BOOK REVIEW – J.K. ROWLING – THE TALES OF BEEDLE THE
BARD 2008 Bloomsbury.
Spin-off books the phenomenally successful Harry Potter novels, though without direct usage or appearances by the famous boy wizard himself. The book caused some controversy when Rowling initially published only seven copies for sale to the highest bidders, for charity. Fans were livid because they were denied access to the work, and Rowling eventually agreed to issue the book properly.
The stories are referred to in the last Potter book, The Deathly Hallows, as containing cryptic clues to the solution to the mysteries surrounding Potter, but these prove to be sub-plot red herrings.
Beedle’s collection of five wizarding fairy tales are well
known to the wizards and witches taught at Hogwarts, and great favourites of
the late Dumbledore, who before his death (In Harry Potter & The Half Blood
Prince), created a heavily annotated edition, showing how much the book risked
being banned by supporters of Voldermort, for its sympathetic attitude to
Muggles, etc. Dumbledore’s notes have
themselves received annotation by Hermione Grainger, and there are notes by
Rowling too, which rather detract from the interaction of her fictional
characters. The notes take up more of
the slender volume than the tales themselves, which are wonderfully presented.
The Wizard and the Hopping Pot -
A wizard tries to avoid using magic in life, but his cauldron screams at him
and hoops around after him making terrible noises until he accepts his duty to
look after the needs of his commiunity.
The Fountain of Fair Fortune
Thre witches make pilgramage to a magic fountain that will give you
everything you need in life, though only one can benefit from its gift in any
given year. An errant knight unwittingly ends up joiing them on the journey. Te
witches work out their own needs without the fountain water and the knigt
learns from it that he loves the leader of the group.
The Warlock's Hairy Heart -
The darkest story is a very Edgar Allen Poe fable in which the Warlock
renoinces love and finds his heart growing cold and hairy though he is able to
fain affection when required. He cuts his heart out and keeps it in a box in
his cellar. When a girl falls in love with him, and finds his heart too wild
and detached for him to put back in his breast, she tries to give him her own,
and both die.
Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump – A foolish king
tries to ban magic to make himself more powerful, and all sorcerers are cast
out of the kingdom, but an old witch is able to fool him – and a charlatan who
tries to dupe them both.
The Tale Of The Three Brothers deals with a cloak
of invisibility intended to shield a wizard from death, a magic stone able
to raise the dead and an invincible magic wand, but ultimately, death tricks
two of the brothers and kills them, while the third willingly accepts his fate
and embraces death. The Chauceresque tale, as read in The Deathly Hallows,
inspired Harry Potter to give fruitless quest to the search for the artefacts.
The tales are lovely and brief, given the epic size of the later Potter Books. The notes seem to be added to give the work suitable length for making into a book at all, but it remains a delightful read.
Arthur Chappell
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