Tam Lin Balladry

The Quiet Mists of Morning

source: traditional
Digital Traditions Data base

Summary | Tale | Analysis |

Summary of The Quiet Mists Of Morning: A woman goes out on a spring morning among the trees. She meets with a young man and becomes his lover. When she awakens afterwards, she is holding a oak tree and it is winter time.

The Quiet Mists Of Morning

1. The elder lass walked out alone
   In the quiet mists of morning.
   The fields were black as the blackest stone
   and the springtime was a coming
   
   
2. She dipped her hand into a stream
   In the quiet mists of morning.
   To look on how the elders leaned
   And the springtime were a coming
   
   
3. She met a gently smiling man
   In the quiet mists of morning.
   He took her softly by the hand
   and the springtime were a flowering
   
   
4. They lay them down in the birchwood glade
   In the quiet mists of morning.
   She were going to be no more a maid
   and the summertime were a coming
   
   
5. He took her up and held her there
   In the quiet mists of morning.
   She were a bird he were a star
   And the summer were a blazing
   
   
6. And when she thought to look at him
   In the quiet mists of morning.
   She held an oak tree in her hand
   And the winter snows were falling

Analysis : Like Tam Lin, this story is centered around a mortal woman's affair with a creature of the forest. The identity of her lover is not made clear in the tale. It might be a fairy lover, or a dryad (a type of tree-spirit, although usually these were female), or even a human male. However, the imagery of her walking in the transition time of early morning in the transition season of early spring, as well as her disturbance of the water, suggest that this was a guardian of the forest, as Tam Lin is taken to be early in his tale. There is a hint of transformation, as the story refers to her as a bird and he as a star, although this may also be an analogy to lovemaking. The night that lasts several months or longer (sometimes several years) is another common theme in fairy stories, and as we see here, when their time together is done, most of the year has passed. Her lover seems to have been an oak tree of the forest, so the end of this tale is very different than that of Tam Lin.

• Versions of Tam Lin
• Exploring the Ballad of Tam Lin
• Comparing Tam Lin to Other Tales -introduction
• "Tam Lin" compared to "Beauty and the Beast"
• "Tam Lin" compared to "The Fairy Oak of Corriewater"
• "Tam Lin" compared to "Thomas the Rhymer"
• "Tam Lin" compared to "Childe Rowland"
• "Tam Lin" compared to "Cupid and Psyche"
• "Tam Lin" compared to "Allison Gross"
• "Tam Lin" Compared to "Fundevogel"
• The similar tale "Alice Brand"
• The similar tale "The King's Daughter Jane"
• The tale of "Burd Ellen and Tamlane"
• The tale of "The Quiet Mists of Morning"
• The tale of "The Wee Wee Man"
• The tale of "The Broomfield Wager"

• The Music of Tam Lin
• Communicating at Tam Lin
• Scotland and Tam Lin
• Search Tam Lin

© 1997-2003 Abigail Acland for all original works unless otherwise noted.

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