Week 12 Famous Last Words

Falling into Place

It's only Tuesday and i'm already tired and ready for Friday.. well, actually.. i'm ready for May. April is seriously the busiest and most stressful month of the year for us social work majors. Our professors don't really spread out our assignments so all of the big ones are due during April. This month I have to wrap up this class, write and present my capstone paper, write a quantitative research methods journal critique, write and present a research proposal, finish up getting my practicum hours at Calm Waters, finish paying for my program fees for Tanzania this summer, apply for my student visa, and attend mandatory orientations for my MSW program. So much to do, so little time! 

Anyway, today one of the divorce groups at Calm Waters ended and I was actually a little sad. I've seen these kids come so far in the past 8 weeks! It was so hard to say goodbye when one of the littlest told me she wished groups could keep going. I saw two little girls do a complete 180. One girl was meek and always passed, refusing to answer or talk about what she was going through. She was very quiet and usually looked down for most of group. I worried about her, but as group progressed she opened up. Today, she wanted to be the first to answer. She smiled, laughed, and talked louder than she had before. She participated the entire time and was eager to continue coming to group. The other was very sad and angry. She literally hid behind her hair and curled into a ball in her chair. She never looked up and usually didn't participate. When she did, she muttered her one word answers very quietly and reluctantly. Today, she was laughing and participated openly. She also talked about how she enjoyed meeting the people in the group and wasn't as eager to leave as normal. We ended with a group hug where we stood in a circle, put our hands around each others' shoulders, and put our right feet in so that we ended up embracing. It was a great end to a difficult and wonderful group. 

My photo from our group hug today (4/7/15)

My life is pretty hectic and stressful right now, but it seems like things are finally starting to fall into place. I'm looking forward to graduation, Tanzania, and grad school! 

Week 12 Essay

This week I read the Celtic Fairytales unit which takes stories from Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892). My favorite stories were Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree, Connla and the Fairy Maiden , and Beth Gellert. I liked this unit, though the way it was written made it a little hard to read. I felt like I had to read each sentence, sometimes more than once, and decipher it before moving on and establishing the overall meaning of what I was reading. I felt like I had to start over a few times and go back. I listened to the audiobook then read the story with a few of the stories and that seemed to help. I think the only information people should be aware of is that the stories are written in a way that sounds like a Celtic person talking out loud or singing.

This unit fit with my overall goals of the class because it taught me about Celtic folklore, but it didn't align much with my storybook. However, I really liked the different take on Snow White. I learned that Celtic fairy tales have a lot of strange takes on children and how to raise and protect them. It This unit is really different from many of the mythology units, its more like a storybook and that was pretty fun. This unit was not my favorite so far, but I like the Celtic stories. I think i'd like to hear them read aloud by someone of that descent, just to see if when read aloud by them, the stories really did sound like songs.

I was surprised by the Brewery of Eggshells story. It was nothing like what I expected, but still managed to tie in to the title. I liked that it dealt with mischievous little elves and showed them as troublesome, generally unkind creatures. People today tend to think of them as adorable, cherub-looking creatures who make cookies and are very ethereal. Celtic folklore sees them differently, and I can't remember why, but i've always aligned them more closely with a dark nature than a light one.

Santa's Evil Elf

by user Dront, found on 3DTotal Forum

Week 12 Storytelling

Gladys and Silva 

Once upon a time there was a beautiful queen, Gladys and her stunning daughter, Silva. They lived in a castle and spent much of their time laughing and dancing together. One day, when the pair were going for a walk through the glen, they came to a pond. 

"Silva, dear!" Gladys called to her daughter, "i'm going to rest for a while by this pond, go pick some flowers for us to put on the dinner table." 

Silva as a young lass

found on Livejournal

Silva did as her mother told and Gladys lounged by the calm waters of the pond. She glanced down at the water and suddenly saw two eyes staring straight up at her. She leaned down closer to see what it was when all of a sudden, a trout popped its head out of the water and began to speak! "Hello beautiful queen! How are you this morn?" said the trout. After getting over the initial shock of a talking fish, Gladys replied, "I'm doing well, pray thee answer me one question?" The trout nodded and Gladys said, "Troutie bonny little fellow, am not I the most beautiful queen in the world?" The trout seemed to contemplate momentarily, gazing up at the statuesque woman with long red hair, before saying, "Indeed, you are beautiful, but there is another more fair." The queen was immediately angered and demanded to know who he deemed to be more beautiful than her. "Why, your daughter Silva of course!" he replied happily before saying he had to go and swimming away without another word. 

Gladys

found on Pinterest

Gladys was enraged and full of jealousy. She summoned her daughter and they went home. Straight away, Gladys sent Silva to her chamber and ran, tears streaming down her face, to see her husband. "Oh my king! I am in the worst of sorts! Please, please help me. End my suffering and heal me of my malady!" cried Gladys. "Of course, my love, anything! You only need to ask of it, and it shall be granted. Tell me what to do!" replied the king worriedly. The queen then told him of her dark desire. She told him that the only way to cure her and restore her happiness was to bring her the heart and liver of her daughter so that she may eat it and return to her former self. 

