#fairy kings forest

[lepetitdragonvert]

The Erl King’s Daughter Sending Faery Servants To Their Several Tasks

Artist: Jessie Bayes (1876-1970)

[nocnitsa]

Franz Stassen

[roserefrain]

“Some things are worth a little risk.”

beautiful floriaster commission drawn by @moonsetsoda !!!

[illustratus]

The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania by Joseph Noel Paton

[iplayxs]

•Bramble: The Mountain King

[chaoticpersontale]

Movie: Strange Magic

[suis0u]

Audience with the King of the Forest. (WIP)

[palabasa]

Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales by Melanie Gillman

a book from one of my favorite comic authors here on tumblr, @/melgillman! if you've been around this site for a while, you've likely already seen four of the comics she's published in this book: The Fish Wife, Sweet Rock, Hsthete and The King's Forest. def give this book a read if you liked any of those!!

like all comic anthologies, its comics weren't all made equal. i think the four i listed above stood stronger on their own than the newer works made for this book. working under the limits of an image post count and narrow work time frame (even if gillman didn't follow the 24 hour rule to the letter) means you must maximize telling your story in the most efficient way possible to get it across the nebulous audience of the internet. comics made for a published book don't have those limits, which is why i think the newer works didn't have the same impact on me.

this book was still an enjoyable read regardless, and i'm excited to read more of melanie gillman's future works! she's got a lot more work on her tumblr, so check that out with her book as well.

[libraryofbaxobab]

March 17, 2024:

My streak of fantasies with themes of colonialism continues. Of course the locals know that no one who goes into the woods ever returns, but the conqueror monarch's children are a different story. The question is, are they fully innocent of their father's crimes, or poised to benefit from the continuation of violence?

The first thing I noticed about this dark fairytale is that it's so pretty. I was on, like, page two and already smiling like I was looking at a beautiful painting. So while the story is painful and cruel, the writing is lush so you can feel free to agonize succulently.

A lot of the traditional hallmarks of old fairy tales can easily get lost in translation for a modern reader. We prefer things to be fair, to make sense, to be explained. For even harshness to follow its own recognizable logic. There is a bit of that last one present here, but I'm pleased to see the resurrection of some classic tropes:

The rules that must be followed seem nonsensical and arbitrary

The creatures are certainly unkind but not necessarily malicious

Punishments are severe & enforced by the world itself

Supernatural powers are not explained or even questioned

Unclear if protagonist's abilities are magic or cleverness

Magic is real but also isn't

As you can probably tell, worldbuilding is both the focus and the highlight, so the tradeoff is that the narrative itself isn't complex & the characters aren't super dynamic (much like a classic fairytale, how about that).

7.5/10 #WhatsKenyaReading

[umberpath]

it's too bloody soon to be fantasizing about writing a prequel novel when we aren't even sure it needs one...

[meeghanreads]

Top 5 fairy tale retellings

Hello friends!! Welcome to Top 5 Tuesday!! This week’s topic is top 5 fairy tale retellings!! Now, I know this topic is not for everyone. In fact, it’s pretty much designed purely for me. But, as host, that’s my prerogative every so often. And, I’m not sorry. Sorry. But, for not being sorry. Not for the topic. I’ll stop now. Apparently, somewhere in the world 26 February is National Fairy Tale…

[gleefully-macabre]

I’m not saying those are talismans to ward off evil/bring health and good fortune, but I’m not NOT saying that.

[themasthead]

The Wintervale Knight: Episode 59

Evan strained to see through the poisonous yellow gas that filled the air. “Where is that guy with the shield?” Wayne called out. Ignoring Wayne’s question, Evan asked Thompson, “What do we do?” “Wait here and don’t move,” Abigail Thompson said. “He won’t enter the gas, but if he does, he won’t survive long enough to escape.” “So what are we supposed to do?” Evan asked. “I’m moving to a…

[muses-of-the-memory]

Happy 26th Anniversary, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Today is the 26th Anniversary for...

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time!

This game was the debut of

Ganondorf, the King of the Gerudos,

Sheik, Zelda's Sheikah alter-ego,

and the Six Sages of Hyrule. Rauru, Darunia of the Goron, Saria, Impa, Princess Ruto of the Zora, and Nabooru.

This game had Link go on his adventure with Navi to save Hyrule, but to do that, he had to meet Princess Zelda to get the three Spiritual Stones,

confront Ganondorf, travel through time with the Master Sword being Young Link and Adult Link seven years later, and reawaken the Sages to assist him in defeating the King of Evil.

But after that, Zelda feeling like she's the one to blame, had to sent Link back to his own time, as Navi left completing her duty, and Link warned Child Zelda about Ganon's schemes to get the Triforce to rule the world.

