#wendy froud

[trollmaiden]

The duality (Alignment) of the word fairy

Edit; this has been updated the new Chart is pinned

Please I have learned from my mistakes

[cyanwyrmy]

🌈 Rainbow Monster 🌸

Not my usual style, but I miss traditional drawing so much! I forgot how heavily influenced I was by the art of Brian Froud. As a kid I’d flip through the Frouds’ art books for hours and look at their drawings and sculptures of trolls, fairies, and goblins. Fun fact, Jim Henson worked closely with Brian and Wendy Froud when making the films The Dark Crystal and Labrinth. Oh I love their creatures so much! This drawing of Julie Joyful was meant to capture that creepy/cute Froud style, and I’m excited to practice more it. Please look forward to more traditional drawings from me!

[batsbreath]

Faerie sculptures by Wendy Froud

[mostwastedpreciouslife]

“Forest Troll” by Wendy Froud, via The Art of Wendy Froud

[nocnitsa]

background character from the ballroom scene in The Labyrinth

[the-swift-tricker]

“One of the most tragic moments in my life, in my early teens, was the realization that I was too old for Peter Pan to return for me. But now, I create the magic. I am Peter Pan, I’m Tinkerbell, I’m Wendy, and I love that idea.”

- Wendy Froud

[lepetitdragonvert]

TROLLS by Brian & Wendy Froud

Éditions Fetjaine

[astronoglow]

[rachelillustrates]

My top 7 Faerie stories/worlds atm 🦋

**Note, I am super dupes aware that I haven't read/watched everything, so please feel free to reblog/comment with recommendations!**

Faerie is the pulse of my heart, and my mind/spirit/etc. spends a LOT of time thinking about it, SO here's the most resonant of depictions of the realm/faeries themselves in my current opinion (and why).

(And not in any particular order:)

Elfhame, @hollyblack 's "Folk of the Air" series and all related books

Arda, Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" and all related adaptations

"Suitor Armor" by @thepurpah

Studio Ghibli's take on spirits in Japanese folklore

Brian and Wendy Froud's take on Faerie

"Fraggle Rock"

"Tock the Gnome," by myself!

Thoughts:

(Art by Rovina Cai, from "How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories")

I feel very much that Holly Black gets the lushness and richness of Faerie, plus the trickery of it, and that level of dangerous beauty - what attracts humanity to it, etc. How everything is in extremes, too, but also how parts of it echo the human experience - both in terms of courts, but also in terms of the heart, and the emotional impact of intense circumstances and intense feelings.

I am, admittedly, not all caught up yet since I haven't read her earlier works, but of course I recommend starting with "The Cruel Prince" and reading forward from there (the more recent "Stolen Heir Duology" having an extra special place in my esteem)!

(Also special shoutout to the fact that there are Nisse - Gnomes! - in the recent books, AND that her take on Redcaps is absolutely Orcish 💚)

(Also also, cw: Changelings. They can be a triggering/upsetting subject, considering how our concept of them as humans seems to have come about. She does make pretty heavy use of them, but not in the ways that one might expect, and always from a very emotionally-centered space - not a humans-abusing-potential-fae space.)

So, Tolkien - yes, I am including the world of his works in this because even though he considered them religious and specifically-denominational, he took SO MUCH inspiration from folklore and faerie tales (do not even get me started on what got edited out of "The Silmarillion" istg) that Arda is not wholly Christian, from my Faerie-worshiping queer-ass faerie perspective thankyouverymuch. Not to mention what is being done in fandom with the faerie-races, especially the Dwarves and the Hobbits, AND what recent adaptations are opening up with the Orcs!! Obviously, his take on Faerie is a much more literally-grounded reality - they exist in the Earth-based world (as if Faerie has bled into what we expect Earth to be), they have magic (at least the Elves and Dwarves do) but it's both somehow super ethereal and super physical at once. And divinely connected, since the biggest magic in Middle-earth (or any part of Arda) comes from the lesser Gods - the Valar, and the Maiar who serve under them as well as from Big Sky Daddy Eru, but we're not talking about him right now. So that, to me, really speaks to the spiritual nature of Faerie too - which is always always always personally interesting to me, and Jrrt's take on the fae was absolutely foundational in my budding concept of them, before I even really thought about who they are in a conscious way.

I don't know where to recommend starting, since I got into the world through the Jackson films, first, and I wouldn't change my experience for anything because it's given me SO much. But in fandom, shoutout to the works of @conkers-thecosy (read her fics here!) as well as "A Long List of Happy Endings" by vicious_summer and "The Mushroom Mine" series by @chrononautintraining for Dwarf Stuff - and "Splint" by HelenaMarkos for Orc Stuff. Plus, as much as I know it's divisive, "Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" is - again - doing wonders about the Orcs AND doing very well by the Dwarves too, in my opinion, showing them as a fully realized and thriving people (though Dwarf women should still have beards, Amazon!! And there seems to be some confusion around how the name of Durin functions...)!! Available to stream on Prime, here.