The king was stunned at such a request, and vowed to help her, but how could he prevent his daughter's death? The queen left, practically skipping with delight, and the king began contemplating his next move. Then it dawned on him, of course! The wealthy prince from two kingdoms over! He was searching for a bride. All the king had to do was marry his daughter off while his queen was away and all would be solved.

Silva on her Wedding Day

Found on OCWedding

And so it was done. The princess Silva married prince Doche and was whisked off to her new home. The queen had been on a trip to visit her sister, and when she returned home her husband provided her with a small chest. When she opened it up, a smile immediately lit up her face, because inside was a heart and liver which she assumed could only be that of her daughter Silva. She quickly cooked them up and ate them. For the rest of her days, she lived in happiness, not knowing that she had been fooled and the fairest of them all continued to live in grace and beauty in a neighboring kingdom. 

Author's Note:

This weeks' storytelling comes from the story of Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree, which was taken from Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892). I liked the original story and could see how it related to snow white. I didn't want to change much, just a few details and the overall ending. In the original, the queen tries to murder her daughter more than once (and is successful during one attempt, but the daughter is brought back) and ends up dead. However, I didn't want to write a super long story and felt like I would have had to in order to really tell the entire story, so I just ended it with the queen living in blissful ignorance. 

D2L Profile Tech Tip

I decided to update my D2L profile for this week's tech tip. I chose a picture of me that is more recent. I picked this particular picture because I look genuinely happy in it. I'm rocking the tiny eyes and slightly crooked smile that are signs that my smile is real. I have learned to accept and generally love my awkward little quirks. I embrace my weirdness, but feel like this picture isn't too weird for my OU D2L profile. It's also my Facebook profile picture so I can keep continuity throughout my web presences.

My picture from Valentines Day 2015

Week 12 Reading Diary B

This week I chose to read the Celtic Fairy Tales unit. The stories are taken from Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892). Here are a few of my favorite stories from the second half of the reading.

Beth Gellert

• The prince had a favorite greyhound named Gellert who was gentle, but VERY fast. One day, when he blew the horn for his dogs, Gellert never came. The prince hunted without the dog, but was incredibly angry. When he came home, the dog came bounding up with blood all over his face. The prince had a baby son, and he worried that the dog had hurt his son. As he made his way to the child's room, he saw more and more blood and disarray. When he came to the room, the cradle was overturned and there was blood everywhere. The prince was sure that the greyhound had killed his son and drew his sword. He pierced the pup in his side, straight through to his heart. The dog cried out and died. Just then, a little noise came from under the cradle. The prince went to check it out and lo and behold, there was his bouncing baby boy. Next to him, lay the body of a great wolf. It dawned on the prince that Gellert had stayed behind that morning to protect the baby and had done so greatly. The prince was immediately filled with pain and grief. He cried and cried, but nothing could bring Gellert back, so he buried him outside the castle and named his home Beth Gellert in the dog's honor. 

Gelert by Charles Burton Barber

Found on Wikipedia

Brewery of Eggshells

• Once upon a time, there was a man, his wife, and their twin sons. One day, she had to run to the neighbor's place and as she was returning, she saw two elves crossing her path. She panicked and ran into her sons' room, but everything seemed fine. However, after a while she noticed that her twins were not growing. Something was wrong! The man suggested that they were not their children. The wife asked whose they were and so began a long drawn-out argument. 
• The wife decides to go to the town wise-man who told her to clear out the shell of a hen's egg and boil some potage (a thick soup) in it. Then, he said, put it in front of the door as if it is dinner for the reapers of the harvest and wait to see if the twins say anything. If she hears them talking about things way beyond the usual understanding for their age, take them and throw them into Lake Ebyr. If they don't say anything remarkable, leave them alone.
• The wife did as she was told and the children began talking in a way most unlike babies of their age. The woman grabbed them and ran to the lake. She threw them in and they splashed, helplessly until the other goblins/elves came to save them. They gave the woman her children back, and everything went back to normal. 

Week 12 Reading Diary A

This week I chose to read the Celtic Fairy Tales unit. The stories are taken from Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892). Here are a few of my favorite stories from the first half of the reading.

Connla and the Fairy Maiden 

Fairy Queen

Found on One Vibration

• Connla meets a woman from "the plains of the ever-living" who is very mysterious and talks about living without sin or sadness. The woman falls in love with him and begs him to come with him to the Land of Pleasure. Connla's father cannot see her, but can hear her and was worried so he summons his wizard. The wizard shot spells toward the place where her voice came from. She disappeared and no longer spoke, but left an apple for Connla. For a month, he would eat nothing but that apple, which never ran out. Then, at the end of the month, she spoke to Connla again and bade him to come with her. The king once again summoned the wizard, but the wizard could not stop Connla's want to be with the maiden. She once again asked him to join her on her crystal canoe and travel to the land where only wives and maidens dwell, a land of joy. Connla simply could not resist anymore and he hopped into her canoe. The two glided away into the ocean together and were never seen again. 

