~Juliet Marillier Website~
Author's note to Daughter of the Forest
The framework for Daughter of the Forest is a Germanic tale, The Six Swans, from the collection of the Grimm brothers. Beneath the classic fairytale elements (a wicked stepmother, a transformation, a trial by silence) is a story of courage born from loss, and lives forever altered. With its swan imagery and its remote forest setting, the Germanic story settles easily into the Irish landscape and may indeed even owe something to the Celtic tradition, a major influence on European folktales from the thirteenth century onwards. The Children of Lir, the tale of Aengus Og and his swan-bride, these are Irish myths in which child turns to swan and swan to beautiful maiden, in the space of an eye blink.
In my story I sought the human dilemmas at the heart of the fairytale, for such tales have at their core the most wondrous and the harshest of human experience, the best and worst of human behaviour. Honour, trust, courage, true love. Treachery, betrayal, cowardice and hatred. They amuse, shock and reassure us, They make us laugh and they make us cry. Their innate truths touch a chord deep within us and they show how subtle are the margins between the tangible world and that which is ever present, but forever Other. Most importantly, they awaken in us a sense of wonder, a recognition of the mysterious patterns of being - the spiral dance of birth, death, rebirth.
PRONUNCIATION GUIDE FOR NAMES
The reader may appreciate some assistance with the Irish names used in the Sevenwaters books. Please note there can be several versions of the spelling and pronunciation of a name, all perfectly valid. For instance, if you ask someone in Dublin to pronounce the name Sorcha you'll get one answer, but a person from County Kerry will give you a different version.
Aisling Ash-ling
Aoife Ee-fa
Ciarán Kee-a-raun
Clodagh Klo-dah
Darragh Darr-a
Diarmid Dear-mid
Deirdre Deer-dra
Eamonn Ay-mon
Eilis Ay-lish
Fainne Faun-ya
Fionn Fyunn
Liadan Lee-a-dan
Muirrin Mirr-in
Niamh Nee-av
Oonagh Oo-na
Padriac Pad-ric (more commonly spelt Padraic)
Roisin Ro-sheen
Seamus Shay-mus
Sorcha Sor-ca or Sur-ha
Uí Néill Ee Nay-ill