Tam Lin Balladry
Comparing Tam Lin to Other Stories
No story is entirely unique... they all spring from some common source in the human mind or condition, or are tied together through time with lineages as confusing as a human's. They change to suit different times, they have aspects added and dropped as they are passed along from storyteller to storyteller and culture to culture. They change, as any living thing changes.
Tam Lin is a favorite story of mine, and I love it enough that I have tried to seek out those stories that cover similar aspects or themes. In the following pages I have tried to structure a comparison of these other tales with Tam Lin to enrich my own understanding of these tales. If you enjoy them as well and do a little learning, then that is an extra bonus.
I've structured the comparisons on the following pages as:
-A summary of the second tale
-The text of the second tale (In the case of "Beauty and the
Beast" and "Cupid and Psyche" I've simply written my own, since as
far as I know there is no definitive version)
-A listing of similarities to Tam Lin
-A brief discussion of differences between the tales and my
thoughts on meaning of the two stories in comparison
- Comparison with "Beauty and the
Beast"
Wherein a woman must live with a Monster after her father
steals a rose from a garden.
- Comparison with "The Faerie Oak of
Corriewater"
Wherein a girl tries to save her brother from becoming a
servant of the Fairy Queen.
- Comparison with "Thomas the
Rhymer"
Wherein a young man meets the Queen of the Fairies and travels
with her.
Please note: Child's chapter on Thomas Rymer and other etexts can be found at this website
- Comparison with "Childe
Rowland"
Wherein a young man must rescue his sister from the Fairie
King.
- Comparison with "Cupid and
Psyche"
Wherein a beautiful young woman is carried off to be the wife
of the God of Love.
- Comparison with "Allison
Gross"
Wherein a man is turned into a worm after refusing a witch and
must seek help from the Fairie Queen.
- "Tam Lin" compared to "Fundevogel"
Wherein a brother and sister must escape their father's Cook,
who wants to eat the little boy.
- "Tam Lin" compared to "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight"
Wherein a young woman runs off with an Elf-Knight and end up im a bit of danger.
There are also a few tales which are, in my opinion, somewhere
between being tales of their own and variations on the tale of Tam
Lin. They are included here, but have not been given the same level
of evaluation as the tales above.
- Alice Brand
Wherein Alice Brand and her lover must survive in the Elves
woods after her brother is slain.
- The King's Daughter Jane
Wherein the King's daughter gets in trouble in the royal
forest.
Finally, there are a few tales which are not directly related to
Tam Lin but are useful in gaining a better understanding of the
tale. These are stories which have some themes in common with Tam
Lin, or help illustrate other areas of importance to understanding
Tam Lin.
If you know of any other tales you feel should be included here,
or any other observations you'd like to share, my address is at the
bottom of the page, so please feel free to write. For one of my
other ventures into the area of comparative mythology, see my page
on Lord Raglan's Scale
Tam Lin Balladry
Exploring the Ballad of Tam Lin
The Music of Tam Lin
Comparing Tam Lin to Other Tales
Communicating at Tam Lin
Scotland and Tam Lin
Tam Lin Oddities
Search Tam Lin
© 1997-2003 Abigail Acland for all original works unless otherwise noted.
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