The Horned Women

• A rich family was chilling when all of a sudden there was a knock at the door. They asked who was there and was answered with, "I am the witch of the one horn." She opened the door and entered a small woman with a horn on her head and a handful of wool in her hand. She began carding the wool furiously. Then, another knock came and when the lady of the house opened the door, another witch, this one with 2 horns, entered the house. She came in with a spinning wheel and went to work spinning the wool. Knocks kept coming and women with horns kept entering. They spun and sang together, but did not talk to the lady of the house. The lady tried to get up and cry for help, but couldn't move or make a sound. The witches had put a spell on her.
• They told her to make them a cake. She tried, but could not find anything to make the cake with. They gave her a sieve and told her to use it to fetch water, but the water fell through. She knelt by the well and cried until a mysterious voice told her to use the dirt to plug up the sieve and carry water. She did so and was told by the voice that when she gets to the North side of the house, she must shout, "The mountain of the Fenian women and the sky over it is all on fire" three times. She did this and the witches screeched and fled the house back to their home. 
• The spirit of the well then taught the lady how to protect her house from the witches should they return. First, she took the water that she'd used to clean her children's feet and sprinkled it outside of the door. Then, she took the cake that the witches had made with the blood of the sleeping children while she was gone and broke up the cake. She put pieces of it in each person's mouth and they were restored. Then, she took the cloth they had woven and placed it half in and half out of the chest with the padlock. Last, she took a giant crossbeam and placed it over the door, effectively blocking it. 
• The witches returned and bade her to let them in. She refused, so they told the feet water to let them in, but it said it could not because it was scattered about. Angrily, they turned to the cake and told it to let them in. It replied that it could not because it was broken up in the mouths of the sleeping children. The witches left with great frustration and their cries filled the air as they left, cursing the spirit of the well. The woman and the house were left in peace and she kept a memento of that night above her mantle as generations lived happily in that house for 500 years. 

Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree

Divorce Changes Your Stepchildren’s Soul and Yours, Too!

Ann Taintor Image, found on The Evil Stepmother Speaks

• There was a king whose wife was named Silver-Tree and a daughter named Gold-Tree. One day they went to a glen where they happened upon a trout. Silver-Tree asked the trout if she was the most beautiful queen in the world. It told her no, her daughter was. Silver-Tree was incredibly angry and vowed to never feel better again until she had eaten the heart and liver of her daughter. When she told her husband that she would be healed of her "illness" if she could eat these things, he instead married his daughter off to a wealthy prince and procured the heart and liver of a goat. She ate them happily and a year later she returned to the glen. She gain asked the trout if she was the most beautiful queen of all, and he again told her no, her daughter Gold-Tree was the most beautiful of all. She laughed and told him that it had been a year since she had been alive and he told her that Gold-Tree was alive and well, and living with a wealthy prince.
• Silver-Tree stormed off and ordered that the royal ship be prepared for her so she could go see her daughter whom she had not seen in so long. It was done and she set off. When Gold-Tree found out, she told her servants to help her for her mother would surely kill her. They locked her in a room that no one could get in or out of without the key. When Silver-Tree arrived, she called out for Gold-Tree who said, "sorry, i'm locked in this room. I guess we can't hang out." Silver-Tree then asked her if she would slip her pinky finger through the key-hole so that she may kiss it. Gold-Tree did so and was immediately struck with a poisoned needle. She fell down dead and Silver-Tree returned home. When the prince found his dead wife, he cried and cried. He loved her so much and she was just too beautiful to bury so he locked her away in a special room that only he had the key to. He moved on and remarried. 
• One day, while he was out, his new wife happened upon the key (which he had forgotten that morning) and opened the door to the mysterious room. She was stunned to find the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen lying there. She shook her, and tried desperately to wake her before noticing the needle in her little finger. She pulled it out, and Gold-Tree was restored back to life and beauty. The wife then showed her husband that Gold-Tree was alive and well and offered to leave. The husband was giddy, but told her that he did not want to lose her either so they both became his wives. 
• Silver-Tree again found herself in the glen and asked the trout, "Troutie, bonny little fellow, am not I the most beautiful queen in the world?" To which it replied, "No, Gold-Tree is." She told him she had poisoned her and that she'd been long dead, but he assured Silver-Tree that her daughter was very much alive. Once again, Silver-Tree set off to "see" her daughter. Gold-Tree was terrified, but her new sister-wife assured her that she would be safe. They went down to the dock to meet Silver-Tree together. The evil queen stepped off of the ship, goblet in hand, and said that she had a special drink for Gold-Tree, a present. The second wife stepped in and told Silver-Tree that it was customary in their country for the presenter of a drink to take the first sip. Silver-Tree raised the cup to her lips and the second wife went up and struck it, forcing some of the liquid to go down her throat. Silver-Tree immediately fell down dead and her corpse was sent back home where it was buried. The prince and the two wives lived happily ever after.