Storytelling Week 10: The Fairy Bride

Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl, daintier and more well put together than any other girl in the land. Her name was Anna and she was very small. Although she was already full grown, she was only the size of a child. However, although she was the most beautiful girl around, she was an odd ball for she preferred not to talk to others. Instead, in her free time she would wander off into the woods and enjoy the company of nature. No one was quite sure what she did out in the woods but they suspected that she had the company of fairies.

No one had ever actually seen the fairies in the land, but they had seen their footprints among the trees. It was a huge mystery that no one had solved. But their presence was strong and could not be ignored. Anna’s mother was the first to suspect her of socializing with fairies but was too scared to ask her about it. She figured it was her daughter’s business. But deep down Anna's mother desperately wished that Anna would go play with the other girls of the town rather than wander off into the woods doing Lord knows what.

One night as Anna came home, her mother sat her down to tell her something very important. Anna was to marry the town hunter. He was the tallest and most hunting obsessed man in the land. Anna was distraught by the news. How terrible would it be to marry a stranger not only two feet taller than you, but also a man that only discussed hunting? Her mother told Anna that she would not refuse this marriage and she would be this man’s wife no matter what. After all, that was Anna's duty as a woman.

Wedding preparations took place and before Anna could believe it, it was her wedding day. An hour before the ceremony was to take place, Anna asked her mother if she could go into the woods one last time. Her mother agreed. Hours went by and there was no sign of Anna. She had disappeared. Her family became extremely worried and the town began looking for her. Finally as night fell, a man came back from the woods saying he had seen her from a distance. He told everyone that a young man about the same size as her had approached Anna in the woods. After talking to him for a while Anna transformed into a fairy and the two went off together.

When Anna's mother heard of this, she was upset at the loss of her daughter. However, she knew that Anna was her happiest self when she was in the woods. It all suddenly made sense to Anna's mother. The reason Anna had always gone to the woods was because she had met her true love but had been separated from him by her human form. In the end, Anna's mother knew that this was what was best for her daughter. She knew she would miss her but Anna's happiness was what truly mattered.

Anna had been saved from a terrible marriage and ended up with everything she had ever wanted. She was officially part of the forest and couldn’t have had a happier ending.

The end.

Photo of a Fairy

Photo Retrieved From Art Wallpapers 

Author's note: This story comes from the Indian Fairy Tales unit. I changed the name of the girl in the story to Anna because the original name was a pain to have to write. Plus, for some reason the name Anna seems like the name of a fairy to me. The original girl's name was Neen-i-zu which means "my dear life." The name that I picked, Anna, means "of favor or grace." Other than this minor change, the plot of the story is the same. I really wanted to keep how she was going to have an arranged marriage but escaped by transforming into a fairy. I think that she was destined to become a fairy and I loved that it all worked out for her. I think the ending of her finding the man of her dreams is such a happy ending that I couldn't get myself to change it. One thing I wish the original story had mentioned was whether or not Anna had fallen in love with the man during her visits to the woods. Because I wish that detail would have been mentioned, I went ahead and added it. I also focused more on the mother than the original story did. The mother never shared her views on her daughter's fate but I feel like it is important to get the viewpoint of the people Anna left behind. Overall, I thought this was a very cute story. I was happy that Anna was able to escape the terrible fate of an arranged marriage.

Bibliography: The Fairy Bride.  American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae (1921).