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Author
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Comment
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MaryHarpTeacher
Registered User
(11/28/03 3:52 am)
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Harps in Fairy Tales...
Can you help me? I'm a harpist and teacher in the uk, and I'm desperately looking for fairy tales that include a harp in one form or another. I am fortunate enough to be involved in an education project linking music to literacy for children aged 4 to 11 years, but I need more material! Whilst I know of Jack and the Beanstalk, I seem to be struggling with finding others. Please help!
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AlisonPegg
Registered User
(11/28/03 4:37 am)
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Re: Harps in Fairy Tales...
I love harps and a harp features prominently in my storyThe
Strange Tale of Bluebeard's Daughter. I think harps are a wonderful
symbol - in this case, for all that is best in my hero, Michael
of the Mountain. The story wold be more suited to the eleven year
olds though! (The link is to Pg 6 of this story where the harp first
makes its appearance)
All the best
Alison
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jess63
Registered User
(11/28/03 3:08 pm)
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Re: Harps in Fairy Tales...
"East of the Sun and West of the Moon" has a harp in it.
Jess
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Niniane
Sunyata
Registered User
(11/28/03 9:21 pm)
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Re: Harps in Fairy Tales...
Any of you guys heard Loreena McKennit's "The Bonnie Swans"?
It's a tale that has more than one variation in Old English Ballads,
and one of the elements is that when the swan's body is washed (upstream
or downstream? not sure), someone takes the bone (or parts of it)
to make a harp - and this is when the truth of the murder is known.
The harp/magical instrument as the revealer of a crime has appeared
in more than one fairytale, but eh, my brain has jammed itself up,
this morning.
Oh, and there was this very cool story I read as a kid in someone else's house. It was an illustrated book with fairytales from all around the world and this one was supposed to be from Ireland. It was about a mother who lost her baby to the faeries (I think, or were they elves?) and she built a beautiful golden harp, using the strands of her hair (she had beautiful golden hair too). So, when she played it, of course they wanted the harp, and she used it to barter for her kid. I'm sure it's an Irish Folktale and should be in more adult-ish compilations as well. Story pattern is familiar enough but for the life of me I cannot recall the name.
Well, hope that helps, despite my dodgy memory
Anita Harris.
Terra Mythogene
www.mythopoetica.com
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Blackwolf
Unregistered User
(11/28/03 9:52 pm)
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Celtic harps.
Something about the Celts and harps lingers at the tip of my mind here.
www.alisonvardy.com/harp/...istory.htm
Blackwolf
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Helen
Registered User
(11/29/03 12:35 am)
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The Three Sisters ...
There's also a rather gory folktale, by name of "The Three Sisters," in which an importunate suitor approaches two siblings simultaneously; the older accepts him, to his dismay, while the younger is wary. He flings the former into the river in order to futher court the younger ... unfortunately, when her remains wash up on the shore, she's found by a wandering ministrel, who makes a harp of her bones, strung with her hair, to take to court. When he takes it there,the suitor's ruse is revealed, and his ignimonious behavior is exposed to the younger sister, as well to all and sundry, to be punished by the law of the land. I don't necessarily know that it would make for a good tale to tell to young children, aside from the slightly older ones as an example of truth-telling, but there have been a few lovely retellings in YA (Patricia Wrede's lovely version springs to mind) which might make for fine examples of objectivity and fortitude in extremis. Will hopefully post more as they occur to me ...
Best,
Helen
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Terri
Unregistered User
(11/29/03 2:46 am)
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harps
There's a short article on this subject, called The Enchanted Harp,
on the Endicott site at: www.endicott-studio.com/forharp.html.
Hope it's of use.
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Terri
Registered User
(11/29/03 2:53 am)
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Harp made from a maiden's breast bone
The Bonny Swan is a variant of the Celtic folk ballad Cruel Sister, which is the same ballad that Pat Wrede drew upon for inspiration for her short storyThree Sisters.
Greg Frost just published his own short story version of this ballad, The Harp That Sang, in the anthology Swan Sister: Fairy Tales Retold.
MaryHarp, you might also be interested in the work of UK harpist
(and harp teacher) Elizabeth Jane Baldry, who discovered a wealth
of forgotten Victorian "fairy" music for the harp while
doing research at the British Museum. She's recorded some of this
music on a lovely CD titled A Wild and Dreamlike Strain. Her web
site: www.fairyharp.com.
I also *highly* recommend Aine Minogue's new CD "The Twilight
Realm," which is a gorgeous CD of music based on fairy and
otherworld themes: www.minogue.com.
And you might enjoy the art of Marja Lee Kruyt, who is both a harpist
and a painter, and thus harps are often featured in her art work:
www.endicott-studio.com/biokruyt.html.
Edited by: Terri at: 11/29/03 3:12 am
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MaryHarpTeacher
Registered User
(11/29/03 3:13 am)
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Re Harps in Fairy Tales
Wow! This is fantastic - thank you all so much for your suggestions. Please keep them coming - they're a brilliant help. I haven't had the chance to follow all the links yet, but I will write again as soon as I have.
Thank you!
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Celestial
Registered User
(11/29/03 4:23 pm)
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The Aeolian Harp
This is not a fairy tale, and not suitable for kids, but something for your personal collection might be Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem The Aeolian Harp
etext.lib.virginia.edu/st..._Harp.html
Also, I'm a music teacher too, and a (non-harp) music Picture Book
that you really should not miss is "Gabriella's Song".
It's a little jewel.
www.storyopolis.com/produ...ductID=215
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janeyolen
Registered User
(11/30/03 7:15 am)
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Re: The Aeolian Harp
You might try Barbara Berger's lovely fairy tale novel for children, GWINNA, which features a harp in it.
