Throwback Thursday: Fairies and Fan Fiction - William Gilmer

Editor’s note: I’m not sure I agree with what the writer says here, especially about the “over” status of old school fairy tales, but the post did get my attention. I think it’s interesting. It’s from 2020. KW

It’s not a stretch to call fan fiction polarizing. Its legitimacy is often questioned by self-appointed “serious” writers, even though it is one of the most prolific forms being written today. How prolific? Head over to FanFiction.net and see how many stories have been uploaded in the past day. I’ll wait.

Impressive isn’t it?

There are already mile long forum threads to show how non-productive it is to debate the validity of fan fiction, so I’m not going to throw my opinionated hat into that ring. I would rather use this space to highlight one example of fan fiction that is enjoying massive success – the modern, or fractured, fairy tale.

Not fan fiction you say? Do they utilize characters from other works in original ways? Do they explore worlds and settings created by others? Do they seek to deepen and pay homage to already existing narratives?

Sounds like fan fiction to me, and it’s thriving.

A quick internet search brings up numerous anthologies of “new” fairy tales published in the last year (After the Happily Ever After, Transmundane Press, Twisted Fairytales Anthology, Createspace Publishing, Fractured Beauty: The Fairy Tale Five, Tork Media -  just to name a few)

The 1991 movie, Hook, for example, is certainly fan fiction and was nominated for 5 Academy Awards. (we’re going to save the conversation about whether or not Peter Pan is an “actual” fairy tale for another time)

The ABC television series, Once Upon a Time, ran for 7 seasons and had an impressive list of Emmy nominations.

Both Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast have enjoyed new life with expanded live action adaptations.

So why is fan fiction being celebrated when it comes to fairy tales, and eye-rolled into obscurity when it deals with nearly any other genre?

Readers expect complete stories with well-constructed worlds and fleshed out characters.

Fan fiction usually doesn’t take the time to build worlds or characters. It relies solely on source material, and assumes that the reader has a strong understanding of the “canon” that came before it. This means that the fan fiction writer will either need to write about a literary world people are already familiar with or be content with a small readership.  

We all know fairytales. The majority of us grew up with Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood. When Once Upon a Time uses Cinderella in an episode, you already know her story. This social familiarity helps the story appeal to a much wider audience.

You might be wondering, “Well everyone knows Harry Potter, shouldn’t its fan fiction be just as popular?”

It might be, if it wasn’t for the giant elephant in the room - the dreaded copyright. Most fairy tales have been around long enough to slip into Public Domain, meaning that anyone can use the characters and settings without fear of infringement. Chances are, an author isn’t going to let a story that infringes on their copyright go far (anywhere but a web forum far), so most fan fiction that would appeal to a large audience is stopped before it even gets off the ground.

While an author can’t prevent anyone from writing fan fiction, they certainly can limit the amount of exposure a piece gets. Cease and desist letters can come quickly for the successful fan fiction writer.



Some fan fiction is written while the source material is still being expanded by the original creators, others are “officially” done, leaving fan fiction as the only way to keep these stories and alive.

Some of us sit around and wait for another visit to Hogwarts or that second season of Firefly. Others get to it themselves.

Regardless of your thoughts on fan fiction, I’m sure everyone can agree that it’s a labor of love. It comes from a place of wanting more of characters or worlds that have touched the reader in a special way.

It’s over for classic fairy tales. The originators of our Grimm favorites have been gone for hundreds of years. If we want another taste of those nostalgic stories, we have to turn to fan fiction. This void creates fertile ground for new writers to plant their own creative seeds. Fan fiction becomes more acceptable when it deals with works that can’t be expanded any other way.

It’s easy to split hairs with this topic. How exactly do you define “fan fiction” or “fairy tale”? Can Walt Disney's 1950 animated version of Cinderella be considered fan fiction, while the 2015 live action version is considered a remake?

My hope with this article was to highlight the seemingly contradictory way we enjoy, even celebrate, fan fiction’s creative borrowing. There seems to be something about fairy tales we can’t let go of, a magic that compels us to make special exemptions to get our next fix of forbidden forests, glass slippers, and fairy godmothers.

