Reading Notes: American Indian Fairy Tales, Part B

Bibliography: American Indian Fairy Tales, collected and published by Henry Schoolcraft.

The Fairy Bride

(Image Information: Puk-Wudjies, Blogspot)

Summary:

In this story, there is a young girl named Neen-i-zu, who, like the other children, grew up listening to old Iagoo's stories. One of those stories that she loved was that of the Happy Land, which was "a far-off place where it was always Summer, where no one wept or suffered sorrow." She would often take long walks in the woods, alone, dreaming of the Happy Land. In these woods lived mischievous little fairies called Puk-Wudjies. Neen-i-zu believed that these faires were meant to show people the way to Happy Land. She often sat and watched the fairies play, hoping they would take her to Happy Land. Her mother wanted her to marry a man but Neen-i-zu was not interested. On the day of her wedding, Neen-i-zu disappears. The next day, a hunter sees her in the forest, acting strange, and joined by a fairy-man. The hunter says the fairy took Neen-i-zu by the hand and they entered the Sacred Grove. So in the end, she was a bride. And that is why the story is titled The Fairy Bride. 

This story has a feeling similar to the English fairy tales I grew up hearing. I really enjoyed reading it and think it would make a great bedtime story. What made it such a classic fairy tale was the dreamy descriptiveness combined with a dark, possibly happy ending. I would like to rewrite my own version of this story but if I do not end up doing that I will still keep this story in my collection of fairy tales. It is a good one! I particularly liked the main character and her infatuation with the woods. I liked how the author described how others might describe her, as a romantic or a dreamer. I think most of us writers have probably been described as such before. It is part of having a creative mind.