I’m trying to start reading more fairytales, in hopes that it will inspire me to start writing again. Since I have very little experience with Scottish fairytales, I thought this book would be a good way to read a few of them!
Scottish Folk and Fairytales is a collection of Scottish fairy tales, both ancient and modern. It’s got a nice mix of poems and short stories, and there’s also quite a bit of Scots inside. Luckily, there’s a dictionary at the back of the book, so it’s possible to slowly read the stories and understand what they’re about.
The first two stories in the book: The Milk-White Doo and The Well O’ The World’s End reminds me of two German tales: The Juniper Tree and The Frog Prince. But, both stories have their own take on the tale – in particular, I found The Well O’ The World’s End to be very charming, and the girl isn’t a brat who threw the frog, she’s someone who overcame her disgust and followed instructions (albeit unwillingly) and was rewarded for it. There are a few other stories in the book which have similar tropes to fairy tales from other stories, but I suppose that stories have influenced and been influenced by each other through the years, so I shouldn’t be too surprised at the similarities.
Other tales that made an impression on me were:
Tam Lin: a poem that took me two tries and a Wikipedia to understand, but had a very magical ring to it (and it was worth the effort to read it)
Assipattle and the Mester Stoorworm: This has echoes of Andromeda, with a princess being chosen as a sacrifice to a sea serpent. But Assipattle found out how to ride his father’s magic horse and with his wits, he will defeat the sea serpent.
The Grey Wolf: As expected from George MacDonald (I really should read more of his work), this is a haunting and mysterious tale. Notes at the end describe this as a reverse Red Riding Hood and I totally agree.
Through The Veil: I didn’t know about Arthur Conan Doyle’s connections with the Scots, but he wrote an interesting story where the past and present almost meet.
The Lonely Giant: A very cute tale about a giant who has friends, but wants to meet someone his own size because it’s hard to carry out a relationship when you’re continually laughing at the ridiculous measures you need to take in order to talk to someone. The twist was pretty heartwarming too.
All in all, I really enjoyed this collection of Scottish tales. It’s got a nice balance between the mysterious, sometimes dark fairy stories and heartwarming tales of kindly good folk. I also really enjoyed the language used. Makes me want to do a deep dive into Scottish tales, but I’ve got a few more queued up so it shall have to wait.