William Gilmer is a contributing editor at Enchanted Conversation Magazine and a writer and poet currently living in Michigan.
Follow him on Twitter @willwritethings 

Cover layout by Amanda Bergloff

ON MYTH - Thor Reborn by William Gilmer

Thor is one of the most recognizable mythological figures we have today. The Nordic god of thunder captivates us with a simple mentality and a drive to do what is right. While Thor has never really left our collective consciousness, he has enjoyed a revival thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Since 2011 Thor has appeared in numerous movies which have sold billions of dollars in ticket sales worldwide. It’s safe to say that Thor is enjoying a popularity he hasn’t seen since the days of old.

As a new generation gets introduced to the son of Odin, it may be worthwhile to look at the differences between the classic god and the current movie superstar. My intention is not to show that the Marvel movies “got it wrong”, or isn’t “doing justice” to the traditional myths. All gods and mythologies change and evolve over time as they are exposed to new people and cultures. If the decision had been made to keep Thor mythologically accurate, he would have been denied the opportunity to grow with the times, to be reborn. The only gods that truly die are the ones that are forgotten.

Thor the Red

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor is played by Chris Hemsworth, who sports his trademark long blonde locks and short stubble beard. Blonde is a good look for the god of thunder, but the color was uncommon in Nordic culture, and Thor, believe it or not, was almost exclusively depicted with red hair.

Thor by Max Friedrich Koch

Hair was a big deal in Viking culture. They were meticulous about the cleanliness and appearance of not only their hair, but their beards as well. The popular idea of Vikings is that they were brutish and primitive, the reality is that Vikings were more concerned with personal grooming than most other cultures at the time. Combs and nail care tools were prized personal possessions, and are frequently found buried with the dead.

Hemsworth’s Thor is rarely, if ever, shown on screen looking sloppy or unkempt, but the decision to go with very short facial hair is a change for Thor, who would have classically worn a much longer beard.

Family Issues

Loki Talks to the Rhinemaidens 
by Arthur Rackham

One of the most popular fan favorite characters of the Thor franchise is his “brother” Loki. While the films do mention that Thor and Loki are not true brothers, their relationship is far closer in the movies than what was described in the traditional myths.  Very little is said about Loki’s parentage, but it’s generally accepted that he is the son of Farbauti and Laufey and that he had legitimate siblings (Helbindi and Byleistr). The only relation Loki has to Thor is an oath the god of mischief swore to Odin (Thor’s father) acknowledging him as the ruler of the gods. Loki went on to have many children of his own, the most interesting of which is probably Sleipnir, Odin’s eight-legged horse that Loki gave birth to after shapeshifting into a mare.

Odin Rides Sleipnir - Artist Unknown

Odin is another member of Thor’s family that differs from the original sources. The movies show Odin as a calm pacifist, but when we look at the old stories, we see that Odin was a war mongering madman. Odin traded his eye for more power and used it to dominate other realms on the battlefield. He was the leader of the Wild Hunt (in German versions the prey was often a young woman) and slaughtered the ancient being Ymir (Odin’s father/mother) to create the world from its body.

Jörmungandr & Hel by Gezücht

There are also significant differences with the goddess Hel (Hela in the movies). In Thor: Ragnarok, Thor is introduced to his sister Hela who wants to continue her mission to take over all of the other realms. The movie version of Hel embodies many of the traits we find in the mythological Odin. Hel, the “real” goddess, is very different than her big screen counterpart.

Rather than being a daughter of Odin and sister to Thor (as described in the movies), Hel was one of the three children born from the union of Loki and the giantess Angrboda. Due to the troublesome nature of their parents, the other gods worried about what these children would grow up to be. Because of their fears, Odin ordered all three to be banished. Hel was sent to rule over one of the realms of the afterlife (named Hel in her honor), where she was charged with tending to those who died from old age and disease.

Far from her violent and power hungry movie persona, Hel was usually gloomy and downcast. She was never really considered an enemy of the gods. While she did offer assistance (kind of) in the gods attempt to resurrect Baldr from the dead, she was generally indifferent to their affairs.

Godly Gear

Thor's Fight with the Giants by Mårten Eskil Winge

One of Thor’s most recognizable symbols is his hammer Mjölnir. Mjölnir was more than just a hammer, it was an icon of the people. In Scandinavian and other European cultures, this symbol was as common as the crucifix is today. Small pendants worn around the neck and engravings of Mjölnir above doorways were used to bring good luck and the favor of the divine. Even when Christianity became popular in the region, Mjölnir remained a regular emblem for the people. The two symbols were so widely used that molds have been found that could be used to cast either shape. Mjölnir is still an important symbol used by various Neopagan religions and was recently added to the list of United States Department of Veterans Affairs emblems for headstones and markers.

