Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon my Darlings.   Today’s post is a bit of a companion piece to yesterday’s analysis of The Folk of the Air Trilogy (which is set in Elfhame), but this time I am going to be writing about the Queen of Elphame, the folklore of this Faery Queen, and how she is important in the Scottish Witch Trials.   Now, she is called by many names in the folklore, Queen of Elphame (also Elfame and Elfhame), Queen of Elfland, Queen of Elfin (also Elphin), Queen of the Faeries, Queen of Faeryland, and Queen of the Seelie Court specifically.   However, it should be noted that she is never been given a specific name in the folklore itself.   This differs from The Folk of the Air Trilogy, where the original Queen of Elfhame was specifically named Queen Mab.    Now, that I have covered the basics, let’s get to the specifics.   I have broken this into three small sections, one for each of the two iconic ballads and one for the witch trials.   

THOMAS THE RHYMER

~The famed ballad of Thomas the Rhymer or True Thomas tells the tale of a young man taken by the faeries and living in the court of the Queen of the Faeries (or Queen of Elphame) where he lived as her lover.    In most variants of the ballad Thomas is contracted to being a lover and consort of the Queen for seven years, there’s that Faery number, and afterward, he will be allowed to go home.   He is left with much wisdom, knowledge, insights, and great inspiration to be a blessed poet and bard.   That is where the alternate name of the ballad True Thomas comes into play!  It is far from uncommon in folklore and faerylore to have a man become a bard and poet after an encounter with a Faery Queen or Faery Goddess.   For instance, Taliesin became a wise bard and poet in Wales after his encounter and famed chase with Cerridwen.   Although that was not a case of a Faery lover but instead a Faery mother of sorts, I do see that they are in a similar vein.   There is also the Irish Faery woman the Leanan Sidhe blessing artists, poets, and bards with talent via sexual congress, which I think is also similar to the tale of Thomas.   Altogether, we can see the blessing of Faery gifts of bards and poets all through Scotland, Wales, and Ireland!   The idea of Faery blessings actually goes much deeper, as there are many folkloric accounts of special humans blessed by Faery magick to gain the Sight and other gifts.        

TAM LIN

~The famed ballad of Tam Lin tells the tale of Tam Lin, a Faery boy and lover of the Queen of Faeries (or Queen of Elphame) who has fallen in love with a human girl.    He tells the human girl how to release him from the Faery Horde as they go through the human world on Samhain night.   This is the romantic Faery story of a human girl saving her Faery lover from being trapped as an unhappy lover and consort of the Queen of Elphame!   The Queen here is seen as a malevolent force because she is keeping Tam Lin captive.   There is also the reference to the Tithe with Hell commonly discussed in this ballad.   That compact of the Queen of Elphame with Hell shows her to be a very dangerous force indeed, showing why many people in Celtic countries so feared the Fae.   While Thomas eventually gets blessed by the Queen of Elphame, Tam Lin only gets freed by the love of a mortal woman because the Queen is a fearsome figure here!

ALISON PEARSON (Originally Spelled ALESOUN PEIRSON)

~Alison Pearson was one of the women accused of being a witch in the Scottish Witch Trials.   She is very famous for stating that she had not made a compact with the Devil instead being in the service of the Queen of Elphame.   The Scottish Trials were unique for having the witches who confessed not speaking about the Devil and instead speaking of the revels in Faery that they attended as servants to the Queen of Elphame!   In this case, the Queen of Elphame is yet again seen as malevolent.   This is because the Queen is essentially being equated with the Devil.   I find this very interesting because it shows that Faeries were very believed in at the time and Faeries were being linked with witches and magick in a very profound way!

~As you can see, there are so many different ways to portray the Queen of Elfland.   She is not simply a benevolent or malevolent figure, but she is a Faery Queen meaning that she must be given a proper amount of respect in order to gain blessings and avert her ire!   I hope that you have enjoyed learning a bit about the Queen of Elphame in history and folklore.   What is your favorite aspect of the Queen of Elphame?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is an image of the Queen and a mortal lover.   I found the image on https://kymkemp.com/category/music-2/.

Tarot Note: I have a page offering tarot and oracle readings for those interested in these services!    I am very happy to be offering these readings to my treasured readers at White Rose of Avalon!  Link to page: https://whiteroseofavalon.life/tarot-and-oracle-readings/

Further Reading

• Fairy Queens by Morgan Daimler
• https://www.raws.scot/post/open-positions-for-research-assistants
• https://tam-lin.org/stories/Thomas_the_Rhymer.html
• https://tam-lin.org/stories/TamOTheLinn.html
• https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/meetings-queen-elphame-magical-and-protective-fairy-queen-006030#google_vignette