Down off your white horse, before your queen Silver bells fall silent at the road edge The fairest one watches, in her gown of green Paused procession at the gate in the hedge You're plucked as boldly as I took that rose From summer branches in my Carterhall June then, you challenged that I took what grows And as Mistress there, I made you my thrall Your tribute grew all the hot months inside But your oaths made a stronger chain to her Unless I bore you down at Samhain's ride And pin you fast through change of flame and fur Wild one, Tam Lin I tame you to my own Now freed from her, you'll kneel to me alone
Tam Lin has always been one of my favourite fairytales. It’s a shockingly modern story for something that dates back to the 1500s. For a femdom it’s a nice change of pace: a female lead doing the heroics, and rescuing her captive lover from the Elf Queen. More than that, it at no point punishes the female lead for boldness or claiming authority and shows a heroine dealing with an unplanned pregnancy with the support of her family including refusing a marriage of convenience, and planning an abortion!
It’s not the only folk tale with the themes of holding a transforming lover until you break their efforts to escape, but it’s a rarity that’s survived relatively untrimmed of both female agency and obvious sexual desire.
I have a fondness for writing English Sonnets, something, as a reader you are probably more than familiar with, so when one of my twitter favorites was sharing his own work, I couldn’t resist joining in and banging this out.
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