As far as Mjölnir’s treatment on the big screen, there are some inconsistencies. The movies claim that Mjölnir was forged in space by the heat of a dying star, not exactly how The Prose Edda (a book of Norse mythology dating back to 1220 AD) describes it. Thor’s mighty hammer was, according to the text, made by two dwarfs (Sindri and Brokkr) as part of a bet with Loki. Due to Loki’s interference during the forging, the handle was made too short, causing Mjölnir to only be wielded one-handed. Unlike the movies, Thor never used his hammer to fly, preferring instead a chariot pulled by his two goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr.

Mjölnir was not Thor’s only piece of equipment; Megingjörð (power belt) and Járngreipr (iron gloves) were used to double his already amazing strength and allowed him to wield Mjölnir.

The cinematic (or comic book) version of Thor is further proof that our gods are beside us, changing as we do. This new iteration of Thor has some definite differences than his predecessor, but those changes have landed him in a position to capture our imaginations all over again, and personally, I couldn’t be happier for it.

William Gilmer is a writer and poet living in Michigan where Fall never lasts long enough. Over two dozen of his pieces have been published both online and in print. Keep an eye out for his monthly articles in Enchanted Conversation Magazine, and if there isn’t enough going on in your feed, follow him on Twitter @willwritethings

Cover: Amanda Bergloff

Thanks for reading! We'd love to hear from you, so share your thoughts with William about his article in the comments section below.

Check out Jude's novelette:

FAEGOTTEN

FAIRY TALE FOUNDERS by William Gilmer

The Brothers Grimm, One Thousand and One Nights, Mother Goose...almost all our knowledge of fairytales and early children’s literature comes from collections. We seem to hear more about these collections, and the people who took the time to compile them, than we do about the original writers. This month I’m looking at the people behind the stories, the people’s whose work deserved collecting in the first place.

Beatrix Potter

Beatrix Potter was a powerhouse far ahead of her time. We remember her best for fables that showcased anthropomorphized animals like The Tale of Peter Rabbit and The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, but she was much more (which is saying a lot considering The Tale of Peter Rabbit is still one of the best-selling books of all time).

There were many advantages for Beatrix growing up. Her family had wealth through the ownership of one of England’s largest textile printing works, as well as luck in the earlier days of the stock market. Beatrix was privately educated and found a love for nature and the natural sciences. She was a skilled artist and received acclaim for her colorized drawings and descriptions of fungi. Her love of nature and the environment would stay with her over the course of her life.

Beatrix had been raised on fairy tales and the traditional folklore of Scotland. She was an avid reader and always sought to express herself through words or art. While she was on a vacation in Dunkeld, she included the first ideas of The Tale of Peter Rabbit in a letter to a friend back home. In 1900, she finalized the story and began shopping it around for publication. She was unable to find anyone to take the book and decided to self-publish it for her family and friends. Canon Rawnsley received a copy of the book and was so impressed, he persuaded Frederick Warne & Co. to take a chance on it. The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published in 1902 and became so successful that Beatrix would go on to publish twenty-two more books with the company.

With the money she made from writing, Beatrix set off on a life of farming and conservation. Her passion for farming and her skill at raising sheep were almost unmatched (her mastery of sheep breeding became so well known that in 1942 she became the first woman elected president of the Herdwick Sheepbreeders’ Association). Upon her death she left all her 4,000 acres to the National Trust. Her donation made it possible to create the Lake District National Park. A true Jill of all trades, Beatrix Potter established herself in many different fields and thrived in whatever task she was taking on at the time. In a time when women were blocked from many aspects of industry, Beatrix was a maverick and a trail blazer.

Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy

Marie-Catherine D’Aulnoy lived a life worthy of a Hollywood biopic. She was born in 1650 to a noble family and married off at the age of fifteen to a man thirty years her elder. Her husband was accused of treason by two men assumed to be lovers of D’Aulnoy. After a few years in prison, D’Aulnoy’s husband was released, and D’Aulnoy fled her home in north-western France and became a spy for the French government. During this time, she was thought to live in Spain and England. Upon her return to France, she was involved in a plot to take revenge on the abusive husband of her friend, Angélique Ticquet. The two women conspired to have one of Angélique’s servants shoot her husband, but the plan was foiled and resulted in the target being wounded instead of killed. While Madame D’Aulnoy was never implicated in the crime, her friend Angélique Ticquet was beheaded for attempted murder.

