XPost: alt.folklore, alt.books, rec.arts.books
XPost: rec.arts.books.childrens
From: from@spam.trap
A couple of possibilities:
"Michael P Nugent" wrote in message
news:pan.2005.11.27.16.51.06.540214@copperDOT.net...
> There's another book in the Arthurian vein that I read in a comparative
> lit class, written by a woman (not Zimmer-Bradley) who presented the
> legend in detailed historical context: that Arthur's military skill was
> notably Roman, that his troops practiced man-love, that maids following
> Arthur's army discarded unwanted babes. As historically accurate as
> "Robin Hood", the movie, with Patrick Bergen. Gruesome and
> un-romanticized, yet fantastic, as any legend requires.
It's possible (though perhaps unlikely) that this is one of Mary Stewart's
Arthurian books: the series is _The Crystal Cave_, _The Hollow Hills_ and _The
Last Enchantment_.
> The third is a tale learned from the same class about a fey woman who
> finally offers her newlywed husband the choice to see her beautiful by day
> or by night. The husband states that the choice is hers, at which she
> becomes beautiful always.
This probably appears in different guises, but in the Arthurian cycle it's
associated with Gawain. He is searching for the answer to the question "what
do women want?" on Arthur's behalf (some complicated situation which I can't
recall) and comes across a horribly ugly woman who promises to tell him the
answer if he will marry her. He agrees and the wedding takes place, after
which the events you outline occur.
Nicholas.
--
"Macbeth" is ... by a playwright who ought, at least on this occasion, to have
written a story, if he had the skill or patience. - JRRT, _On Fairy-Stories_
To email me, use vnicholasv@vinchbare-yv.vfsnetv.co.uk,
removing all occurrences of the letter "v".
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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