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softlytowardthesun · 2 years

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Wich are your favorite fairy tale couples/romances and why?

*cracks knuckles* I'm excited for this one!

It's important to note that not all of these are necessarily "canon" to the story, whatever that nebulous word means in the context of oral traditions. Still, the fun of fairy tales as a genre is the audience participation aspect, allowing you to fill in our own imaginative gaps.

Gold-Tree, her husband, and her wife from "Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree": in this Celtic variant of "Snow White", the handsome prince fills the role that the dwarfs occupy in Grimm. She marries him and temporarily escapes her mother, but the wicked Silver-Tree finds Gold-Tree and poisons her. Thinking her dead, the prince takes another wife, and in a total reversal of "Bluebeard", the second princess walks into the forbidden room where Gold-tree slumbers, finds the thorn, and breaks the spell. The second princess then kills Silver-Tree when she makes her third attempt on Gold-Tree's life, and " prince and his two wives were long alive after this, pleased and peaceful."

The Peasant and the Soldier from "The Grave Mound": A comical story about two poor men who win their fortune through conning the Devil, which ends with them co-habitating and "living in rest and peace...as long as God is pleased to permit". I fell in love with this story after reading the dedicated chapter for it in the terrific academic anthology "Transgressive Tales: Queering the Grimms".

Betushka and the Wood Maiden: Every day at noon, a mysterious and beautiful maiden appears to the farm girl Betushka. They dance together until the sun goes down, and I'm just so moved by how it's described: "Betushka's cheeks burned, her eyes shone. She forgot her spinning, she forgot her goats. All she could do was gaze at her partner who was moving with such grace and lightness that the grass didn't seem to bend under her slender feet." Ultimately, Betushka succumbs to an Orpheus-style moment of weakness that separates them forever. Tragic, but undeniably beautiful.

The Clever Farmgirl and the King: I love a battle of wits where the two parties challenge each other but clearly respect and love one another. You listed this as one of your favorite tale types, and in hindsight, I'm inclined to agree.

Tam Lin and Janet: these two need no introduction. A haunting ballad of love and the transformations that it always entails. (Just please, never the non-consensual variants.) I have to shout out Overly Sarcastic Productions on YouTube for introducing me to this story, and the "Which Fairytale Lady Are You?" quiz, which assigned me Janet. I hope to be as bold and confident as this heroine, in love and in life.

Prince Yousif and Louliyya, Daughter of Morgan: An Egyptian relative of Rapunzel, I love their fierce and undying commitment to each other, and their resilience in the face of the many challenges between them and their happy ending.

The Lady and the Lion from "The Singing, Springing Lark": A "Beauty and the Beast" variant where the heroine knows about the curse from the word go, and they actually live happily in spite of his back-and-forth between his human and lion forms for a while, even having a child together. Of course, circumstances force them apart, and she travels to the Sun, the Moon, the Four Winds, and the Red Sea to get him back. It's a relationship built on honesty, communication, and willingness to sacrifice for one another. When people talk about wanting a fairy tale Prince Charming, this is the guy I picture.

The One-Handed Girl and her Prince: A lovely (if at times gruesome) Swahili story of a woman deprived of everything by her wicked brother, she finds love in a charming prince and they start a family together. When her love is out warring, her wicked brother rears his head and persuades her in-laws to banish her to the wilderness, and tell the prince that she and her baby died. I'm always moved by the makeshift funeral her husband arranges when he hears the wicked brother-turned-royal-advisor's lie, and their reunion at the end.

The couple from "The Nixie of the Pond": When her husband succumbs to a mysterious nixie, the heroine conducts a series of moonlight rituals, offering a comb, a flute, and a spinning wheel to the water spirit in exchange for his safe return. Of course, the nixie doesn't play fair, but they eventually get their hard-earned happy ending, finding each other under the moonlight listening to the same song she used to bargain for his rescue.

