myths, folklore, & classics

At the ball by Ink-Yami An illustration for the Beastbook — Russian collaborate artbook project. The story is “Changelings” — Swedisn fairy-tale about two girls — a human princess and the troll’s daughter — who got swapped and grew up in each other’s families. While the tender princess is low-key terrified of trolls (though the parents are loving), the troll-girl terrorizes the royal court out of boredom. At the end they both run away from unfitting engagements and end up each at her own place)

Edgar Allen Poe’s manuscript for “Annabel Lee,” published in 1849, the year of his death. It was the last work he ever completed.

Talking about that, by the way: one of my favorite tales to tell is the Persian legend of Zal and Rudaba, which is generally seen as the earliest known version of the Rapunzel tale (also known as AaTh 310 for those folklorically inclined). The whole story is utterly fascinating (trying not to go off on a fangirlish tangent here), but my favorite part is the classical image: when the lady, Rudaba, lets down her long (black!) braid from her balcony, the hero just kisses the braid and says: “I wouldn’t hurt you, I brought a rope.” Hell yeah. x

Jane Austen’s handwritten manuscript of Persuasion

Lil’ Red Riding Hood- Laura Gibson

Translating Ma Gu into English is problematic, depending upon whether her name is interpreted as a “maid”, “priestess”, or “goddess” of “hemp”, “marijuana”, or something else. Victor H. Mair (1990) proposed that Chinese wu (巫 “shaman”), pronounced *myag in Old Chinese, was a loanword from Old Persian *maguš “magician; magi”, which is hypothetically comparable with Ma Gu.

“Is that really so? You have never seen the Sea King’s Palace? Then you have missed seeing one of the most wonderful sights in the whole universe. It is far away at the bottom of the sea, but if I take you there we shall soon reach the place. If you would like to see the Sea King’s land I will be your guide.”

Amazing Indo-Persian manuscript illumination on a page of a 15th century Qur’an. Because illuminated manuscripts are the highest form of human accomplishment.

Lauren Leto, Judging a Book by Its Lover

Rama and Sita, surrounded by roses on their wedding day. 

The poor emperor, finding he could scarcely breathe with a strange weight on his chest, opened his eyes, and saw Death sitting there. He had put on the emperor’s golden crown, and held in one hand his sword of state, and in the other his beautiful banner.

This is one of the very few pages on which Eadfrith’s original 7th century script can be admired almost entirely free of the gloss added by Aldred in the 10th century. Clear and black, very assured and regular in form, this script, designed for formal use, is known technically as insular majuscule. The page gives details of particular passages in St John which are to be read on specific feast days.

Margaret Atwood, The New Yorker, June 4 & 11, 2012

FAIRYTALE MEME: two countries of origin - [2/2] West and South Asia   One Thousand and One Nights is a collection of stories and folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. The work was collected over many centuries by various authors, translators, and scholars across West, Central, South Asia and North Africa. The tales themselves trace their roots back to ancient and medieval Arabic, Persian, Indian, Egyptian and Mesopotamian folklore and literature.

The story goes that every day Shahryar would marry a new virgin, and every day he would send yesterday’s wife to be beheaded. This was done in anger, having found out that his first wife was unfaithful to him. He had killed one thousand such women by the time he was introduced to Scheherazade, the vizier’s daughter. ◀more▶

Joseph Jacobs, More Celtic Fairy Tales (1895)