Reading Notes: Week 11 "Marriage Tales" Part B


An Embden Goose. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

    For Part B, there was a specific story that stuck out to me for its plot and characters! It was strange one didn't do that in Part A.... "The True Bride" jumped out at me from the readings. It was much longer than most anything I've read in this class, but it held my attention the entire time. 

Main Themes I Noticed

  • Swan Princess vibes with She-Who-Spits-Gold being turned into a goose who spends the majority of her time on a lake and trying to communicate with her sons
  • Diligent and kind female is rewarded greatly; Lazy and mean/vain female is punished greatly
  • Wicked stepfamily
  • Fairy godmother, except there's four of them and they're SWSG's brothers she doesn't know about who just so happen to be magical (reminded me of the fairy godmothers from Sleeping Beauty)
  • Unwaveringly loyal animal companion who's basically the backbone of the story's plot
  • Animal rearing humans
  • Animal-birth slander

Questions

  1. In the story, Spióola rubs the Sun's spittle on the mouths of SWSG's two dead sons. When they're brought back to life, they have a glowing mark on their foreheads. "On the forehead of one shone a sun, and on that of the other a bright moon." I get why one would have a sun as a mark but a moon? Where did the moon come from? Does it mean something different about that child? Or is it more of a temperament marker? What is the point of the marks?
  2. Why all the spit? I mean that seriously, too. Is there something about spit in the Nlakapamuk Tribe that's important?
  3. The story ends with a happily ever after. However, with characters like SWSG, her sons, and Spióola, I feel like adventure will follow them wherever they go no matter what. So...what comes next? Like, what really comes next? I'd love for this to be turned into a series; I think it would be really fun to read.
    Overall, this story is really good, and I like it kind of has a whole bunch of story-tale themes thrown in. It would be a wonderful thing to see this become a full novel or maybe a series!



Bibliography

The True Bride from Nlakapamuk folklore by Stith Thompson

The True Bride (cont.) from Nlakapamuk folklore by Stith Thompson

The True Bride (cont. again) from Nlakapamuk folklore by Stith Thompson

The True Bride (end) from Nlakapamuk folklore by Stith Thompson

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