tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post7183662678613557968..comments2024-03-27T06:42:26.250-07:00Comments on Seven Miles of Steel Thistles: Perilous seas in faerie lands forlornKatherine Langrishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12529700103932422873noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-64888440521065905942014-01-26T04:44:42.740-08:002014-01-26T04:44:42.740-08:00A timely post(for me)including some Selkie novels ...A timely post(for me)including some Selkie novels I haven't yet read. And thank you for putting into words what is for me the strength of the Selkie tale. I have now read Troll Mill. I like how the Selkie part of the tale is woven into other threads giving the reader some distance to consider the consequences. I must read the others now.Spikeabellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00526666426161958415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-37950805072624136372014-01-25T07:40:29.560-08:002014-01-25T07:40:29.560-08:00Great post and guest post! I've spent a long t...Great post and guest post! I've spent a long time thinking about the implications of the Selkie/Silkie legends; the thoughtless greed of the humans, even when they are portrayed as kindly. It amounts to, 'that's something lovely, I want it,' with no real regard for the feelings or needs of the entrapped creature. When I wrote The Silkie (choosing the 'i' spelling because it's one of those untranslatable vowel sounds like the 'o' in Howth near Dublin, which is something between ow and oa and I never got it quite right), I wanted it to have a happy ending for a change but also, and perhaps more importantly, to show the possibility of change in the human girl who loved the seal-boy. Jeannie ensures the Silkie stays with her by enchanting and then hiding his skin, but comes to realise that she must let him go; love cannot be bound. When she releases him, her heart lifts and her shadow, which has always been exactly the same size no matter how the years have gone by, grows tall. Sandra Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01761260568729338471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-10204809878162241092014-01-22T02:57:04.559-08:002014-01-22T02:57:04.559-08:00That sounds lovely, Kate - congratulations.That sounds lovely, Kate - congratulations.Katherine Langrishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12529700103932422873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-53309404707391099592014-01-21T20:48:36.081-08:002014-01-21T20:48:36.081-08:00Hi Kath
You may not know that I have a book calle...Hi Kath<br /><br />You may not know that I have a book called 'Two Selkie Tales from Scotland' coming out in May from First Christmas Press in Australia - they are beautiful illustrated retellings (rather then reinterpretations) and gorgeously accompanied with paintings by Fiona MacDonald I tell you this so you know I've always had a fascination with Selkies - my great-great-great-grandmother was a McPhee who are meant to be descended from Selkies! Anyway, thank your beautiful post & I've added a couple of books to my must-read-now list!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02455915239098174762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-10770696034828408012014-01-20T13:57:21.162-08:002014-01-20T13:57:21.162-08:00Sea Hearts is indeed a wonderful book, and sad. I ...Sea Hearts is indeed a wonderful book, and sad. I find a lot of the folk tales about interspecies marriage, not only selkies, end badly. Lovely post, Kath! Sue Bursztynskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09362273418897882971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-21220074170817779682014-01-20T13:21:01.317-08:002014-01-20T13:21:01.317-08:00I haven't explored this corner of folklore bef...I haven't explored this corner of folklore before. Thanks for pointing me in this direction, Kath!Candy Gourlayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07802791643303335762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-74478315339986613812014-01-20T04:33:47.361-08:002014-01-20T04:33:47.361-08:00They are indeed wonderful, but I did touch on them...They are indeed wonderful, but I did touch on them just after talking about Liz K's! I think my favourite of the Ingo books is 'The Tide Knot'. Katherine Langrishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12529700103932422873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950999049789394042.post-9051474205353064692014-01-20T03:37:31.053-08:002014-01-20T03:37:31.053-08:00Timely post, and thoughtful as ever. I am also a b...Timely post, and thoughtful as ever. I am also a big fan of these novels (including The Folk Keeper) but you don't mention Helen Dunmore's wonderful Ingo series. which is full of this strangeness.Amandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15428693013132917947noreply@blogger.com