Source: Ireland

“The Brown Bear of Norway.” The Lilac Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1910, pp. 118-131.

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Mar 2023 20:57:11 +0000

“The Brown Bear of Norway.” The Lilac Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1910, pp. 118-131. Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/10/2023 - 13:57

Tale Summary

There was once a King of Ireland who had three lovely daughters. One day, the King playfully asked his girls who they would like to marry. While two speak of high class gentlemen, the youngest said that she would marry the Brown Bear of Norroway, for she had heard stories about him truly being a handsome prince. That night, she woke to find herself in a great hall with magnificent furnishings, and found the young man, who proposed to her. They were married that evening, and he told her of his enchantment: he had refused to marry the daughter of a sorceress, so he was cursed to spend his days as a bear until a lady married him and endured five years of trial. He warned her that if she lost faith in him, they would be forever parted and he would be obliged to marry the sorceress’s daughter. After a year, she gave birth, but one night soon after an eagle took the child away. She tried to jump after it but her husband held her back, and remembering what he had said, had faith in him and calmed herself. After another year, she birthed a girl who was stolen away by a greyhound, and although she wanted to blame her husband for negligence, held her tongue. Their third child was stolen away by a beautiful woman, and so despondent, the lady asked her husband if she could visit her family for comfort. He agreed, telling her that to get back home, she should state her intentions before falling asleep. She told them her story after a joyous reunion, and they consulted a wise woman, who said the only solution was to burn the bearskin and so break the enchantment. After she went home to her husband and spent many happy days together she contrived to do this, and only pretended to drink from the sleeping draught he brought her nightly, putting it instead in his drink the next night. She got up, burned the skin, and got back in bed. The next morning he told her that the wise woman was the sorceress herself, and now he must make a three day trip to marry the witch’s daughter. She followed him in close pursuit until he came to a hollow on the hill, where she found a smiling woman and her husband kissing a small boy. He told her it was their eldest child, and that the woman was the eagle who stole it. He gave his bride scissors which would turn anything into silk, and told her that at sunrise he would have no memory of her or the child, but would regain it at night. The lady again followed her husband all day until the sun set and he found their daughter. As before, they spent a comforting night together, and he gave her a pearl which would cause diamonds and pearls to fall from her hair. The same events transpired the next day, ending with him finding their youngest boy. He gave her a hand-reel of golden thread and half their marriage ring, saying that if she ever went to his house and touched her half to his, he would recollect her. He left into a wood which made him forget everything about his life with her, and she struggled to go after him until she ordered the forest to part by her magic gifts. She came to a palace, lawn, and a woodman’s cottage. She stayed at the cottage after promising gold, pearls, and silk, and while she heard of the new young prince, servants at the castle took a liking to her. She invited a footman to have tea with her, asked him for a sprig of honeysuckle, and cursed him with horns on his head. The other servants turned against him, and she lifted the enchantment out of pity. The prince and the witch's daughter heard of this and visited her, he puzzled by her, and she greedy for the scissors the lady used to cut a silk gown out of paper. She took them, and in exchange, the lady was given one night outside the prince’s bedchamber. He was in such a deep sleep that night that she could not wake him and he could not hear her say:

“Four long years I was married to thee;

Three sweet babes I bore to thee;

Brown Bear of Norroway, won’t you turn to me?”

Another bargain was made the next day for the magic comb, and another night was spent outside the prince’s door in sorrow. The third day, the prince passed by (as he did daily to smile politely at her), and asked the strange woman if he could serve her in any way. She asked him about his sleeping, and he answered that the past two nights he was given a sleeping draught, but heard sweet singing in his dreams. He agreed not to drink any that night. The witch’s daughter came by later and made the same deal as before for the hand-reel of golden thread. That night, the prince’s door opened, and she sang her song to him, and asked if he remembered their marriage. She pressed her half of the ring to his, and his full memory came back. The castle then began to split, and the two ran outside to watch it collapse. The witch and her daughter were never seen again, and the lady and her husband reunited with their children and went home, where the Kings and Queens of Ireland, Munster, and Ulster, came to visit.

Fairy Tale Title

The Brown Bear of Norway

Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)

Andrew Lang

Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)

H. J. Ford

Common Tale Type

The Search for the Lost Husband/The Animal as Bridegroom

Tale Classification

ATU 425/ATU 424A

Page Range of Tale

pp. 118-131

Full Citation of Tale

“The Brown Bear of Norway.” The Lilac Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1910, pp. 118-131.

Original Source of the Tale

Taken from the Scottish fairy tale "The Red Bull of Norroway"

Tale Notes

AV��ʪ and Curation

Kaeli Waggener, 2023

Book Title

The Lilac Fairy Book

Book Author/Editor(s)

Andrew Lang

Illustrator(s)

H. J. Ford

Publisher

Longmans, Green, and Co.

Date Published

1910

Decade Published

1910-1909

Publisher City

New York

Publisher Country

United States

Language

English

Rights

Public Domain

Digital Copy

Available at the Internet Archive

Book Notes

Traditional

White

“The Potato Supper.” The book of elves and fairies for story-telling and reading aloud and for the children's own reading, Frances Jenkins Olcott, Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin; 1918, pp. 15-19.

