living with elves
hexapetala
Certain pictures have always belonged to a story, for even before folktales were printed and illustrated the storytellers would use language to build the images of their journeys. The forest path was painted with shadows from a slow, low and steady voice. The hooded figure was sketched out with a gasp and a sly smile. A seductive gesture would convey the imagined weight of a cape and fabric swirling over shoulders.
This woodland track leads us deep into old folktales. Will there be a maiden gathering kindling, or an old man begging for food? A farmer will always try to trick the fairy into marriage, and the fairies will steal a century of life from a sleeping boy. Will there be a wolf, a witch, or maybe a bear who once (upon a time) was a prince?
We’ve all walked through woods like these, and we know that actually there’s always mud; while there’s almost never the right sort of mushrooms, whichever they may be. There are gnats instead of pixies, and there is drizzle not gold-dust. However sturdy your boots may be, vicious pine needles will find a way to jab at your ankles, and yet, when we follow this meandering path could we find ourselves back living with elves?
Blog photograph copyrighted to the photographer and used with permission by utata.org. All photographs used on utata.org are stored on flickr.com and are obtained via the flickr API. Text is copyrighted to the author, Rachel Irving and is used with permission by utata.org. Please see Show and Share Your Work
