Reading Notes: Celtic Fairy Tales, Part A
Bibliography
"The Shepherd of Myddvai" from Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, Read it here
This story reminded me of a book I read a while ago called Selkie Girl by Laurie Brooks. I think the mythology surrounding selkies is Scottish, but I'm not sure if it has Celtic origins as well? I wouldn't be surprised if it does, because this story seemed to allude to the concept of selkies even if it didn't talk about it outright.
Anyways, in the story there is a shepherd who is lounging by a lake with his sheep. While he is resting, three beautiful women rise out of the lake and begin playing with his sheep. As the shepherd watched them, one of the women came close to him, and he instantly fell in love because of her ethereal beauty.
The shepherd offers the mysterious maiden a piece of bread, but when she tastes it she says it is overbaked, and runs back into the lake. The next day, the shepherd is back with his flock at the lake and the three maidens rise out of the lake again. This time, the shepherd offers the maiden he loves some less baked bread, but when she tastes it this time she says it is underbaked.
Undeterred, the shepherd returns a third day and this time he offers the maiden some bread he found on the shore of the lake. The maiden likes this bread so much that she promises she'll marry the shepherd if he can identify her from her two sisters the next day. The shepherd comes back another day, and is able to pick out his love from the maidens because of her sandal strap.
The two are married, but the maiden warns the shepherd that she will leave him if he strikes her three times for no good reason. The shepherd thinks this is silly as he can't imagine himself striking his bride, so he doesn't worry about it.
However, one day the maiden asks the shepherd to quickly run home and grab her gloves. The shepherd does so, and in order to get the maiden's attention, he taps her on the shoulder with her gloves. The maiden warns the shepherd that this is the first strike.
Then, some time later, the couple are at a wedding. The maiden suddenly bursts into tears, and in order to console her, the shepherd taps her on the shoulder and asks why she's crying. The maiden responds that she is crying because the newly-wed couple are headed for trouble in their marriage, and also because it is the second time the shepherd has struck her, so they are heading for trouble as well.
From then on, the shepherd was extremely careful not to strike the maiden. But after many years, the two were at a funeral, and the maiden suddenly burst out laughing. A little embarrassed, the shepherd roughly grabbed the maiden's shoulder and asked her why she was laughing. The maiden responded that she was laughing because the deceased was now free, and so was she because it was the third time the shepherd struck her.
So the maiden immediately left the shepherd, ran to the lake, and disappeared in the water. The shepherd never saw the maiden again, and the only time the maiden ever returned to land was to see her sons when they became grown men, in order to grant them healing abilities.
"The Shepherd of Myddvai" from Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, Read it here
This story reminded me of a book I read a while ago called Selkie Girl by Laurie Brooks. I think the mythology surrounding selkies is Scottish, but I'm not sure if it has Celtic origins as well? I wouldn't be surprised if it does, because this story seemed to allude to the concept of selkies even if it didn't talk about it outright.
Anyways, in the story there is a shepherd who is lounging by a lake with his sheep. While he is resting, three beautiful women rise out of the lake and begin playing with his sheep. As the shepherd watched them, one of the women came close to him, and he instantly fell in love because of her ethereal beauty.
The shepherd offers the mysterious maiden a piece of bread, but when she tastes it she says it is overbaked, and runs back into the lake. The next day, the shepherd is back with his flock at the lake and the three maidens rise out of the lake again. This time, the shepherd offers the maiden he loves some less baked bread, but when she tastes it this time she says it is underbaked.
Undeterred, the shepherd returns a third day and this time he offers the maiden some bread he found on the shore of the lake. The maiden likes this bread so much that she promises she'll marry the shepherd if he can identify her from her two sisters the next day. The shepherd comes back another day, and is able to pick out his love from the maidens because of her sandal strap.
The two are married, but the maiden warns the shepherd that she will leave him if he strikes her three times for no good reason. The shepherd thinks this is silly as he can't imagine himself striking his bride, so he doesn't worry about it.
However, one day the maiden asks the shepherd to quickly run home and grab her gloves. The shepherd does so, and in order to get the maiden's attention, he taps her on the shoulder with her gloves. The maiden warns the shepherd that this is the first strike.
Then, some time later, the couple are at a wedding. The maiden suddenly bursts into tears, and in order to console her, the shepherd taps her on the shoulder and asks why she's crying. The maiden responds that she is crying because the newly-wed couple are headed for trouble in their marriage, and also because it is the second time the shepherd has struck her, so they are heading for trouble as well.
From then on, the shepherd was extremely careful not to strike the maiden. But after many years, the two were at a funeral, and the maiden suddenly burst out laughing. A little embarrassed, the shepherd roughly grabbed the maiden's shoulder and asked her why she was laughing. The maiden responded that she was laughing because the deceased was now free, and so was she because it was the third time the shepherd struck her.
So the maiden immediately left the shepherd, ran to the lake, and disappeared in the water. The shepherd never saw the maiden again, and the only time the maiden ever returned to land was to see her sons when they became grown men, in order to grant them healing abilities.
The maiden disappeared into the lake's murky water, never to be seen by the shepherd again.
(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)
Comments
Post a Comment