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Feb 2023 04:40:20 +0000

“The Potato Supper.” The book of elves and fairies for story-telling and reading aloud and for the children's own reading, Frances Jenkins Olcott, Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin; 1918, pp. 15-19. Anonymous (not verified) Sat, 02/04/2023 - 21:40

Frances Jenkins Olcott

Tale Summary

One night, a troop of fairies was dancing together under the moon, when one of them said something which made them all scamper away and hide:

“Cease! Cease with your humming!
Here’s an end to your mumming!
By my smell
I can tell
That a priest is now coming!”

Father Horrigan came by on his pony, stopping at the first house he came across, which belonged to Dermond Leary, a man who was pleased to have his company but troubled that he had nothing but potatoes to offer him. He remembered that he had laid out a net in the river, and there found a fine salmon, but the net was jerked out of his hands and the fish swam away. The fairies revealed themselves as the cause of the trouble and promised there would be a magnificent feast waiting for the priest if only Dermond would ask him a question on their behalf. Although he refused at first, the fairies convinced him that there was no harm in a simple question, the question being whether or not the fairies’ souls would be saved at the Last Day. When Dermond asked Father Horrigan this, the priest questioned on whose behalf he was asking, and he admitted that there were thousands of fairies by the river waiting for an answer. Father Horrigan told him to return to them and say that if they wanted to know, they could ask him themselves. When Dermond gave the fairies the priest’s message, they uttered shrill cries and whisked past him until he was alone. When he returned to his cabin he found the priest and his wife enjoying fresh milk and butter from Dermond’s cow, and potatoes which were steamy and bursting. When Father Horrigan finished eating, he said that he relished the delicious potatoes, more than a dozen fat salmon, and more even than a fairy feast!

Fairy Tale Title

The Potato Supper

Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)

Frances Jenkins Olcott

Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)

Milo Winter

Common Tale Type

Tale Classification

Page Range of Tale

pp. 15-19

Full Citation of Tale

“The Potato Supper.” The book of elves and fairies for story-telling and reading aloud and for the children's own reading, Frances Jenkins Olcott, Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin; 1918, pp. 15-19.

Original Source of the Tale

From Ireland

Tale Notes

This tale opens with speculation that fairies were once angels that had been cast out of heaven for their sins, and became smaller and smaller as they fell to earth, where they now play pranks.

AV��ʪ and Curation

Kaeli Waggener, 2023

Book Title

The book of elves and fairies for story-telling and reading aloud and for the children's own reading

Book Author/Editor(s)

Frances Jenkins Olcott

Illustrator(s)

Milo Winter

Publisher

Houghton Mifflin

Date Published

1918

Decade Published

1910-1919

Publisher City

Boston, New York

Publisher Country

United States

Language

English

Rights

Public Domain

Digital Copy

Available at the Internet Archive

Book Notes

Traditional

White

“The Horned Women.” Celtic fairy tales, edited by Joseph Jacobs, New York: A.L. Burt Co., 1899, pp. 30-33.

Anonymous — Sun, 08 Jan 2023 22:51:17 +0000

“The Horned Women.” Celtic fairy tales, edited by Joseph Jacobs, New York: A.L. Burt Co., 1899, pp. 30-33. Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 01/08/2023 - 15:51

Joseph Jacobs

Tale Summary

There was once a wealthy woman who one night was carding and preparing wool while the rest of the house was asleep. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and someone calling themselves the Witch of one Horn demanded entry. The woman let her in, and the witch, who had one horn, sat by the fire and began to card wool. After she wondered aloud where the rest of her party was, there was another knock at the door, and the woman let in the Witch of two Horns, who immediately began spinning. This continued until there were twelve witches in the house, each with one more horn than the last so that the final witch had twelve. They all sat in silence for a long time working on their threads, and then one of them called to her in Irish and demanded the woman make a cake for them. The witches told her to take a sieve to the well to gather water to bake with, and the woman wept when she was unable to gather any. Then a voice came from the well and told her to take yellow clay and moss to plaster the sieve in order to gather water, which worked. The voice also told her to go to the north corner of the house and say:

“The mountain of the Fenian woman and the sky over it is all on fire”.

When she did this, the witches all fled back to their homeland of Slievenamon, and the spirit of the well told the woman to protect her house from their return. She sprinkled the water she used to wash her children’s feet with on the threshold. The witches had made a cake with the blood of the sleeping family, and the woman took this cake and put it in their mouths, and they were revived. She then took the cloth the witches wove and placed it half in and half out of the chest with the padlock. Lastly, she secured the door with a crossbeam. The witches returned and demanded entry, but the water, the cake, the cloth, and the door all denied them. They returned to their homeland, and the woman was left in peace, and a mantle that was left behind by one of the witches was hung and kept in the family for five hundred years.

Fairy Tale Title

The Horned Women

Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)

Joseph Jacobs

Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)

John D. Batten

Common Tale Type

Tale Classification

Page Range of Tale

pp. 30-33

Full Citation of Tale

“The Horned Women.” Celtic fairy tales, edited by Joseph Jacobs, New York: A.L. Burt Co., 1899, pp. 30-33.

Original Source of the Tale

Tale Notes

AV��ʪ and Curation

Kaeli Waggener, 2022

Book Title

Celtic fairy tales

Book Author/Editor(s)

Joseph Jacobs

Illustrator(s)

John D. Batten

Publisher

A.L. Burt Co.

Date Published

1899

Decade Published

1890-1899

Publisher City

New York

Publisher Country

United States

Language

English

Rights

Public Domain

Digital Copy

Available at the Internet Archive

Book Notes

Traditional

White