Owen Goes a-Wooing
I like this short story because while it is only 400 words long, it told a story full of different kinds of magic. The mansion under the lake that Owen floated to was great, and there was some sort of time magic going on as well. When Owen arrived to Siwsi, he found out he had been gone for months, rather that a few hours. It makes me think of the time magic in C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. But in that story, when the siblings think they have been gone for years upon years, they find that back home they were gone for merely hours. This sort of time magic has always been really fascinating to me because I think it can really alter a story and the characters perceptions within it.
(Old Clock Close Up from Wikipedia)
The Martyred Hound
This story was sad and ironic. The King thinking the dog had eaten his heir, killed the dog, only to find out the dog had actually saved the child by killing a wolf that had gotten in. This story was also relatively short at 600 words, but even within that time, I felt intense sadness when it was revealed what happened. The dog and the King had such a strong bond, it was sad the King killed him needlessly.
(Enzo the Italian Greyhound on flickr)
Bibliography: "Owen Goes a-Wooing" and "The Martyred Hound" from The Welsh Fairy Book by W. Jenkyn Thomas with illustrations by Willy Pogány (1908).
Hi, Oliver!
ReplyDeleteYour notes have me interesting in reading The Martyred Hound, or at least your retelling of the story. It sounds like the king genuinely cared for his dog, but killed him in a moment of intense feeling. I would love to learn more about the emotions that led him to make such a decision, and how he felt after learning his mistake.