Broadening the definition of "fairy tales", I have to include Dorothy and Ozma, Clara / Marie and her Nutcracker, and Ahmed and Pari Banu. There are also stories with pairings that, while I can't honestly say I support, I still find compelling: Shahrazad leading Shahryar through the most intense talk therapy session in world literature, whatever the heck is going on with Velina and Tayzanne, the quasi-erotic dynamic of this proto-Little Red Riding Hood. Plus there's some terrific villain couples I love to hate, like the witch and her lover in "The Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince" (sorry, Burton's translation is all I could find online; if you have the chance, read Yasmine Seale's version of the text).

As you can tell, I've thought about this stuff a lot and I'm eager to talk about it. What are some of the romances and relationships you love / find compelling in fairy tales?

#ask response #ariel seagull wings #fairy tales #1001 nights #nixie of the pond #gold tree and silver tree #the grave mound #the wood maiden #the one handed girl #jack the master and jack the servant #the singing springing lark #tam lin #louliyya daughter of morgan #the farmer's clever daughter

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ariel-seagull-wings · 27 days

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LOULIYYA, DAUGHTER OF MORGAN

@hamlet-macbeth-othello

@softlytowardthesun @adarkrainbow @natache @grimoireoffolkloreandfairytales @professorlehnsherr-almashy @themousefromfantasyland @the-blue-fairie @tamisdava2 @faintingheroine @princesssarisa @angelixgutz @amalthea9 @allthegoodbobdylanlyricsaretaken @thealmightyemprex

(A folktale from Egypt)

ONCE THERE WAS a king and his wife who did not have any children. One day the queen prayed to God, “Oh God, my God, who hears my prayers, be kind to me and grant me a child. I will name him Yousif.” She made a nadr:

“If I have a child, I will make three wells and fill them, one with honey, one with butter, and one with rosewater.”

Time passed. One day went and one day came, and she became pregnant. She had a boy whom she called Yousif.

The king and his wife almost flew with joy. One year after another, Yousif grew up, and he was going to school.

With time, while the king was asleep he heard a hatif saying, “King, fulfill your pledge. Fulfill the pledge that you owe.”

This happened three times. Every time the king forgot. Yousif became ill.

They got him all the kingdom’s doctors and the sheiks. No one could cure him. Finally they said, “Maybe there is an unfulfilled pledge. Think! Have you made a pledge, king?”

The king and the queen remembered their promise. Immediately the king ordered that three large wells be dug and lined with china tile and filled to the top - one with honey, the second with butter, and the third with rosewater.

And he dispatched a crier to announce in town, “Oh God’s people, people of this town, he who wants honey, butter, and rosewater should come tomorrow to the king’s palace.”

That was it. With the appearance of the morning star, everyone in town was rushing to the king’s palace. This one carrying a saucepan, that one carrying a wash tub, and this one and that one! They clustered around on the three wells, and almost immediately they were empty. After a short while there was nothing at all. A while later, an old woman came leaning on a cane. She had three cans on a tray which she carried on top of her head. When she found that the wells were empty, she took out a little piece of sponge and began sponging the drops off the walls of the wells. After a very long time, she had hardly filled her three small cans, and she turned back to go home. Now the king’s son, Yousif, was playing with his ball. He threw his ball like this-and it hit the old woman. She fell on the ground, and everything was spilled.

Yousif ran to her and said, “Never mind, old mother. I am wrong.”

The woman answered, “With what can I curse you? With what can I curse you, son? You are too young. I am going to curse you with Louliyya, daughter of Morgan,” and she left.

He went to his father and mother and asked them, “Who is Louliyya, daughter of Morgan?”

They answered him, “Son, you are too young. You should have nothing to do with these things.”

Everytime he asked someone, the answer was, “You have nothing to do with these things.”

Finally an old servant said to him, “She is a beautiful girl that you have to find yourself.”

That was it. He went to his mother and father and said, “Prepare rations for me. I’m going out into the world. I have to find Louliyya, daughter of Morgan.”

When they heard this, their hearts sank to their toes. They kept on crying and imploring him, “Don’t do this, son. Stay away from her. No one has gone to find her and come back. We have no one else but you.”

He answered them, “It is no use.”

He finally took a horse, food and water, and some money and left.

He kept on moving from God’s countries to God’s peoples. One town carried him, and another town put him down, until the inhabited part of the world ended. He kept on traveling in the desert.

