Week 12 Reading Notes: Celtic Fairy Tales (Part A)

Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree - I love comparison stories (where there are two or three characters and it's a good vs. evil kind of thing) so this was definitely my favorite from part A. As mentioned in the note of the story, it's similar to Snow-White, but I think I prefer this version. I feel like them being related (Silver-tree is the mom, Gold-tree is the daughter) creates a more realistic reason for the girl to be so jealous of another girl's beauty. If I were to re-write it, though, I think I'd make them siblings.

I did think it was weird that the king wasn't taken aback by his wife's request to eat her daughter's heart and liver when she (his wife) was sick. I feel like there was potential in there for him to question what he valued and why he was married to her.

I liked the theme of the daughter not dying no matter how many times her mom tried to have her killed, although it did get repetitive and started getting confusing at some point. I think the main reason it was becoming hard to follow was because of the daughter and mom's names. It was hard to remember who was who. Changing the names would be really important if I re-write this story.

I had never heard of a story ending with "I left them there" instead of "and so they lived happily ever after." I'm not sure I would use it, but it's something to consider if I re-write this one. I'm always interested in lesser known phrases to use in stories so this one works great for that.

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Bibliography: Celtic Fairy Tales (1) unit. Story source: Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892).

Image Information: The queen looking for the trout to tell her who the most beautiful is.  Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree Illustration from Wikimedia Commons.