Tagged by: @hoshi-neko-hikari, @bluemajingirl, @spirits-of-nature16, @the-world-hopper, @spirits-of-nature16, @themultiverseheroines, @man-of-fandoms, @manylegendsaretold, @nightmares-of-an-iron-helm, @gerudospiriit, @astral-multiverse

[iplayxs]

•Bramble: The Mountain King

[sesamenom]

I wonder what part of Rivendell's protection is Turgon/Gondolin-inspired, on top of the Bruinen basically acting as a proto-Girdle?

looking at the map, the actual valley is mostly enclosed by the Bruinen, with the Trollshaws on one side and the Misty Mountains on the other.

the Map of Wilderland gives a bit more detail in the region, particularly around Mirkwood/Beorn's house. from here, it looks like the Eyries were somewhere around the Misty Mountains a bit north of Rivendell:

for comparison, here's Gondolin and Doriath:

the FA-era eyries seem to mostly have been around the Crissaegrim/Cristhorn area enclosing Gondolin, while the Girdle followed the approximate shape of the rivers around Neldoreth and Region, and Lorien's Girdle seems to kick in at around the Nimrodel:

so it makes sense for a potential Girdle of Rivendell to lie around the Bruinen, especially given Elrond's apparent control over the river (despite having Vilya and not Nenya - maybe it's an Ulmo/Earendil's Star derived thing?)

I don't think we've explicitly seen anybody trying to get into Rivendell and just getting lost at the Ford, so it's probably more of a manual Girdle: it doesn't actually stop people from finding the river itself, but Elrond gets a mental notification or something and can flood the river to wash intruders away.

Beyond the Ford, it does definitely sound like the travel time to Rivendell varies. This (plus the varying road length/road time) can probably be attributed to the time warping effect of the Three, like a weaker but much larger version of Lorien's time related stuff.

so basically it seems like there's a combination of the Bruinen acting as both a manual Girdle, plus the time distortion between the Ford and Rivendell, as well as possibly hiding Imladris in a similar way to Ulmo hiding Gondolin?

A bit of a theory that I’ve struck on while rereading the start of FOTR. I think there’s something guarding Rivendell besides the Bruinen. I think Elrond has taken a leaf out of Melian’s book.

There are some hints that the distance to Rivendell varies depending on who you are. Frodo starts approaching the Ford in late afternoon; he is in desperate need of healing, and is brought to Rivendell midway into that same night.

In The Hobbit, in contrast, the dwarves and Bilbo cross the Ford of Bruinen in the morning, and the sun is down by the time they reach Rivendell. There’s lot of references to the journey being longer than Bilbo would expect:

They came on unexpected valleys, narrow with steep sides, that opened suddenly at their feet, and then looked down surprised to see trees below them and running water at the bottom. There were gullies that they could almost leap over, but very deep with waterfalls in them. There were dark ravines that one could neither jump over or climb into. There were bogs, some of them green pleasant places to look at, with flowers growing bright and tall; but a pony that walked there with a pack on its back would never have come out again. It was indeed a mich wider land from the ford to the mountains than you would ever have guessed. Bilbo was astonished.

Then there’s Aragorn’s line when Merry asks him how far it is to Rivendell:

“I don’t know if the Road has ever been measured in miles beyond The Forsaken Inn, a day’s journey east of Bree. Some say it is far, and others say otherwise. It is a strange road, and folk are glad to meet their journey’s end, whether the time is long or short. But I know how long it would take me on my own feet, with fair weather and no ill fortune: twelve days from here to the Ford of Bruinen.”

(By the way, it always amazes me, now I’ve noticed it, that the hobbits manage this journey - which Aragorn says would take him 12 days on the Road, with “fair weather and no ill fortune,” in only 14 days with Frodo severely injured, travelling mainly off the Road, and with some bad weather and wrong directions. Some of that’s due to the extremely fast pace Glorfindel sets for the last twoand a half days, but it’s incredibly impressive.)

If anyone should know the distance from Bree to Rivendell, it should be Aragorn, a Ranger of the North fostered in Rivendell, who has probably covered that journey dozens to hundreds of times. And the Road is fairly straight; it shouldn’t be hard for travellers to keep track of the general distance. And also, Aragorn only gives the distance to the Ford, not to Rivendell itself. What if the distance and difficulty of the Road from the Ford to Rivendell varies, based on how well a guest is known. Frodo is the Ring-bearer, in desperate need; he makes it there fast. Thorin & Company are vouched for by Gandalf, but are largely an unknown quantity; it takes them the better part of a day. Someone with hostile intentions might never find Rivendell at all, even after days of wanderings.