posted
Reminds me of a book my sister gave me about a child o' the fey that became a changeling 'cause she was only half fey and wasn't magical enough. I can't recall the title off the top o' my head.
There was a good, pious woman who tried for many years to have a child, but those she concieved, with much difficulty, died young or were born dead. Finally, she went to seek the advice of a wise woman the next village over. The wise woman told her that the Good Folk had been cursing her and taking the children who were born alive because of an old feud between her husband and the Good Folk. She told this woman to have her husband make a cradle of oak for the next child, and hang a sprig of ash over it. She must go to Mass every day and say prayers for the safety of her child.
When next the woman concieved, she did all she had been told, and the baby was born healthy. However, when the child was less than a year old, he got sick, and when he recovered, he was poorly, never smiled, yellow, and cried all the time. The woman went to see the wise woman once more.
"Ah, yes," the wise woman told her, "The Good Folk have taken your own little one and left one of theirs in his place. Here is what you must do..." And she told the woman how to get her child back from the Good Folk.
That night, she went about her business, preparing a meal as usual. She set the cauldron on the fire, and peeled the potatoes. Instead of giving the peels to the pigs, however, she went and put them in the pot. All of a sudden, her child spoke.
"What are ye doin', Mam?" it asked. The voice was that of an old man.
"I'm making a soup of the potato peelings," she said, though she trembled inside to hear her little babe speak in such a manner.
"Why are you doing that?" asked the child.
"It's a wonderful cure for all sorts of things," said the woman.
"I've seen many things in my five hundred years, but I've never seen potato peelings made into soup!" said the child who was not a child.
"Why don't you come over here and try it for yourself?" asked the mother.
The changeling, out of curiosity, came near the fire. As he did, the mother crossed herself, shouted, "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, give me back my child!", and, grabbing the evil creature, plunged the red-hot poker that had lain in the fire down his throat. Immediately, there was an unholy, unearthly scream, and the changeling flew up the chimney in a rush of air. The mother was left holding her own precious child, and the Good Folk bothered her no more.
It's related to "A Brewery of Eggshells", but I've always loved the way it was told best of all.
posted
That's awesome, kq. I wonder who the equivalent of the Grimm brothers was was responsible for collecting it?
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
Yeah, it was one of my sister's favorites, and she thought I might like it because I often felt like a "changeling" growing up.
I remember reading it and thinking about the implication of the actual history upon which it was based. If people back then really thought their child was a changeling, and the only way to get their own back was to burn that child....
posted
bev, that's what the book I linked to is about: an actual murder trial where the family thought their daughter was a changeling and subjected her to cruel rituals to try to get her back.
quote: Dude! Having your child as one of the Fair Folk! ROCK ON!
I'd party down like it was Midsummer's Eve!
I know! You'd think so, right?
But after reading the book (Moor Child), I can understand a bit better the reasoning. It was far more "mild" than the book KQ linked to (*shudder* again) but it explained a bit about these changelings being unresponsive, without human warmth and affection, sickly, alien.
Just think of all the medical situations that could lead a superstitious couple to believe their child was "alien" in this way and must be killed in order for them to get their "real" child back! How sad!
quote: Dude! Having your child as one of the Fair Folk! ROCK ON!
I'd party down like it was Midsummer's Eve!
That's what we tend to so. In fact, one of Livvie LeFay's favorite songs is titled "Midsummer", and she loved going to see "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
But wow, Bev, you're right, it's scary to think of parents of a sick child thinking they had to burn it or throw it in a river. Posts: 1021 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
And not just sick. Also autistic, and autistic spectrum disorders, and all kinds of other things.
I'd actually like to see an academic examination of this; whether this was a justification for "herd thinning", or what.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Thought that might be it. I liked that book.
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