"Suitor Armor" takes place in a world that appears very similar to medieval Earth, and as such the worldbuilding itself doesn't feel very specifically Faerie - yet. However, with the main character having significant ties to the fae, and with the story still having space to explore their culture once the tale takes the characters there, I have faith that we are gonna see more of this take on Faerie specifically soon. In the meantime, what we have seen so far - how faerie magic works, how they relate to each other, etc. - rings true for me, and is lovely to behold, especially in the face of the tragedy around their circumstances in the Big Plot.

Free to read here (and coming to bookshelves in 2025!!).

As for Studio Ghibli - Miyazaki's take on the spirits of Japanese folklore - which are absolutely Faerie - was SO formative for me growing up. I don't have anything else to say about that except that he's right!!

I recommend "Princess Mononoke," "Spirited Away" and "My Neighbor Totoro," particularly. All available to stream on Max right now (but buying physical media is better, and they're very likely available to rent other places, too).

Brian and Wendy Froud's work has, of course, also been absolutely formative for me - especially when I started getting into Faerie properly. Their work doesn't require much commentary either - they're just correct 💗 Nothing I've experienced has ever contradicted what I've read in their books, and I feel like their work really, really gets the energy of the fae and the liminality of their existence. And that there is kindness, and light, as well as danger.

I recommend "Trolls" and "Faeries' Tales," to start with, and of course the quintessential "Faeries" by Brian Froud and Alan Lee, which started it all.

(Also, considering what's below, special honorary shoutout to their work on "The Dark Crystal." Definite overlap there and absolutely counts.)

Obviously there's some crossover with The Muppets here, considering they come from the same studio, BUT if we're looking at just "Fraggle Rock" on its own - absolutely. Though a very different take than those mentioned above, if you're looking for the whimsy and delight at the heart of the fae, the Fraggles have it.

Both the original series and the reboot are currently available to stream on AppleTV.

Okay, and my own! What I'm doing with the world of "Tock the Gnome" is a little bit different - again, we're looking at a realm that isn't free from some of the physical bounds we find on Earth - but in its vast history there is Faerie at its purest, and the characters are on a Big Quest that will be instrumental in restoring the realm to what one would expect of Faerieland (all wrapped up in a body-positive, sapphic-presenting queer romance, btw). My focus is on Gnomes and Orcs, in particular, since the fact that they're also fae is a big part of my message. Recognizing that, as well as recognizing the importance of connectedness between people and the balance of that and personal sovereignty, and how damage to those things might impact the whole of a magical realm.

All pages available to read for free here, across several platforms (with print issues available here).

🦋💗🦋👏👏

[animatronicdoozer]

Doodle Goblin queen Sarah because I think a Labyrinth role reversal is a fun concept

[godzilla-reads]

🍃 A Midsummer Night’s Faery Tale by Wendy Froud and Terri Windling

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Sneezle is a young tree-root faery who has had the misfortune of falling asleep every year and not witnessing the Midsummer Night’s Faery Celebration. This year he’s determined to stay up and stay useful no matter what.

This was such a charming story with charming pictures of Wendy Froud’s creations. I loved how the sets were built and how much care and skill went into each doll. You’ll fall in love with Sneezle and Twig and Titania and each faery you meet, but watch out for the ones who lurk in the shadows.

[gargoyle-doyle]

Eeek ! Got this doll the other day, she reminds me so much of gelflings and Wendy Froud dolls. She's my first doll of this brand.

Her name's Oenone for the nymph wife of Paris. She appears in Natalie Haynes 'a thousand ships' in one of my favourite quotes 'He loses his wife so he stirs up an army to bring her back to him, costing countless lives and creating countless widows, orphans and slaves. Oenone loses her husband and she raises their son. Which of those is the more heroic act?'.

[avemakuta]

In Labyrinth, Toby (the baby brother) was played by Toby Froud, son of legendary concept artists Brian and Wendy Froud. He was born after the character was created.

In this case, then, the person who donated the baby was an overzealous concept artist. Need some goblins? Got it. Need a fox knight? I've got you covered. A baby? Welp, time to start a family.

[mostwastedpreciouslife]

sculptures by wendy froud (via)

[nocnitsa]

Prototype Gelfling puppets photographed for The Dark Crystal pitch brochure, 1978.

[the-swift-tricker]

Wendy Froud and Toby Froud on the set of Jim Henson's Labyrinth