The Witch of the Woods:

a fairytale

Once upon a time, in a town not too far from here, there was a family of spinners. They were known to make fine yarn and passed their knowledge of the wheel through their lineage for many generations.

So then it was no surprise when the spinner’s son grew up to be a spinner like his mother and grandmother before him. He dressed himself up in ribbons and lace and he loved himself and he loved his work. And so the days had gone. Now the boy was known to love the forest and so would wander there often with his spinning (drop spindle in hand for long walks or his wheel placed under the shade of a perfect tree). In this forest, the boy caught the attention of the fae.  Now, the faeries are a cunning folk and they wanted the boy to be their queen on account of his beauty and fine threads. So one of the fairies dressed herself up as a king and followed the boy’s mother to market where she sold her own fine yarn. The king and the mother drank together and talked and drank some more until at last the mother said, “My son is so fine a spinner he could spin straw into gold.”

“So be it” said the faerie “and if it be so, then he will be my queen.” Now, the boy’s mother wanted the best for her son and so that very same day the son went to the castle of the faerie king.

The boy was placed into a room full of straw and spinning wheel. The faerie king left the boy saying, “Spin this straw into gold and you and your mother will live happily here with me. You will be my queen and you will be blessed with whatever you may desire. But heed my warning and break no skin for if you do I do not know what will happen.” 

The boy wept for a time knowing he could not complete his task. However the boy resolved that he would not like to disappoint the king so he decided to try. The boy took the straw and began to spin and! much to his surprise, the straw began to shift to gold before his very eyes. Now what the boy did not know is that the wheel was enchanted with faerie magick so that any finely spun yarn would reflect its quality in a golden luster. The boy could hardly contain his joy, reaching out to touch the product of his labor. However, the boy was not well known for his grace and, in reaching pushed, his hand onto the spindle’s needle. 

He stopped for a moment looking at his finger as a small droplet of blood pushed itself slowly out from  between the layers of his skin.

The boy blinked hard as the realization of what had occurred settled itself in his body. Then he tipped off his stool and onto the ground layered with straw.

The faerie king found him there the next morning and she ordered that he be placed in the tallest tour on a bed of briar rose. There he remained for years and years, adorned in flowers as the castle around him slipped into time. The castle itself was soon abandoned by the faerie king and the surrounding village was overtaken by the forest. 

The boy did not notice. He slept on even as thorny briar crept around his wrists and torso.

But here is where the story splits 

In some accounts, tales of the sleeping beauty in his tower spread throughout the land. A knight heard this tale, found the boy, kissed him, and the two lived happily ever after. 

However, in others, the story becomes a bit more…. Wild. In these the briar grew and grew and wrapped itself around the boy’s body until the two were indistinguishable from each other. When it was time for the boy to awaken, the briar pressed a thorn into the boy’s skin. The boy found himself alone and with the wheel’s magick coursing through his body. It is said that the boy left the castle and began to wander through the dense woods where he wanders even now. And it is said that if you find this witch of the woods–and if you find him on a particularly good day–he might just grant you a sliver of a spell wrapped up in a skein of handspun yarn.