Myths and Folklore Blog

“Arthur, can you play me a song? I’m bored,” asks Viviana, the youngest (and only) daughter of the baron of Linthia. “Unfortunately, I cannot, my lady,” Arthur replies. “Your father forbade it after the last...incident.” “Could you tell me a story instead, then?” Viviana asks. “Yes, my lady,” Arthur agrees. It’s not as if he can do anything else at the moment. He thinks for a moment on the stories he’s read before and begins his tale. Once upon a time, in a distant land, there was a town with a horrible rat problem. The rats had overtaken the city, bringing plagues and famine with them. Hm? Well, my lady, of course they had tried cats! But the rodents were so numerous and large that they ran the cats out of town. Traps fared no better, for the rats were so large they could bend the metal and chew through the ropes of any snare or cage. The Baron of the town issued a royal decree that anyone who could rid the town of all of the rats would be paid handsomely. Well, as it happens, a t...

Bibliography: "Catskin" from More English Fairy Tales  by Joseph Jacobs. Source .  Notes: A classic story type really wish the "ugly" coat wasn't catskin.  the three dresses are fun as are the clues she uses with the prince this could combine with a whole bunch of Cinderella-type stories (Image Information: Catskin by Arthur Rackham from Pixabay ) -A.

Bibliography: "The Pied Piper" from More English Fairy Tales  by Joseph Jacobs. Source . Notes: I love this story so much The pied piper is such a good sympathetic villain I kind of loved this ending where the piper does not return the children This story could fit Arthur quite well, although the ending where he returns the children fits him better I'll have to think on it more, but it definitely fits Arthur well. It would play nicely with the Tattercoats story (Image Information: Pied Piper Mannequin; Wikimedia Commons ) -A.