After a while, he saw dust coming from a distance. It came closer and closer. He looked to find a ghoul coming toward him. The moment the ghoul was by his side, he greeted him, “Peace be upon you, father ghoul.”

The ghoul answered, “Had your greeting not preceded your speech, I would have devoured your flesh before gnawing on your bones. What do you want?”

He answered, “I’m looking for Louliyya, daughter of Morgan.”

The ogre said, “Son, keep on going. You will meet my brother. He is one day older than I am and a year more knowledgeable.”

Yousif kept on going until he saw another cloud of dust, larger than the one before it. It came closer and closer, and finally when the ghoul was next to him, he said, “Peace be upon you, father ghoul.”

The ghoul replied, “Had your greeting not preceded your speech, I would have devoured your flesh before gnawing on your bones. What do you want?”

He replied, “I want to know how to reach Louliyya, daughter of Morgan.”

The ogre said to him, “Keep on going. Ahead you will meet my brother. He is one day older than myself and a year more knowledgeable.”

He kept on going until he met the third brother. He was much larger and much more fearsome than the first two. Yousif said to him, “Peace be upon you, father ghoul.”

The ghoul replied, “Had your greeting not preceded your speech, I would have devoured your flesh before gnawing on your bones. What do you want?”

He replied, “I want to know how to reach Louliyya, daughter of Morgan.”

The ghoul said, “Ahead of you you’ll find my sister, and she is the only one who can tell you how to reach her. When you get there, if you find her with her red chicks around her and her hair combed and groomed, don’t you dare say a word or make her feel your presence; but if you find her with her hair messed up and her green chicks around her and her breasts thrown over her shoulder you can talk to her, for she is going to be in a good mood.”

Yousif left and kept on going and going.

When he reached the ghoula’s house, he hid and peeped. He saw that her hair was well groomed and her red chicks were hopping up and down around her. He did not say a word and remained in his place.

After a while, about sunset, she messed up her hair and started catching her red chicks and eating them.

She let out her green chicks from the pen and threw her breasts behind her back and started singing. Yousif tiptoed behind her. The chicks saw him and shouted, “Somebody’s coming!” but she was singing so loudly that she did not hear them.

Of course she was in a good mood. When Yousif reached her, he suckled each of her breasts once. She shouted, “Ahhh, now you are my ‘milkson.’ You suckled my right breast, you became like my son Isma‘Aeen; you suckled my left breast, you became like my son ‘Aabdel-‘Aal! What do you want?”

He said, “Louliyya, daughter of Morgan.”

She said to him, “Why, son? You are too young to die.”

Even if his head was against a thousand swords, he insisted and said, “Never! I have to find Louliyya, daughter of Morgan.”

She said, “Well, take this ball and this racket. Hit the ball with the racket, and wherever the ball goes, you follow it. They will take you to the place you want to go.”

That was it. Yousif got back on his horse and struck the ball with the racket.

The ball flew into the air, landed on the ground, and kept on rolling. Mounted on his horse, Yousif followed it.

He kept on hitting the ball and running after it, hitting the ball and running after it, hitting the ball and running after it.

Hit and run, hit and run, hit and run, until finally he found himself in front of a huge palace in the middle of the desert.

This palace was high, high, high; it had neither windows nor gates. He went around it, and finally he saw one small window at the top of the palace.

As he stood wondering about this palace and thinking who it might be who owned it, he saw a huge dust cloud coming from far, far away.

He heard a dog barking and a big commotion. He hid himself behind a big boulder and peeped out. He saw an ghoul much larger than all the ghouls he had met.

The ghoul came to the palace and shouted, “Oh Louliyya, daughter of Morgan, let down your long hair and take your father the ghoul away from the heat of the hills.”

Yousif saw the little window open, and out of it appeared a young woman whose beauty was indescribable. Glory be to the creator for his creation!

She swung her hair out of the window, and it came down until it reached the ground. Her father the ghoul climbed up on her hair.

Pull, pull, pull, he was up there. He got in, and the window was closed. When he got inside, he asked her, “What have you cooked for us today?”

She said, “Such-and-such,’’ and served him what she had cooked.

