White Rose of Avalon

Mermaid

  • Faerie Tale and Legend Inspired Beauty

    As someone who has always adored Arthurian legend, Pre-Raphaelite art, faeries, and mermaids, I have been inspired by each of these things, in the way I dress and use beauty products.   Mermaid, faerie, and Pre-Raphaelite art all covet long and luscious hair (of course, to be fair faeries can also have short sassy hair…

  • Sea Fairytales

    In honor of Summer I want to discuss sea themed fairytales.    The Little Mermaid is the obvious choice, but there are also tales of selkies and undines.   I will focus on The Little Mermaid, selkie tales, and Undine (which is a story by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué which became a German opera…

  • Enchanted

    The Disney film Enchanted is an homage to all the great classic Disney animated features.   They even included cameos with some of the classic voice actors from those films.   For instance Robert’s assistant is played by Jodi Benson, the woman who voiced Ariel in The Little Mermaid!   The narrator is the incomparable…

  • Barefoot Princesses

    One of my favorite things in Sleeping Beauty is a very small detail.    I love that when Aurora (or at this point Briar Rose) is dancing and singing in the woods, and meets Phillip, she is barefoot!    I personally love being barefoot, both indoors and outdoors.   I even went barefoot for the…

  • My Top Five Best Disney Villains

    For today’s post I want to count down my top five favorite Disney villains.    I will only list villains in Disney films based on fairytales here, in order to keep it organized! Number 5: Lady Tremaine from Cinderella ~My number five pick is, in fact, the evil stepmother of all evil stepmothers!    I…

  • Faeries as Fallen Angels

    There was a common belief held into the early modern times (circa the turn of the 20th century) that the fae were actually fallen angels.   This particular belief was among many beliefs that were held onto by citizens of Ireland.    One version of the story goes that during the fall from grace angels…

  • Gwragedd Annwn

    The Gwragedd Annwn (pronounced Gareth Anoon~w in Welsh is a vowel pronounced “oo”, and “dd” in Welsh is pronounced “th”) were Welsh lake maidens.   Their name literally meant “wives of the Underworld.”    They were said to inhabit a watery realm of Annwn, the Celtic Underworld, or Otherworld, not like our modern conception of…

  • Faerie Brides

    The tradition of faerie woman luring men into Faery to be with them is a long one.   Equally long is the tradition of faerie woman leaving Faery to be married to human men on earth!    That’s right today’s subject is faerie and human couplings!   Countless fairytales, myths, legends, and poems present the…

  • My Top Five Disney Princesses

    ~In this post I will be focusing on specifically the Disney adaptations of these classic fairytale heroines! Number 5: Belle from Beauty and the Beast ~In the Disney version Belle is a beautiful book worm with a large heart!    It is such a joy to watch this loving heroine!   A bonus is getting…

  • Mermaid Legends

    Mermaids are legendary figures found in cultures around the world.   They are frequent features in literature, art and film.   Water faeries are important in many cultures, including ancient myths of Greece, Rome, Celtic regions, Russia, and more.     In Slavic countries water faeries similar to mermaids are called Rusalka, or in the…