My Favorite Tale

Well, here is the beginning of the story -

"There was a king of the Western Isles who had one son and his name was Ian. He was a fine lad and strong, who could run like the hare in the heather and hunt with the swiftness of the hawk on the mountain. And happy was he in his father's house until his mother died and the king married another wife. The new queen was dark and powerful in spells and jealous of the boy and wished to do him harm.

One day she saw her chance. The young prince had gone out hunting but found no game at all that day: only a blue falcon that flew past him as he made his way homeward. Carefully he aimed his arrow at her but she flew so swift that only a blue feather fluttered down from her wing to the forest floor. The prince put the feather in his hunting-bag and returned home. When the Queen saw him she asked him what he had caught today.

"Only this," said Ian, handing her the feather. But the Queen knew the feather had magic in it, and as she took it, she cried,

"I am setting as crosses and spells and the decay of the year on you that you be not without a pool in your shoe, wet, filthy and cold, until you get me the bird from which that feather came."

But the prince was not without some knowledge of magic too.

"And on you," he cried, "I am setting as crosses and spells and the decay of the year that you shall stand on the castle roof facing whichever way the wind blows, until I return."

And away he went to seek the blue falcon while the Queen found herself standing on the roof-top facing a howling north wind.

Prince Ian traveled through the wildwoods, endlessly seeking the blue falcon, but not a trace of her could he find. The winter dusk came early and the little birds were flying from the bush tops to rest beneath the briar roots, but Ian stumbled on through the blind dark night hopeless and alone. At last he rested under a bramble bush, when who should come that way but Gillie Martin, the fox..."

Here is the link: http://www.chalicecentre.net/prince.htm. It is my favorite kind of folktale. The fox is a shape shifter, who leads the hero on his journey, and gives the hero specific instructions, most of which the hero fails to follow, which results in his having to go on further more dilated quests each time. What I find interesting about it is that there is a Grimm's Fairy Tale that is very similar where the hero's guide is a fox - but the fox cannot shape-shift, the man is not a prince, and in the end the fox asks the Man to cut off his head, paws and tail as a reward. The man of course refuses, but eventually concedes. And it turns out, he was not a fox, but a prince under a spell. There is a Russian Tale that is also similar - but the guide there is a Shape-Shifting Horse, and he asks the hero the same thing - to cut off his head, hooves and tail - and he is also a Prince under a spell. What I like about the story I posted a link to is that the guide is actually a fox. I believe this version is the more, shall we say, 'correct' one.

Watcher, would you like to describe or post a link to some stories or song cycles about Reynart? You seem to have a good handle on them, and my mouth is tired.

-Over and Out