Child of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier

I’ve put off writing about this book because it’s the last book in a trilogy and it feels strange to write about this one without mentioning Daughter of the Forest and Son of the Shadows, which I read a year and a half ago and six months ago, respectively. I’ve decided that instead of giving this one its own post, I’ll put it into the context of the series. Of course I’m also trying to keep this journal relatively spoiler-free, and especially so in this case because I know of people who specifically want to read or finish this series!

Anyways, I read Daughter of the Forest after Rin recommended it to me the summer before last. It is the retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Wild Swans”* set in Ireland in the 10th century. Not only is this one of my favourite fairy tales, but it also happens to be one of my favourite historical periods, so all-round points for that. Of course, I also loved Marillier’s portrayal of the period and her interpretation of the fairy tale. I also liked that she added in some of the folklore of Ireland.

To give a brief outline of the fairy tale – it is about a young girl (named Sorcha, in this story) who must save her six older brothers who have been turned into swans by their evil/jealous/sorceress step-mother. In order to do this, she must weave shirts for each of her brothers out of a thorny plant that rips open her hands, after taking a vow of silence. Of course, she runs into many complications along the way.

The second book in the series doesn’t follow the fairy tale at all, but tells the story of Sorcha’s children. The main plot of this book and the next one, in which the main protagonist is Sorcha’s granddaughter, follow a story introduced but not dealt with in the first book.

My mother knew every tale that was ever told by the firesides of Erin, and more besides. Folks stood hushed around the hearth to hear her tell them after a long day’s work, and marveled at the bright tapestries she wove with her words. She related the many adventures of Cù Chulainn the hero, and she told of Fionn Mac Cumhaill, who was a great warrior and cunning with it….She told tales that had the household in stitches with laughter, and tales that made strong men grow quiet. But there was one tale she would never tell, and that was her own. – the beginning of Son of the Shadows

*”The Wild Swans” is in turn based off of the Norwegian folk tale “The Twelve Wild Ducks,” which was collected by Asbjørnsen & Moe and then translated by George Webbe Dasent in the late-Victorian period. Angela Carter has suggested that Andersen “upgraded” the ducks to swans because swans provide more romantic imagery. (Andersen also cut down the number of brothers by half, but I’m not sure what the significance of that might be.)