fishing alone and mistakenly kill the killer whale and then being kidnapped. The news of the kidnapping could travel through the sea and reach the ears of the shark. He takes pity and rescues her and the two fall in love as a result.

By Robert Pittman

Bibliography: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson; Mythology and Folklore Untextbook