Reading Celtic Fairy Tales Part A

 

The large ship that Silver-tree used to track down her daughter, Gold-tree.

Image from DHgate.

In the story Gold-tree and Silver-tree, Silver-tree was on a quest to be the fairest maiden of them all. She did not care who she hurt or how. When she went to the glen and spoke to the trout who could see all things, she continuously asked if she was the fairest maiden of them all. When the trout told her that the fairest maiden of all was actually her daughter, Gold-tree, she set out to kill Gold-tree in any way she could. This old Celtic tale is a retelling of Snow White. The evil mother was self-centered and tried to kill her daughter just to be the prettiest in all of the land. She has a very narcissistic personality and everyone has to bow down to her wishes. After she tried to kill her daughter three times in three different ways (telling the King to bring Gold-tree's heart and liver so she could eat them and recover from sickness, tracking down Gold-tree to prick her with a poison needle, and making her drink out of a poison cup), Silver-tree was finally caught and died after the second wife tricked Silver-tree into drinking her own poison. If I rewrite this story, I think I want to change the ending somehow. I want Gold-tree to be the one to kill her mother since her mother was trying to kill her for so long. It is the rightful ending that Gold-tree deserves in my opinion!

Bibliography: Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892).