It is coming back into print.
Jane
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MaryHarpTeacher
Unregistered User
(11/30/03 4:25 pm)
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Thank you!
I’ve finally been able to follow up all your helpful suggestions. Thanks again!
Alison – What a fantastic story! I was hooked (although I did turn the sound off after a few pages at my husband’s request- sorry!), and particularly liked the ‘know more’ – ‘Numhor’ misunderstandings! I think I’ve got the riddle (is it the make up of the letters in the word MAN?) although I could be completely wrong!
Jess – I ran a search on Google and came to this web page, but no harp in this version.
www.ifyoulovetoread.com/b...lleast.htm
Perhaps you can direct me to a different version? Thank you.
Anita and Helen – Ironically it was archive messages on the Two Sisters’ tale that brought me to this site in the first place. I agree that it may be a bit morose for young children. Your second suggestion, Anita, sounds good. I shall see what I can find on it.
Blackwolf – Thank you, that’s a lovely site.
Terri – What an amazing article, so full of information. Are you the author?
Looking through the other sites you suggest, I came across the poem “A Leaf From The Tree of Songs” by Adam Christianson on Aine Minogue’s Celtic Poetry page, which seems particularly apt. Well worth a read.
I had not heard of Marja Lee Kruyt before, but when I looked at her art-work I recognised many of her images! They say a picture is worth a thousand words.
Celestial - ‘a soft floating witchery of sound…’ Beautiful – thank you. And I shall put ‘Gabriella’s Song’ on my Christmas wish list!
Jane – I’ve found a brief synopsis of the story of Gwinna, and yes, it seems a lovely fairy tale. Another one to add to my Christmas list! I’m looking forward to seeing just how the harp is used to ‘set her inner song free’. This could be perfect!
Thanks again all!
Mary
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AlisonPegg
Registered User
(12/1/03 4:02 am)
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Re: Thank you!
Many thanks for your kind remarks on the story. Maybe I did get a bit carried away with all the screaming and thunder crashing, but it was such fun to do! Now I've found Paint Shop Pro and Animation Shop and it's like having discovered a magic paint box.
All th best
Alison
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jess63
Registered User
(12/1/03 9:10 am)
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No Harp?
Ah. In my version, the one included in Maria Tarter's "Annotated Fairy Tales," a harp is one of the three items the girl used to barter for a night with the prince. Sorry your goggle search turned up nothing.
Good luck with the other stories.
Jess
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MaryHarpTeacher
Unregistered User
(12/2/03 3:52 am)
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Re No Harp?
Thanks Jess, I'll renew my search!
Mary
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denag
Registered User
(12/2/03 1:10 pm)
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harps
didn't jack steal the giant's magic harp from the castle at the top of the beanstalk?
also, i remember reading about a character in celtic mythology (i think) who played a harp to keep the seasons in order.
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atrayu
Registered User
(12/3/03 12:28 am)
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Re: harps
Mary,
This isn't a fairy tale but it might help. In the Norse "Elder Edda", the character Gunnaarr plays a harp to pass time while in a pit of poisonous snakes that will eventually kill him. This is from the poem "Atlakvida."
Also not a fairy tale but something that I've just thought of in childrens literature...doesn't Snape in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone play a harp to put "Fluffy" the 3-headed dog to sleep?
Good luck!
-A
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Richard
Parks
Registered User
(12/3/03 1:37 pm)
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Re: harps
Somewhat off-topic (and possible spoiler) but it wasn't Snape who used the harp to put "Fluffy" to sleep, it was Professor Quirrel the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Harry just thought it was Snape.
http://home.teclink.net/~brp1 |
atrayu
Registered User
(12/3/03 4:55 pm)
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Re: harps
Yes, thank you for the correction!
-A
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tlchang37
Registered User
(12/4/03 12:27 am)
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re: harps
A few harp stories that I have enjoyed:
"The Names upon the Harp: Irish Myth and Legend"
by Marie Heaney, P. J. Lynch (Illustrator) - lovely illustrations of Irish tales (the harp figures in a number of Irish myths - being the 'national instrument' of Ireland, ['the harp that once through Tara's halls...' - isn't that Thomas Moore?], and printed on the Euro, and Ireland being home to many fine harpists - the Chieftans won't be the same without Derek Bell. *sigh*)
Lloyd Alexander features a 'truth-telling' harp belonging to the bard, Fflewddur Flam, all through his Tales of Prydain series. He also wrote "The Truthful Harp", and has a short story in his book, "The Foundling, and Other Tales of Prydain" called 'The Smith, the Weaver and the Harper.'
I'm reading Susan Coopers "The Dark is Rising" series to my kids right now, and the 4th book, "The Grey King", is about a quest for a harp that will help in the epic battle of Light vs. Dark. She won a Newberry Award for this one.
Isn't Patricia McKillip's trilogy "The Riddle Master of Hed" feature a harp? At least a harper. It's been years since I've read that one.
'Think I need to go put on a Chieftan's CD!
Tara
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Niniane
Sunyata
Registered User
(12/4/03 1:03 pm)
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Re: re: harps
Had the pleasure of listening to the Chieftains in concert a couple of years back. Great experience, and one of the tunes played was by the great Turlough O'Carolan. I'm mentioning this because I remember reading somewhere a story (folk tale) about O'Carolan's gift and how it was related to the faeries. Which also kind of reminds me of a couple of stories in "The Horns of Elfland". A *VERY* cool anthology, that one was.
Yep, "Riddlemaster of Hed" featured a harp, and *smile* I've always been fond of Fflewddur Flam and gang.
Anita Harris.
Terra Mythogene
www.mythopoetica.com
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