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Author
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Comment
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alina
Registered User
(3/21/02 12:38:02 pm)
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changeling counterparts
A legendary changeling is the fairy creature, stick of wood, troll etc, that has been left in the place of a stolen human child. Is there a traditional term for the child that was taken?
Thanks,
Alina
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Elizabeth
Unregistered User
(3/21/02 4:31:38 pm)
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interesting
That is a very interesting question that I have never thought of before. The only thing i can think of would be a human fosterling. Otherwise I have no clue.
Liz
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Terri
Registered User
(3/22/02 7:26:54 am)
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Re: interesting
I've seen changeling used to describe the human child in faeryland, so I believe the term applies equally to both sides of the equation.
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alina
Registered User
(3/22/02 10:05:26 am)
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changeling in faeryland
Thanks for your responses! Terri, is there a book of legends or a story that you know of that discusses the point of view of the stolen child in faeryland? I have only found legends pertaining to the changeling left, not to the one taken.
(By the way, I just purchased your book "The Winter Child", Beautiful book and wonderful story!)
Thanks,
Alina
Edited by: alina at: 3/22/02 10:08:07 am
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swanchick
Registered User
(3/23/02 10:49:04 am)
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human changelings
Are you looking for old legends or new fiction? I can think of a couple of modern books that are from the POV of mortals abducted into faeryland, but I can't think of any old stories right off the top of my head. I can look, though. I almost mentioned "Thomas the Rhymer", but even that doesn't say what happens to poor Tommy-boy for the intervening seven years.
swanchick
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alina
Registered User
(3/23/02 12:33:52 pm)
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Re: human changelings
Hi Swanchick, I'd like to find old legends, but if you know of any new fiction titles that would be great as well. All of the new books that I've found have dealt with the fairy, troll, folk etc who have been left in "the real world". I have been mostly looking at YA and children's books though. Maybe that is where I've gone wrong!
thanks,
Alina
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Jane Yolen
Unregistered User
(3/23/02 12:38:18 pm)
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Novel
"A Dark Horn Blowing" by Dahlov Ipcar (reprinted byh Harcourt in their Magic Carpet books) is about a woman who has just born a baby stolen away to be the nurse for a faerie mother. It is astonishing and beautiful.
Jane
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swanchick
Registered User
(3/23/02 12:44:33 pm)
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humans stuck in faery
Off the top of my head:
_The Perilous Gard_, Elizabeth Pope (the heroine's sweetheart is about to get sacrificed, Tam Lin style, and the heroine herself ends up being a handmaiden to the faeries)
_Ill-Met by Moonlight_, Sarah Hoyt (Shakespeare's wife gets kidnapped to be midwife to a faery baby, and several chapters are told from her POV, as she wonders whether Will thinks she is dead, whether to marry the faery king, etc.)
I will rack my brain for further stories both modern and old that
relate to your request.
swanchick
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swanchick
Registered User
(3/23/02 12:46:17 pm)
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A Dark Horn Blowing
You're right, Ms. Yolen, I had forgotten about _A Dark Horn Blowing_. It tells the story from the POV of the stolen wife, the husband she left behind, her biological child, and the child she nurses in Faery.
swanchick
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alina
Registered User
(3/24/02 8:54:21 am)
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Book suggestions
Thanks so much, Jane and Swanchick. I will look for those books the next time I go to the library.
I know that Terri has a middle reader book about a changeling. I think it's actually called "The Changeling" but my library doesn't have it. I'm thinking of trying to get a copy on Amazon since the bookstore nearby doesn't have a copy either.
Jane, have you written any stories or poems about changelings?
Thanks again,
Alina
Edited by: alina at: 3/24/02 8:55:42 am
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Jane Yolen
Unregistered User
(3/24/02 12:29:10 pm)
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stories
Nope. Note to self--write one!
<G>
Jane
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alina
Registered User
(3/25/02 9:56:18 am)
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Re: stories
Jane, you really should. I look forward to reading what you come up with!
Alina
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Terri
Registered User
(3/25/02 4:26:38 pm)
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Re: stories
Alina: I can't off-hand think of old legends from the pov of the human changeling in faeryland. Usually when we go into faeryland with mortals (Thomas the Rhymer, The Midwife to the Faeries) it is in stories involving adult protagonists, perhaps because most of the legends of child-theft deal with very young human children (babies and toddlers), which would be a rather young pov.
For modern stories about changelings, the Ipcar and Pope books mentioned in previous posts certainly top the list, and Nicholas Stuart Gray did a fine changeling story ("Lullaby for a Changeling") in his collection The Edge of Evening. You'll also find a wry view of mortal changelings in Faeryland in Sylvia Townsend Warner's adult story collection Kingdoms of Elfin. There was also a good Nancy Springer story about an elvin changeling living as a teenager in contemporary America...but I can't remember what it's called or where I read it. Perhaps someone here knows? For nonfiction on Changeling legends, try Carole Silver's recent book on Fairies and the Victorians -- I can't quite recall the title, and the book itself is in my other house, but it should be easy to find with a book search.
My own book "Changeling" is very short -- an "easy to read" book for Middle Grade readers, set in the hills of North Carolina. The story is told from the pov of a boy whose sister has been stolen by the faeries -- standard folklore material. It was published by Random House, and I believe it's out of print now, so you'd probably have to find it on one of the used book sites like abe.com. Be forewarned: the publisher gave it one of the ugliest covers in living memory...
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Heidi
Anne Heiner
ezOP
(3/25/02 7:58:29 pm)
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Re: stories
Two other changeling themed books for middle readers would be:
The Moorchild by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
The Changeling by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Heidi
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Helen
Registered User
(3/26/02 8:36:33 am)
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Re: stories
The title of the Carole G. Silver book is _Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Fairy Consciousness_. She has a great chapter on changelings in there entitled "'Come Away Thou Human Child': Abductions, Changes, and Changelings." It's a fascinating examination of the issues expressed through the metaphor of abduction, linked to historical incidences from the 19th century which were literally considered to be due to fairy intervention, and, incidentally, has a terrific bibliography that should come in handy for anyone pursuing this topic.
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alina
Registered User
(3/26/02 2:04:06 pm)
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Re: stories
I'd like to thank you all for your help! I'll be going to the library
tomorrow with my list.
Alina
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swanchick
Registered User
(3/27/02 2:51:40 pm)
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changelings
Another source fr changeling stories is WY Evans-Wentz's _The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries_. It's old enough that it's in the public domain and can be found in its entirety on the Internet, just type the title into your browser. The interesting this about it is that it's a collection of things people really believed--sort of the urban legends of the day. You know, "my cousin's best friend knew someone who was taken by the fairies", etc. Most of the accounts deal with the mortals who lose loved ones to the fairies, but there are a few accounts of people who returned from fairyland and told the tale. Mostly they reported having danced for a night or two (one victim, a child, reported playing a ball game instead), and then returning to find they were gone for years.
swanchick
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