As if that wasn’t enough, this former spy and conspirator of murder would become the founding mother of fairy tales. Marie-Catherine D’Aulnoy was the principle figure in fairytale précieuses. Précieuses was a French literary style born in the salons of the female elites where well-to-do women conversed about life and literature. One of the most popular games played in these salons involved the telling of fairy tales. While the idea was that the tellings would be impromptu and spontaneous, they were usually well prepared and thoroughly rehearsed.

Apart from her participation in the salon culture, D’Aulnoy was a prolific writer, and penned two different collections of fairy tales, Les Contes des Fees (Tales of fairies) and Contes Nouveaux ou Les Fees a la Mode, were published in 1697 and 1698. These stories were not meant for children and reflected the language of the courts and salons at the time. Changes were made throughout the years to make the tales palatable for younger audiences, so much so that today some of the stories are nearly unrecognizable from their original forms.

The salon literary culture had a significant impact on writings of all forms, but especially fairytales. The works of the précieuses influenced  Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve (author of the original Beauty and the Beast) and Charles Perrault (Cinderella). While you won’t see very many references to Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy, she was, without a doubt, the mother of the fairytale as we know it today.

Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen was as equally unique as he was prolific. Born in Denmark in 1805, he wrote some of the most well-known fairy tales and childrens stories in the Western world. To his credit are the familiar titles, “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, “The Little Mermaid”, and “The Ugly Duckling”, among many other works. Besides fairy tales, Andersen found initial success writing travelogues, short stories, and his breakthrough novel, The Improvisatore, which was based on his time traveling throughout Italy. He also put together stage plays and other theatrical works, though these produced little commercial or critical success.

Andersen fell in love with fairy tales from an early age when his father would read him One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights). Though he was born with dyslexia, he did eventually learn how to read. Much to his editor’s dismay, he struggled with spelling throughout his life. While he grew up poor and endured the death of his father at a young age, Andersen found success in writing early on, publishing his first story, "The Ghost at Palnatoke's Grave," at the age of seventeen.

Even though Andersen is remembered today for his fairy tales, this acclaim took some time to materialize. Published entries for his multi-installment book, Fairy Tales, which contained some of his best-known works, occurred in 1835 and 1837, but sold poorly. After this, he focused on novels and poetry which performed far better for him. It wouldn’t be until 1845, with the translation and reprinting of some early works, that Andersen would find fame in fairy tales. While he still pursued other forms of writing, he worked on fairy tales and childrens stories for the rest of his life and became one of the best-known writers of children’s literature.

There are many other people that I wish could have been included on this list, but unfortunately, we don’t know who they are. Many of our beloved stories of fairies and folklore were passed down orally for generations before ever being written down, making nearly impossible to trace them back to a single source. Even when we know the original writers of these stories, it’s easy to see the lives of those people overshadowed by the success of their works. It takes special people to craft stories that last for hundreds of years...special people that are still out there. You can take part in this tradition by submitting your stories to Enchanted Conversation where we’re always hunting for the next Potter, D’Aulnoy, and Andersen! Just try not to get your friend beheaded in the process.

William Gilmer is a writer and poet living in Michigan where Fall never lasts long enough. Over two dozen of his pieces have been published both online and in print. Keep an eye out for his monthly articles in Enchanted Conversation Magazine, and if there isn’t enough going on in your feed, follow him on Twitter @willwritethings

Cover: Amanda Bergloff

Thanks for reading! We'd love to hear from you, so share your thoughts with William about his article in the comments section below.

Check out Jude's novelette:

FAEGOTTEN

MARRIED TO SUPERSTITION by William Gilmer

Weddings and superstitions...

Writer, William Gilmer, delves into the history of

some well known traditions just in time for the "June Brides" out there.

I have some exciting news to share this month! In August, I will be marrying Dena, my best friend and favorite person in the world. In an effort to steady the shaker bottle of anxiety churning in my stomach, I decided to research the history of some well-known wedding traditions. My anxiety ramped into overdrive as I slowly learned the dark truths behind these customs. It turns out there is a whole host of evil spirits just waiting to ruin our big day.