He ate, and after that he rested his head and went to sleep. Now to whom do we return?

To Yousif outside! He kept himself hidden until the morning of the following day.

The window opened, and the hair was let down from it, and the ghoul climbed down on Louliyya’s hair. Yousif waited until the dust disappeared. He came out of his hiding place and shouted, “Oh Louliyya, daughter of Morgan, let your long hair down and take Yousif, for whom you have been predestined, away from the heat of the hills.”

The window was opened, and he looked up and saw her looking down. When she saw him, her heart softened for him; she fell in love with him. She said to him, “What brought you here? Get away with your skin still on your body! For if my father sees you, he will kill you and drink from your blood”’

He said to her, “Before I go, lift me up, and I will tell you my story.”

She swung her hair out, and he climbed up. He told her his story from hello to good-bye and said to her, “You are predestined for me, and we must get back to the house of my father and mother. We must escape from here.”

She said to him, “Escape to where? The distance we could cover in a day my father the ghoul will cover in one step.”

As they were talking, they heard a big commotion and heard her father shouting, “Oh Louliyya, daughter of Morgan, let your long hair down and take your father away from the heat of the hills.”

She was frightened and said, “What a catastrophe! My father the ghoul is back. Where shall I hide you/! Where shall I hide you/!”

She transformed him into a pin and pinned it on her chest.

When her father came up, he asked her, “What took you so long?”

She said, “Nothing; I was just in the bath.”

The ghoul started sniffing around, saying, “I smell the trace of a human not of our race.”

She said to him, “There is nothing.”

He looked all over the place and did not find anything. He asked for his food, and after he had eaten, he went to sleep. The following day the ghoul left as usual.

As soon as he was gone, she pulled the pin out of her collar; it became Yousif.

She said to him, “We must go now!”

She got some henna and tinted everything in the house with rose coloring. She overlooked only one thing, the tambourine. It hid from her underneath the sofa. She took her comb, her sewing needle, and her mirror, and she went out with Yousif.

When her father the ghoul returned, he started calling “Oh Louliyya!”

Nobody answered.

“Oh Louliyya!”

Nobody answered. Finally, when he became impatient, he started calling on everything in the house. “Oh chair!”

The chair said, “She is sitting on me!”

“Oh bed!”

The bed answered, “She is sleeping in me!”

“Oh bathtub!”

The bathtub answered, “She is bathing in me!”

Finally the tambourine started dancing and singing.

“Tumm ti dum, tshshsht, tshshsht, Tumm ti dum, tuu, tuu, Yousif took her and flew! Tuu, tuu, Yousif took her and flew.”

That was it. The ghoul heard this, and he went mad. He got his dogs to sniff around, and they flew after them.

Now we return to whom? To Yousif and Louliyya. They kept on going until they finally saw the cloud of dust coming from afar.

It kept on getting bigger and bigger until it blocked the sun; it was just like nighttime. Louliyya took out her needle and threw it back over her shoulder. Immediately it became a field of thorns.

The ghoul and his dog went right through it; the thorns pierced their feet. The ghoul kept saying to his dog, “Pluck out, my dog, and I’ll pluck out with you. Pluck out, my dog, and I’ll pluck out with you.”

Meanwhile Yousif and Louliyya were far away.

After a little while the ghoul drew very near to them again. Louliyya threw her comb back over her shoulder. Immediately the comb became a thick hedge of bamboo.

They got lost in it. The ghoul kept saying to his dog , “Chop down, my dog, and I’ll chop down with you. Chop down, my dog, and I’ll chop down with you.”

Yousif and Louliyya got a little bit farther away from them. Again the ghoul drew very close to them. Louliyya threw her mirror back over her shoulder. Immediately it became a lake.

When the ghoul got to it, he and his dog started drinking it. The ghoul would say, “Drink, my dog, and I will drink with you. Drink, my dog, and I will drink with you.”

They kept on drinking and drinking and drinking until they exploded. Before the ogre died, he threw some pins at them. As soon as the pins struck them, Louliyya became a she-dog, and Yousif became a lark.

He flew away. Louliyya kept on going until she reached Yousif‘s parents. She lay down in front of the doorstep and kept on barking.

