I am not sure if Irish fairytales clearly define how the Irish view space and time. Time and space in a fairytale is what the reader perceives it to be. I noticed that time and space is often defined by the mythical abilities of some of the characters in the stories. For example the footman from “The King of Ireland’s Son” was summoned to beat the hag in a run to the well in the western world. Was he that fast or was the western world that close?
Kevin
1 comment:
Hi Kevin! It's always interesting to see things labeled "the west", "the eastern", "northern" and "southern" as well in folk, fairy and children's tales... like there's an unknown world out there both far away and yet attainable at the same time. As you pointed out- a person fast enough to run to the "western" well and like "the eastern woman" the prince was seeking.
Quite compressed in a layered way....time n' space in these stories.
Best, Lachlan
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