Bold Sisters in Fairy Tale Families

The stepmother creeps after Little Brother and Sister. Arthur Rackham, Public Domain https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50422017

Fairy tales often focus on relationships within families — interrogating the many ways in which these can break down, but also celebrating family.

Marian of Sherwood

Douglas Fairbanks as Robin Hood giving Enid Bennett as Maid Marian (sic) a dagger; a screenshot from the 1922 United Artists film Robin Hood. United Artists, cinematographers Arthur Edeson & Charles Richardson - Dr. Macro, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=819577

Mention Maid Marian and Sherwood Forest in the same breath, and most people think of Robin Hood’s lady love. The forest outlaw and the noble lady are tied together so closely in modern folklore, popular literature, and movies, it’s hard to imagine one without the other.

Swan Folklore: Hope Is the Thing with Feathers

The Swan maiden) by Helena Nyblom 1908. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Svanhamnen_i_Bland_tomtar_och_troll,_1908..jpg

What is it about swans? They feature heavily in Western European folklore, a graceful animal for a human to be transformed into as a curse, or shapeshifting into humans at will.

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