Ballad Spotting: Thomas the Rhymer

From: Feature Interview: Seanan McGuire

by Paul Goat Allen

http://www.fantasy-magazine.com/new/new-nonfiction/feature-interview-seanan-mcguire/

 

I studied folklore in college, and I’m still studying it now, as an adult. I expect to be studying folklore for the rest of my life. With that in mind, I truly believe that the current blurring of the borders between fantasy, horror, and romance are not representative of a mutation; they’re representative of a bunch of walls we didn’t really need finally coming down. The oldest stories we have were, at the time, what we would classify as “urban fantasy” today. Thomas the Rhymer?  His mother was dead when he was conceived, and he was carried to term in her coffin (horror). He fell in love with the Queen of Faerie, calling her “Queen of Heaven” and charming her heart (romance). So she took him to the fairy lands to dwell by her side (fantasy), even though they had to wade through red blood to the knee to get there (horror). Eventually, he chose to leave her to return to his own kind, and she cursed him with honesty (fantasy). In the end, he returned to her, and to Faerie, forevermore (romance). When this story was new, the settings it used were as familiar to the people who heard it as Chicago or Melbourne or San Francisco will be to modern readers of urban fantasy.
In some of the oldest forms of the Snow White/Rose Red story, there’s a third sister, Lily Fair. I like to say that urban fantasy writers are the Children of Lily Fair, the ones seeking the balance between Snow White’s fantasy and Rose Red’s horror. We’re the place where the lines drop away, and that’s a beautiful place to be.

Ballad Spotting: Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs

Several direct mentions of ballads and songs within the text of this novel, published in 2010, offer the aware reader delightful foreshadowing of action and consequences:

Thomas the Rhymer (page 196) and the passing of time in the world of the Fae: "I underlined Thomas the Rhymer's name because it was history and Rip was a story by Irving that might or might not have been based on various legends--including Thomas's."

Tam Lin (page 305). While this ballad is not named, those who are familiar with the Faery Queen's final challenge to Janette would recognize it immediately: " A different bargain, then. You hold something of my choosing while it changes." Briggs satisfactorily presents the challenge for this reader.

Not a ballad but a song relevant to my present research: The Devil Went Down to Georgia (page 284) "Bargaining? Like in the song 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia' but with a fairy?" I asked. It seemed to me that I'd heard a similar tale with fairies in it.
"Right," Samuel agreed. "It can be a contest--usually musical, because fairy queens tend to be musically talented. But there are stories of footraces or swimming contests. My father has a wonderful old song about a young man who challenged a fairy to an eating contest and won."

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception

While author Maggie Stiefvater does not rework any traditional ballads in the telling of her story, she does pay homage to Irish songs and the power of music in the life of the fae. Thomas the Rhymer makes a guest appearance as well as does mention of the ballad telling his tale.