No one paid any attention to her.

Yousif kept on coming back and hovering over the house and singing, “How are you, how are you, Louliyya, in the house of my father and mother?”

Louliyya would answer back, “Over me is dust, underneath me is dust, just like a dog’s place of rest, Yousif!”

One day Yousif's mother heard her saying, “Yousif.”

She and Yousif‘s father had become blind from crying over their son. She asked the dog, “What did you say?”

It repeated what it had said. Yousif‘s mother took her inside and made a bed of straw for her in the stable.

The following day Yousif hovered over the house singing, “How are you, how are you, Louliyya, in the house of my father and mother?”

She answered back, “Over me is straw, and underneath me is straw, just like a mare’s place of rest, Yousif.”

Yousif‘s mother heard this, and she said to herself, “Something must be the matter with this dog.”

She took her upstairs and put her in a room with a bed with silk sheets and covers. The following day, when Yousif hovered over the house singing, “How are you, how are you, Louliyya, in the house of my father and mother?” she replied, “Over me is silk, and silk is underneath me, just like a prince’s place of rest, Yousif.”

Yousif‘s mother was listening this time. She heard the whole thing. She entered the room and called the dog to her. It went to her. She kept on feeling its body and caressing it with her hand.

As she was passing her hand over its head, she found three pins pierced deep in it. She pulled them out, and immediately, with the omnipotence of the Omnipotent, she became a beautiful young lady again.

She told Yousif‘s mother and father about all that happened, how her father imprisoned her, how Yousif came to her-everything that happened. She said to them, “Get me some sugar, and I will get Yousif back.”

“How?” they asked her.

She answered, “Just wait and see.”

The following morning Yousif came back hovering over the house and said, “How are you, Louliyya, in the house of my father and mother?”

She said, “I have some sugar for you,” and she put her hand with granulated sugar in it out the window.

The lark perched on the palm of her hand to have some sugar. Ooops! She caught it! She found three pins stuck in its head. As soon as she plucked them out, the lark-with God’s omnipotence-became Yousif again.

He went and embraced his father and mother; their sight was restored by God’s will.

Yousif and Louliyya got married! The celebration lasted for forty days and forty nights.

They lived in stability and prosperity and begat boys and girls.

Now toota, toota, the tale is over. Was it sweet or dragging? If sweet, you owe a song, if dragging, you owe a story.

#arabic #egypt #fairy tales #folktales #folklore #fantasy #literature #maiden in the tower #magic flight #rapunzel

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softlytowardthesun · 2 years

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Fictional character ask: Louliyya, daughter of Morgan?

Favorite thing about them: The joke answer is "her name", but honestly, she's one of the few fairy tale heroines who goes through something resembling a character arc. She starts off timid and completely willing to let her father rule her life, and she ends the story as an active agent in her own destiny. She's a heroic part-ogre with magical abilities who fights tooth and nail for a happy ending that she ultimately secures through compassion and gentleness.

Least favorite thing about them: I wish we knew more about her relationships with the other characters aside from Yousif. Frankly she could support plenty of stories of her own aside from being Yousif's destined bride.

Three things i have in common with them:

I've had some bad luck with tambourines.

I like dogs.

Depending on the situation, I can be very thoughtful or extremely careless.

Three things i don’t have in common with them:

I have a much better relationship with my parents.

I have no magical abilities.

I've never run off with any romantic partner.

Favorite line: "Get me some sugar, and I will get Yousif back." Her confidence at the end of the tale is really satisfying, especially since she was so doubtful of their chance at a happy ending when they first met: "The distance we could cover in a day my father the ogre would cover in one step."

brOTP: She'd probably get along with other maidens in towers like Rapunzel, Maid Maleen, Persinette, and so on. Then there are others in the "transformation chase" cycle, like the couples from "Sweetheart Roland" or "The White Dove" or the hero of "The Fox Sister".

OTP: Because the plot demands it, Yousif. (see "unpopular opinion")

nOTP: her father, I guess?

Random Headcanon: I imagine that the other ogres Yousif met on his journey know about Morgan and Louliyya, and the ogress especially cares about her and wants to see her get a better life outside of her prison in the desert. I wouldn't be surprised if the old woman who "cursed" Yousif to learn of Louliyya was the ogress in disguise, setting in motion her plan to get her out.

