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The realm of King Arthur lies on the border of folklore and history. Its stories are brought to life in the pages of literature and echoing in the wind over the archeological sites of Cadbury Hillfort (Camelot) and Glastonbury Tor (Avalon). It is a place of magic and chivalric ideals of behavior and leadership, woven into the songs of minstrels so that all of medieval Europe knew of King Arthur and his knights. Here be wondrous tournaments and adventures for the mysterious questing beast, or the otherworldly Grail, or to rescue a fair damosel in distress. Knights in shining armor display great feats of strength and chivalry, right judgement, and courtly love. In Camelot, striving for your best self, for trouthe (integrity), is the utmost ideal. It is no wonder that Once Upon a Time, a show known for its unique twists on fairy tale characters, has reached into the mists to draw out King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table. Unfortunately, in Season 5a, the show has presented a very warped view of the medieval ideal of Camelot and chivalric leadership.

     
     Hades, Pluto, Lord of the Underworld. Keeper of Souls, Guardian of the Dead . . . all are titles this often divinely wicked god goes by. Along with his raucous reputation, there is often a ton of confusion that comes along with his tale. With Hades descending upon Storybrooke soon, I thought this would be a great time to clear up some misconceptions about both Hades and his domain, so lets hop a boat across the River Styx, shall we?
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    The detail people most often get wrong is in calling Hades the Devil, and the Underworld Hell. Hades is NOT the devil. He is overseer of the Underworld, brother to Zeus and Poseidon. The realms were divided among the brothers, and sure, with Zeus getting the heavens and Poseidon getting the golden blue seas, Hades seemed to pull the short end of the stick. His domain is a dark and not very fun kinda place where all souls go when they die, according to mythology. Not just the bad people . . . everyone goes to the Underworld. Its like a giant purgatory stew/rave, if you will. 
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    This fact is the reason that we will be able to see characters on Once who may have died, but we wouldn't expect them to be in Hell. As the Underworld is for all souls, this leaves us open to encounter ANYONE who has passed on, good or evil. 

​     The latest creature of lore to visit Storybrooke was the Fury, a winged creature who came to take Robin as payment for the price of Regina's request that Dark Magic be used to save him. We have heard for seasons about the "price of magic", and based on the mythology of these creatures, it was a perfect choice for exacting that price.

     The Furies figure into both Greek and Roman Mythology. They are also known as the Erinyes, or "Angry Ones". In the episode of Once Upon A Time  titled "The Price". the Fury was there to take Robin to the Underworld, which was in fact, one of the jobs they held in the myths. There is much more to these fascinating creatures, in fact, I expect we may even see them again.

An Overview of Merlin
by Lori J. Fitzgerald-- @MedievalLit

"He walked with dreams and darkness,"
Merlin and Vivien, Idylls of the King, Alfred Lord Tennyson

Magnificent Maleficent: Family Through Blood and Water


By Mauri Lazaro (@darkdeariemauri) and Teresa Martin (@Teresa__Martin)

   Maleficent has a rather nebulous past on Once Upon A Time.  She died, fans thought, but then it was revealed in Season Two that a spell “sustains her in whatever form she’s in”. How this leads to her return, all are still waiting to see.  Until then, an examination of Maleficant’s past on Once and other versions of the tale on which she is based can shed some light on what will be seen in 4b. 

     In the traditional versions of “Sleeping Beauty”, the character on which Maleficent is based is a “wise woman,” sometimes fairy, of the realm, and the only one not invited to the christening of a new princess.  This was indeed a serious matter.  A christening is not merely a ceremony.  In the traditional sense, it integrates a person into a world-wide family.  There are godparents, who have an oath to be the guide to the child both by example and in action.  If the parents die, the godparents become the parents de facto.  Also, all present welcome the child as their own, and take oaths along with the parents and godparents.  So leaving this fairy out of the ceremony was not just a snub. It was a formal acknowledgement that she is not of the family. . . outside, broken away from all.  This grave ostracism spurred her to take revenge by imposing a curse upon the child.   She is only temporarily successful because the curse is broken with a Prince’s kiss.

      On Once Upon A Time, fans first saw the scorned fairy, known now by the name Disney gave her, Maleficent, in “The Thing You Love Most”. She is introduced as Regina’s “only friend.”  It is learned that Regina had traded The Curse with Maleficent in exchange for a sleeping potion. Fans also found out that Sleeping Beauty “got the best” of Maleficent when she was around the same age as Snow White.  This established that the Charles Perrault version of the fairy tale is being utilized by Once writers.  In his narrative the children of the original Sleeping Beauty feature, including a daughter, Aurora.  Maleficent’s story on Once might include a snub as in the original tale, but perhaps one less symbolic and more damaging.  When her backstory is told, her origins will likely rhyme with the familiar trope “evil isn’t born, it’s made.” 

     This would be in stark contrast to the Disney cartoon in which Maleficent has no redeemable qualities.  She is held in contempt by not only being left out of the christening, but also how she is spoken to by the other fairies.  Her curse and determination to thwart Phillip from awakening Aurora is not given any motivation except that of one who does not want her revenge undone. A hint of motivation, envy, is seen in the manner in which she finally appears as a great dragon, traditionally the great enemy of Good; a demon destined for perdition and determined that all should share its fate.

 Yet, as familiar as nursery rhymes are, finding the origins of them is elusive.  Little is certain from where they came except the fact that they have been a staple of children’s lives for as far back as ten generations.  This is credibly asserted by Iona and Peter Opie, authors of The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (1).  In this work it is hypothesized that nursery rhymes are “fragments of ballads or of folk songs,  . . . . remnants of ancient custom and ritual” and “last echoes of long-forgotten evil.”  Like fairy tales, the source materials were likely not intended for children (3).