Wise Women

Myths and Stories for Midlife and Beyond

Sharon Blackie, Angharad Wynne

• Publisher: New World Library
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9781608688432
• eBook ISBN: 9781608689675
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Folklore & Mythology
• Index: Social Sciences

Unparalleled inspiration from fierce grandmothers, misunderstood witches, glamorous fairy godmothers, and hairy-chinned hags From early childhood, we learn about the world and its possibilities through myths and fairy tales. The heroines, though, tend to be young princesses or fair maidens, and the evildoers older women: wicked witches or unforgiving matriarchs. Yet a wealth of lesser-known European stories feature mature wise women with personality and power. Compiling many years of research, Sharon Blackie has reclaimed these tales, presenting them in evocative prose that will resonate with women of all ages. This dazzling array of not-to-be-messed-with older characters provides compelling role models for today's readers, who seek to redefine their relationship with aging. These women outwit monsters, test and mentor younger heroines, embody the cycles of the Earth, weave the world into being — and almost always have the last laugh. Each story is accompanied by background commentary that highlights important themes and reveals its insights into how we might live meaningfully and authentically in the second half of life.

Table of contents

• Introduction
• FINDING OURSELVES AND OTHERS
• The Woman Who Became a Fox
• Mother Mansrot
• Kate Dalrymple
• The Magic Forest
• Ride a Cock-Horse to Banbury Cross
• The Giantess’s Burden
• My Grandmother’s Cottage
• Tending Eden
• Baubo
• Old Woman Song
• KISSING THE WITCH
• The Nixy
• There Was an Old Woman Toss’d Up in a Basket
• Kissing the Hag
• Old Woman, Old Woman, Shall We Go A-Shearing
• Morgan
• The Old Woman and Her Cat
• The True History of Little Golden Hood
• GIFTS FOR THE YOUNG
• The Goose Girl at the Well
• La Befana
• Vasilisa the Fair
• The Little Old Lady of Kidwelly
• Habetrot and the Spinning Sisters
• Spinning Wheel Song
• Fair, Brown, and Trembling
• Mother Holle
• Old Mother Goose
• The Groac’h of the Well
• THE EARTH ITSELF
• Beira, Queen of Winter
• Berrey Dhone
• The Bush Grandmother
• Grandmother Snow
• The Carlin of Beinn Bhreac
• The Green Man of No Man’s Land
• What Are Old Women Made Of?
• The Witch of Beinn a’ Glò
• DON'T MESS WITH OLD WOMEN
• The Furies
• Watching for the Milk-Stealer
• The Farmer’s Curst Wife
• Elli
• Big Kennedy and the Glaistig
• Hop Tu Naa
• Cundrie: The Loathly Lady
• The Water Horse of Varkasaig
• Sgàthach
• SEEING DEEPLY
• The Dream Makers
• Biddy Early
• The Fool and the Wise Woman
• The Pythia
• There Was an Old Woman Lived Under the Hill
• The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood
• WISDOM FOR THE WORLD
• The Spinners of Blessings
• Conwenna
• An’ Katty and the Well-Keepers
• The Buried Moon
• The Finwife
• The Hedley Kow
• DEATH AND REBIRTH
• The Bird Yustritsa
• The Little Old Woman with Five Cows
• The Sheela Na Gig
• Godmother Death
• Harbingers of Death
• Old Bone Mother
• Afterword
• Acknowledgments
• Sources
• About the Authors