LBC: Obscure Fairytale -coords.

Lolita Blog Carnival time again! Today's theme is "A Coord Inspired by an Obscure Fairytale".

Since this is a great opportunity to include fairytales of two different countries I did just that - Mouse Bride from Finland and Ólafur Liljurós from Iceland.

Mouse Bride

A wealthy man had three sons, and each of the sons owned a tree that grew in front of the house. One day the father announced the boys they would need to find a bride each, and the one with the best catch should inherit everything he owned. To begin with, he advised, the boys should each cut down their tree and go to the direction it would fall.

The eldest son's tree fell pointing to another wealthy house, and so did the second one's, but the tree of the youngest son fell towards the forest instead. Each of them now started on their way.

The youngest boy rode on until at long last he found a small house in the woods, half-rotten with all the inhabitants long dead. He sat on the stairs and hung his head when a little mouse ran to him and asked:

"Why are you so sad, friend?"

He explained his problem to the mouse who tilted her head and said: "Well, marry me then."

"That cannot be. You're not even human."

"Don't care about that, everything will turn out well."

The man then returned home to find that both his brothers had secured good matches, but embarrassed of his own bride he didn't speak much of her, only said that he had found a wife as well. 

The father announced the now he would see which son's wife was the best, and asked them firstly to go ask her to bake a bread and bring that to him. The youngest boy rode to his mouse bride full of worry and explained her what was demanded of her. The mouse told him to not worry and called out to all the other mice to each bring the best grain of wheat they had. Of these she ground flour and baked a bread. The youngest son returned home happily with the bread and found out there that the eldest son's bride had baked a rye bread and the second one's barley bread, and neither could compete with his bride's one.

Now the father told the boys to each ask their bride to weave fabric as much as they could in one day. Again the youngest one wondered if his wife-to-be could manage such a task but the mouse bride assured him everything was fine. She called out to the other mice to each bring her a few strands of best linen they had and at the end of the day she gave the boy a walnut shell that she said to be filled with as much as she had woven. Home he found out that both his brothers brides had made a whole metre of linen each and they laughed heartily when he dug the walnut out of his pocket, but the laughter ended when he opened the shell and out came five metres of finest fabric, so white it almost shone.

Now the brothers became jealous because it was obvious whose bride was the best. The father told them next to each bring their brides for him to see, but because the two had wives nearby they decided to wait in hiding for the youngest brother instead to see what kind of a match he had made.

The youngest one was embarrassed that he would have to show his bride, but the mouse once again assured him everything would be fine. It sat into an empty walnut shell and put grasshoppers in front of it, and so the two began their travel home. As they passed the place where the older brothers were they jumped out and, seeing what the bride was like, laughed so hard they could barely stand. Then the oldest one said:

"What a match you made indeed", and kicked the mouse bride so hard that she flew off the bridge they were on and into the river below. Then the two went happily back, each fetching their brides.

The youngest boy sat by the river and began to cry in desperation, knowing there was no way his bride would have survived. But as he sat there he suddenly saw four horses stick their heads up from the water, climb on the shore pulling a richly decorated carriage on which sat a young woman, well-clad and beautiful. As he stared at her in wonder she said:

"Won't you sit by me, husband, or have you forgotten your bride already?" And then she explained that she had been put under a spell that made her into a mouse until someone would marry her, and that the boy's tears had undone the magic because they showed he had been serious about marrying her.

The boy brought her home and, again she outshone the other brides. The youngest son married her and they lived happily ever after.

~The End~

Outfit rundown:

Overdress + skirt: selfmade

Shirt + shoes: vintage

All else: offbrand

Ólafur Liljurós (Olafur Lily-rose)

The story of Ólafur is known at least in both Iceland and the Faroe Islands, where he's known as Ólafur Riddararos instead. The legends are similar though there are some variation in between: this is the Icelandic one.

Ólafur rode his horse by the cliffs where he came across a fire. A beautiful elf lady came out from a stone nearby to greet him (the legend mentions that she "wasn't Christian"), followed by another one carrying a silver pitcher, a third who wore a golden belt and a fourth one, who spoke to him.

"Welcome Ólafur Liljurós, why not stay with me? Step inside the mountain and live with us instead."

Ólafur answered: "I'm a Christian man. I will not live with elves, rather I'll keep my faith."

The elf lady replied: "You would not have had to give up your faith for living with me. At least before you leave me, kiss me goodbye."

Ólafur leaned down from his saddle and kissed her as she had asked, but when he was close enough she stabbed him in the side with a pair of scissors. He rode home as fast as he could but the cut was too severe and he died soon after telling his tale to his mother.

This story is actually a song, and was therefore a bit difficult to translate. It's a really lovely one too!

In the Faroese version I've heard Ólafur actually had an affair with the elf lady, and one day before his wedding he rode to meet her and, well, dump her. She made the same request - one kiss before he left - and while he kissed her she poisoned the drink he held in his hand. Moral of the story (actually moral of most Icelandic elf stories): don't be a dick to elves.

Outfit rundown:

Top, patterned overskirt and long light blue skirt: selfmade

Darker blue bustle skirt: by shamp

Jewellery: from my national dress

Everything else: offbrand

~Others partaking in this theme~

* Fawn and the Frills * Lace a la Mode * A Heart's Sound * Sleeping Sweets *