Poor King Ban.
He has a fortress, grey-stoned and garden walled, adorned by fountains of ferns and smelling of sweet incenses and woodsmoke. And he lost it all, we’ll not go into how just here; we join him as he lumbers out to the glassy lake at the castle’s foot to die of grief. Better not to pin your Self to such towering baubles. Even today I feel myself imploring Ban to let the castle slip away and to face the Strange, and live.
Poor Queen Ban, scavenging the last moments with a man who loved his castle more than her. How twisted are the strings we allow to make us puppets. She leaves her child to be with her husband as he dies.
What a pair. And when the King has taken his leave and the Queen returns to the castle, there stands a Faerie: old- style, not some ethereal imp but a tall woman holding her child. And while the Queen remains terror-rooted to the spot, the Faerie carries the child into the lake and disappears to his mother.
Faeries were not small fry, back then. The author of the old romance from which this story is drawn (as if from a deep well) tells us: “In those time all the women were called fays who had to do with enchantments and charms – and there were many of them then, principally in Great Britain – and knew the power and virtues of words, of stones, and of herbs…”
The words come from an early 19th century book by an Irish folklorist, Thomas Keightley, read and admired by one of the Grimm brothers. The man wrote a whole book on Faerie mythology. And to think that early Faeries were British women who knew about words, and stones, and herbs.
And back to our story. The lake was not a real lake but a Fee (fairy) lake. The child’s name was Launcelot. And the rest is mythology.
The quality of that castle: its damp, solid destruction, the green maidenhair growing from crevices in its walls; the other-worldness of that lake, they are summed up for some in a small living thing which makes its appearance round about now in our Northern half of the world.
For some, there is a flower which can make the veil between what we think is real, and what might be, gossamer-thin.
If we are not careful, we could walk past this little portal without ever realising its potency.
Yesterday, taking our daily exercise with the smallest of dogs, we came upon a bank of primroses, a Primrose Path. I would swear the air was different there, and the earth busy, the earthworms industrious, the beetles bell-like and percussive.
The primrose, some say, has the power to reveal the invisible. Hang a posy on the door and the faeries will come knocking; scatter the little blooms outside to keep them away. Eat primroses, they say, and you will see a fairy.
Should you, on your exercise outside the house, or through your window, spot the little primrose; should it grace your Spring even this year, when we the human race are sent inside to wait: then I would urge you to give it audience. Stop, and marvel: for this is a flower to summon faeries. The real kind; the old kind; the lawless, self-serving, wise women, who know about words, and stones, and herbs.
Kate Shrewsday 
So thus the primrose path….
Indeed Helen 🙂 not the worst path to choose by any means…
i love this!
Hello Beth, I hope you and yours are keeping well. Thank you!
we are indeed, and you too, kate
I didn’t need the petals or potions of primroses. You lulled me into the realms of Faeries with your magical words alone. How twisted are the strings we allow to make us puppets! What an allegory!
Thank you! I have very little common sense but live in the land of the metaphor, which I find incredibly comforting. Thanks for coming to read.
I recognised the romance immediately from the King Ban reference and yet I loved the way you drew this centuries-old story into the present and made it immediate in your distinctive way. And so good to read your words again, it feels like another time and regime since you last impinged on my consciousness; and I’m eternally grateful that you encouraged me in my early forays into the world of blogging back in the more optimistic world of 2012.
Chris, fabulous to hear from you, and to come over to your site and see you wrestling with the temptation to buy yet more wonderful books. 2012 does seem like a long time ago; and here we still are, two old cyber warriors peddling words to those who will listen. Such a pleasure to wander into one’s favourite blogs and find them still there. Thanks for coming round.
I was so sorry to hear of Leslie Nobles’ passing: as Colonialist he was another old cyber warrior I met through your influence and followed through thick and thin. Spiky and determined to the end he gave little hint of the prognosis for his cancer, choosing in his own inimitable way to celebrate his extended family’s activities, grumble about the country’s inefficiency and mismanagement, make light of his hospital treatment and apologise for his increasing infrequency online. I do miss his very individual voice.
Chris, I am so sorry we have lost Leslie. What a wonderful voice in the word of bloggers.
What a lovely read Kate
Hello Chris! Thank you! I do hope you and yours are keeping well.
ah the primrose! Lovely Kate, Thank you for this.
A nice choice of words, and some interesting musings. I have often wondered if many of the fairy tales were not simply based off of folk, whether they were hermits or gypsies, that would come by and accept cream left and in return do a small house service. Exceptfor the first cream outdoors, I suspect the wild cats enjoyed that and, in return, kept the yards mouse and rat free – thus bringing health and good fortune into the homes.