Tam Lin

Beautiful Janet lived in her father's castle, the glorious Earl of March. Together with other maidens, she spent her days in the high tower of the castle—sewing and embroidering silk garments. Only Janet did not pay much attention to making her stitches straight and even. She preferred to gaze out the window.

Beyond the window lay the trees of Carterhaugh Forest, where the maidens from the castle were strictly forbidden to go. In this forest, it was said, the knights of the Fairy Queen hunted, and woe to any maiden who ventured there for a stroll and encountered one of them!

But Janet did not want to listen to such warnings. And one fine day, her sewing was cast aside, the needle fell to the floor, and the maiden herself found her way into the green forest.

As she wandered through the forest, Janet saw a white horse tied to a tree in a clearing. The horse was whiter than milk, and its harness gleamed with pure gold. Janet walked further and came to a clearing strewn with roses. Before she could pluck a single flower, a young man seemed to rise from the ground before her.

"Why did you pluck the white rose, fair Janet?" he asked. "Who gave you permission? And how dare you come to Carterhaugh Forest without my leave?"

"I pick flowers wherever I please!" Janet replied. "And I have no intention of asking for your permission."

Hearing such a bold reply, the young man laughed, causing the seven bells on his belt to jingle merrily. Then he plucked a red rose and, handing it to Janet, said:

"Do not be angry, I was only jesting. For a maiden as beautiful as you, I would not spare even all the roses of Carterhaugh Forest!"

All day, Janet and Tam Lin (for that was the young man's name) roamed the forest and danced on the glades to enchanted music and soft singing.

But then Janet noticed the sun dipping toward the horizon and realized it was time to return home if she wished to reach the castle before her father noticed her absence.

Poor Janet hurried so much that she nearly ran the entire way and grew very tired. When she entered the castle gates, pale and weary, the court ladies playing ball in the courtyard before the castle asked her:

"What did you see in the forest, fair Janet, that has left you so tired and pale?"

But Janet gave them no answer.

The next day, the court ladies played chess in the great hall, while the maidens again sat in the tower and sewed. But Janet remained alone. She gazed out the window and thought: how lovely it would be to wander the forest with the young knight, to dance to enchanted music and listen to soft singing...

Lost in thought, she did not notice the old lord, a friend of her father, the glorious Earl of March, approach her.

"Why are you so sad, fair Janet?" he asked. "It seems to me you visited the green land of the fairies yesterday. If our earl learns of this, we shall all be in trouble."

"Ah, leave me be!" Janet snapped.

Her reply was bold, but in her heart, she knew the old lord was right: Tam Lin was no ordinary mortal but a knight of the Fairy Queen. And woe to any maiden who loved a knight from the enchanted land of the fairies. So everyone said.

But Janet did not want to listen. And one fine day, she ran off to the forest again. She wandered long among the trees but found neither the white horse nor its young master. She was about to return home and plucked a green branch—to take it with her as a keepsake—when Tam Lin seemed to rise from the ground before her once more.

"Tell me, tell me quickly, Tam Lin, who are you?" Janet asked.

"I am the guardian of this forest!" the young man replied.

"So you truly are a knight of the Fairy Queen?" Janet said sadly.

"That is what they call me," Tam Lin answered, "but I was born and raised among mortals. My grandfather, the Earl of Roxburgh, raised me, for my parents died when I was still a child. Since then, I lived in his castle. One day, while hunting in this very forest, a terrible wind blew from the north. The Earl of Roxburgh and his retinue rode home, but I was overcome by a strange sleep and fell from my horse. When I awoke, I was in the land of the fairies—their queen had sent the evil north wind to carry me to the green hills, the Land of Eternal Youth."

Remembering the green hills, Tam Lin fell silent, bowed his head, and grew lost in thought. Then he spoke again with sadness:

"Since then, I have been under the spell of the Fairy Queen: by day, I must guard Carterhaugh Forest, and by night, I return to the land of the fairies. It is always merry and warm there. I am held in high esteem. But if only you knew, Janet, how I long to break the enchantment and return to the world of mortals!"

"I will help you!" Janet exclaimed, then added softly: "If you wish it."

Tam Lin tenderly took her hand and said:

"There is only one night in the year when the evil spell of the Fairy Queen can be broken—the night of November first, the eve of All Saints' Day. On this night, all the fairies and their queen leave their green hills. And I ride with them. Tonight is such a night. But freeing me will not be easy. Will you dare to do it, dear Janet?"

In reply, Janet only asked what she must do. And Tam Lin said:

"When midnight strikes, wait for me at the crossroads of four paths. First, you will see the knights of the Fairy Queen on black horses. Let them pass and do not move from your spot. Then riders on bay horses will gallop by. Let them pass as well. Finally, riders on white horses will appear. I will be among them. To recognize me, I will remove one glove from my hand. Approach my horse, take hold of its golden bridle, and tear the reins from my hands. As soon as you take the reins from me, I will fall from my horse, and the Fairy Queen will cry: 'True Tam Lin has been stolen!' That will be the hardest moment. You must hold me tightly and not let go, no matter what happens to me, no matter what I am turned into. Only then can the enchantment be broken and the Fairy Queen defeated."

It was terrifying for poor Janet to remain alone in the forest at night. But she remembered Tam Lin's words and did everything as he had asked. She seized his white horse by the golden bridle and tore the reins from his hands, and when he fell to the ground, she held him tightly.

"True Tam Lin has been stolen!" cried the Fairy Queen.

But Janet was not afraid and only held him tighter. Then the queen, whispering a spell, turned Tam Lin into a green lizard. Janet pressed the lizard to her heart, but it turned into a cold snake that coiled around her neck. Janet bravely grabbed the snake, and it became a bar of red-hot iron. Tears streamed from Janet's eyes, and the pain was great, but she did not release Tam Lin.

And then the Fairy Queen knew that Tam Lin was lost to her forever. She restored him to his former appearance and said:

"Farewell, Tam Lin! Farewell! The land of the fairies has lost its finest knight. Had I known yesterday what I know today, I would have turned your tender heart to stone!"

With these words, the Fairy Queen vanished into the green forest. And fair Janet took Tam Lin by the hand and led him to the castle of her father, the glorious Earl of March.

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Tam Lin

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