What or who is Tam Lin?
Tam Lin is an old Scottish ballad about a young man who is the captive of the faeries, and the young woman who rescues him. The main character, depending on your viewpoint, is either the young woman, who becomes pregnant by her enchanted lover and must rescue him before the faeries can sacrifice him, or the young man who had been living with the faeries and wishes to escape to live Gin in the human world. The story deals with transformations, courage, and the relationship between the faeries and the mortals.
Tam Lin is probably one of the best known fairy tales that is not a staple of children's movies or books. The story is well known in folk music circles, and has been the basis of a number of retellings, particularly in fantasy/sf writing.
In the past, fairy tales were not just for children. It is a more modern trend to make the old tales into children's entertainment, stripping them of their complexity, their character conflict, their darker aspects, and their moral ambiguity in order to make them suitable for younger audiences. At the same time we create modern fairy tales, in forms such as movies, where the characters aren't always simple, where there aren't always clear morals, and where the story can be dark and complex. Since Tam Lin has for so long evaded the desire to simplify and moralize fairy tales to make them children's faire, it has retained many of the aspects that make it appealing to adults. The characters in Tam Lin argue, they engage in premarital sex, they argue over abortion, human sacrifice, and magic. The story often ends with the curse of the Queen of the Fairies rather than a simply happily ever after.
This website exists in hopes of further exploring the intricate nature of the tale.
Originally this site was centered around comparing Tam Lin to other stories with a similar theme or tone, in an attempt to understand some of lineage in an unusual story. However, as I've delved deeper into my attempts to understand the ballad, I've added several other areas. Currently the topics explored on this website include:
How accurate is the information on this web site?
I'm not even certain myself. This web site has been a labour of love, but the patchwork nature of my knowledge sometimes shows. Some pages may not have been updated recently enough to reflect my current understanding. More often, my understanding may simply be flawed, poorly expressed, or unclear. A lot of the information is speculation on my part, and should be taken with a grain of salt. I've tried to present as much of the source material as possible when it doesn't infringe on copyright, so you can feel free to form your own conclusions. If you feel I've let out anything important, you can e-mail me. I'm always happy to hear suggestions for other areas this web site can cover. If you disagree with some of the thoughts I've put up on these pages, you can post to the discussion board. There's always room for improvement here, and help is always appreciated. I hope you enjoy the web site, and that there aren't too many errors present.
And Now On to The Ballad of TamLin