The thing about evil spirits is that, well, they’re evil, and will do whatever they can to spoil a good time. I certainly wasn’t going to stand by and let some disembodied jerks ruin our big day, so I looked at what people had done in the past to thwart these supernatural wedding crashers. My hope was to incorporate some safe guards into the ceremony without worrying my soon-to-be wife about the peril she might be in. The first possible solution involved the bridesmaids.

You wouldn’t guess it by today’s standards, but the bride and her bridesmaids used to wear the same color and style of dress. The idea was that if the bride shows up to the wedding with a group of people that look like her, the spirits wouldn’t be able to figure out who the actual bride is. It seemed like the answer to my problem, but as I started thinking, I couldn’t remember ever seeing a wedding where the bride and the bridesmaids were all dressed the same. It turns out that we can thank Queen Victoria for unintentionally putting a stop to this tradition. 

White didn’t always dominate the wedding color wheel, in fact, white used to be the color of mourning in medieval Europe among many other places. For weddings, brides of the past generally just wore their favorite dress. That is, until the marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1840. The Queen decided that she wanted to wear white, and commissioned a beautiful gown that changed wedding garb forever after. She wasn’t about to thumb her nose at the spirits though, her bridesmaids wore white as well. It was quickly decided that white represented purity, and therefore was the perfect color for the bride to wear, but inappropriate for the bridesmaids. This effectively ended the tradition as people modeled their weddings after those of the Royals. I asked Dena what she thought about having matching dresses for her and the bridesmaids. It was in that moment I learned that the human face is capable of expressions that put spoken words to shame. Not a sound was needed to let me know that she would not be wearing the same color as her bridesmaids. Thankfully, traditional wedding fashion had another option for disguising the bride, the veil.

The veil is a truly ancient tradition, dating all the way back to the biblical Genesis.   One explanations of why the bride is “given away” during a wedding is because the veil was said to make it so difficult to see she needed to be escorted down the aisle to avoid bumping into anything. The meaning of the veil has changed throughout the centuries and varies from culture to culture. It has been used as a symbol of purity and rebirth, as a form of insurance in arranged marriages where a participant may not be overjoyed by the aesthetics of the other, and, most importantly to me, as protection from evil spirits.    

The thinking behind this one is that the spirit, if it knew the bride, would not be able to recognize her at the wedding, or, if it was a more general variety of spirit that was just out to ruin a happy day, the veil made it so the spirit wouldn’t be able to see the bride laughing or smiling, actions that tend to irritate the nasty spirits of the world. When I asked Dena if she was going to wear a veil, her response was less than enthusiastic. “We’re getting married at midday, outside, in August. It’s going to be hot enough without adding a veil to the mix.” 

Later that night she walked in on me drilling holes into soup cans. At first her expression was one of confusion, but I watched it changed to curious disapproval as I explained that if she insisted on not match her bridesmaids, or wearing a veil, then this was our last option. Traditional Irish/Celtic folklore says that spirits cannot stand the sound of metal hitting together, this theory also shows up in many other cultures where bells and gongs are used to cleanse a space of negative influences. Tradition also claims that the sound of the cans will drown out the voices of the newlyweds, preventing the spirits from learning where the honeymoon will take place.

“Well something tells me the limo company isn’t going to like that very much. What if a can bounces up and scratches the paint? Besides, if any spirit shows up I’m just going to put it in a headlock and give it a swirly in the holy water, problem solved.”

Sometimes all it takes is a different perspective to find a solution. Weddings are foolish places for evil spirits anyway, any book on superstition will tell you that love is your best weapon against evil.

EDITORS NOTE: On behalf of myself (Amanda), Angelika, Kiyomi, and Craig, we here at Enchanted Conversation would like to congratulate William and Dena on their upcoming wedding, and we wish you two a very happy ever-after!

William Gilmer is a writer and poet living in Michigan where Fall never lasts long enough. Over two dozen of his pieces have been published both online and in print. Keep an eye out for his monthly articles in Enchanted Conversation Magazine, and if there isn’t enough going on in your feed, follow him on Twitter @willwritethings

Cover Art: The Marriage of Oberon and Titania by Thomas Stothard, 1806

Thanks for reading! We'd love to hear from you, so share your thoughts about William's article in the comments section below.

Check out Jude's novelette:

FAEGOTTEN