Unpopular Opinion: Louliyya and all the characters in this story have so much potential, but even by everyman hero standards, Yousif is a total blank slate. All he really provided was the confidence boost she needed to leave her prison. I can admire his devotion to her when they're turned into animals, but it's clear she's carried the relationship this far. There are probably much more interesting stories to be told about her and the ogres.

Song i associate with them: ?

Favorite picture of them: I don't think any exist.

#ask response #fairy tales #louliyya daughter of morgan #ariel seagull wings

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softlytowardthesun · 2 years

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Curious: what are your favorite type of fairy stories listed in the Aarne-Thompson enciclopedia classification?

First off, it's nice to meet you and thank you for asking! Secondly, I want to preface this: I'm not a student or a scholar of folklore as a genre, and my knowledge of ATU is limited to what I've managed to find online over the years. More often than not, it's either something I've found on JStor in college, something in a Maria Tatar book, or this website.

Still, I love seeing these stories and all their variations across times and places. Without further ado:

306: The Worn-Out Dancing Shoes: I love the mystery element of this story, and I'm forever intrigued by all the variations of the other world the women travel to, whether it's the palace of Indra, the court of Satan, or something else entirely. Many versions attribute their actions to some curse that must be broken to achieve a heterosexual happy ending, but it's in the in-between that this story really sings to me. And a not-quite-variant of it, "Kate Crackernuts", may just be my favorite fairy tale of all time; how often is the ugly (or at least, "less bonny") stepsister the hero of her own story?

310: The Maiden in the Tower: I'm a sucker for a magical chase, and Rapunzel's relatives absolutely provide. My favorites include "Snow-White-Fire-Red", "The Canary Prince", and "Louliyya, Daughter of Morgan".

311: Magic Flight: Stories of magical escapes from dire situations, like "Sweetheart Roland", "The White Dove", "The Fox Sister", and "The Tail of the Princess Elephant".

407: The Flower Girl: Plants who become women or vice versa, often coupled with an escape from an abusive romance. I love these stories purely for the folkloric weirdness factor: "A Riddling Tale" (shout-out to Erstwhile for introducing me to this one), "The Gold-Spinners", "The Girl in the Bay Tree", and "Pretty Maid Ibronka".

451: Brothers as Birds: This one's purely on my love for the Grimms' "Six Swans" and "Seven Ravens". I love a resilient heroine who draws her strength from her family. I admittedly haven't read many others, but these two mean so much to me they get a place here entirely on the strength of these two.

510B: All-Kinds-Of-Fur: The story of a woman's escape from her incestuous father who then gets a Cinderella ending. I admire the heroine's courage in face of an all too real type of monster. Grimms' is a favorite, as is "Florinda" (which could also qualify as 514), "Princess in a Leather Burqa", "The She-Bear", and "Nya-Nya Bulembu".

514: The Shift of Sex: I first came across this story when I stumbled on Psyche Z. Ready's terrific thesis some years ago and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind since. All of these variations from all over the world -- I find it cathartic to know that we've been asking these questions about gender and sexuality forever, and a happy ending is an imaginative possibility.

709: Fairest of Them All: This I owe squarely to Maria Tatar's anthology from a few years ago. Unfortunately, this also means that there are several I can't find online, including "Kohava the Wonder Child" (a rare Jewish heroine in a genre infamous for how it absorbs anti-Semitism) and "King Peacock" (one of the few African American fairy tales I know, also included in Tatar's collaboration with Henry Louis Gates). I love "Princess Aubergine", "Little Toute-Belle", and especially "Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree" - my little bi self was elated to stumble across a princess who lives happily ever after with her kind and gentle limbo husband and her cunning and resourceful wife.

Even as a hobbyist, I love folklore and fairy tales. I love these little glimpses into other cultures, and I love the way these story structures act as magnets for so many nuances of people's lives across history. Still, I hope this answers your question, gives a glimpse into my experience with fairy tales as a genre, or (at the very least) gives you some new and interesting stories to read!

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