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Reading Notes Week 12: English Fairy Tales, Reading B, "The Laidly Worm of Spendleston Heugh"


  • Takes place in or around Bamborough Castle
    • King, Queen, Son, Daughter
    • Son - Childe Wynd
    • Daughter - Margaret
  • Childe Wynd
    • leaves to seek fortune
    • mother dies in his absence
  • King
    • mourns wife "long and faithfully"
    • comes across a beautiful woman while out hunting
      • falls in love and makes her his wife
    • sends word home to the castle that he is bringing a new queen
  • Princess Margaret
    • not happy about her mother "being replaced"
    • when her father arrives home she hands over the castle keys dutifully to her stepmother 
    • one of the King's knights exclaims that she is "the loveliest of her kind"
    • this upsets the stepmother 
      • mutters under her breath "I'll soon put an end to her beauty"
    • this part reminds me a lot of Snow White
  • Stepmother/New Queen
    • noted witch
    • goes to the dungeon to cast a spell "three times three" and "nine times nine" on Princess Margaret
      • note the importance of the number three and multiples of three
      • turns the princess into a "laidly worm"
        • "laidly" means ugly and "worm" is an archaic word for dragon
      • this spell can only be broken by three kisses from Childe Wynd, her brother
  • Laidly Worm/Princess Margaret
    • after frightening her maidens with her new form she "coils" herself around the heugh or rock of Spindelston
    • only leaves her cave to devour everything in sight
      • driven by intense hunger
    • people of the country eventually call a great warlock to help
      • the warlock tells them that the dragon is really Princess Margaret 
      • tells them to set aside 7 kine - an archaic plural of cow - and take the milk from these cows to the stone trough outside of the dragon's cave
      • the dragon lives on the milk and troubles the country no more
      • warlock also tells them to send word to Childe Wynd if they want to help Princess Margaret and punish the one responsible for her predicament 
  • Childe Wynd
    • word reaches him about his sister's predicament
    • swears a "mighty oath" to avenge his sister 
      • as do "three-and-thirty" of his men
    • build a boat with a hull of rowan wood to sail to rescue his sister
    • stepmother senses through her magic that Childe Wynd is coming
    • casts spells to make the laidly worm wait for the ship at the entrance to the harbor
      • through these spells, the worm swims through the water and attacks the ship three times
      • Childe Wynd changes course and lands safely in Buddle Creek
    • "draws his sword" and "bends his bow" to slay the worm that attacked his ship
    • the witch-queen's power had worn off and the laidly worm retreated to her cave
      • knowing her time had come, she made no attempt to stop Childe Wynd
      • when he raises his sword to slay the dragon he hears his sister's voice come out of its mouth
      • a poem about three kisses
    • kisses his sister once - nothing happens, twice - the same, three times - the laidly worm "rears back" and then standing before him is his sister Princess Margaret 
      • gives his sister his cloak and returns to the castle
    • tracks the witch-queen to her dungeon and touches her with a rowan wood stick
      • she turns into a huge, hissing toad
      • hops away down the castle steps
    • Childe Wynd takes over as king
      • "they all lived happy afterwards"
  • Loathsome toad still lurks around the area of the castle
    • the witch-queen is the Laidly Toad
  • Storytelling ideas: This story reminded me a lot of Snow White. I really like the superstitious use of the number three and multiples of three. The number three shows up in both of the stories I am using for my project storybook. I want to take this story and tie up some of the unexplained plot points - like the father basically having nothing to say about his wife turning his daughter into a dragon. I also think I may change Childe Wynd into a wandering knight rather than Margaret's brother - just because the siblings kissing thing is a bit much for me. 
  • Bibliography: English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890)

(Laidly Worm Illustration by Amanda Sartor)
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