The Art of Raven's Shire
A gallery of art inspired by the stories of Raven's Shire
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Raven's Shire Fairies Tales
Rumpelstiltskin
Rumpelstiltskin
peered over the side of the cliff down the length of the waterfall that
cascaded through the forest covered mountains into the pool below. A
large salmon jumped as it tried to drive every little thing away from
its spawning grounds. Rumpelstiltskin sighed, in the spring that salmon
would have hundreds of little babies they would never see, but they
would have babies all the same. He wanted a child more then anything
else, and everywhere he looked reminded him of this emptiness. In the
distance a mother deer nudged her fawn back into the thicket to being
seen. Here and their birds were teaching their young to fly so that
they would be able to leave their nests for the winter. Forest mice
prepared their burrows to bare children in the winter so they could
emerge in the spring time. The natural world was alive with a single
drive, a single desire but it was one which Rumpelstiltskin could never
fulfill.
Rumpelstiltskin turned away to keep from watching the
wildlife and went sadly back into his cottage above the waterfall to
avoid watching the animals with their babies any longer.
Rumpelstiltskin
sat alone but for the sound of the waterfall outside. No männlein had
ever had a child before, they were far too childlike themselves, at the
same time they held inside them the wisdom of thousands of years. Like
most männlein Rumpelstiltskin had been content to do secret deeds his
whole life; he’d helped a peasant deceive an ogre so he could save a
kingdom and became its king, he’d helped people’s crops to grow and
maidens to find love. He’d done all of this alone, but he didn’t want
to be alone any longer. As he stared into the fire he saw the solution
to his problem.
Rumpelstiltskin hopped through the treetops
listening to the wind as it told him tales of peoples lament, the King
of Bemoshire was a greedy cruel man who was taxing people to the
breaking point. He sighed as he looked out towards the palace. Things
hadn’t always been this way, once all the shires had been united under
a long line of good kings, once people had been happy. Rumpelstiltskin
moved swiftly towards the castle, towards the seat of the greedy tyrant
king where he’d locked a girl away making the absurd demand that she
spin straw into gold or be executed. However, should the girl
succeed the King would marry her, and her first son would become the
next king. If that future king were raised by the current tyrant he
would grow to be more creal than his father, should he be raised by
Rumpelstiltskin he would be good and kind. Rumpelstiltskin’s power of
foresight told him also that raising the child would fill the void he
had, the desire to be a father.
The girl was weeping among a
pile of straw as Rumpelstiltskin crept through the stone walls into her
prison. Her loud hiccop echoed through the vast chamber as her weeping
grew more intence.
“I believe I can help you,” the old Männlein whispered to the girl causing her to look with a start.
Rumpelstiltskin
was taken aback by the pleading desperate look in his eyes and for the
first time ever he felt the pangs of guilt. He shook these off quickly
as he offered to weave the straw into gold as she needed done in return
for some small trinket at first, it would take a while but eventually
he’d demand her first born child in return for this favor.
After seeing that Rumpelstiltskin could do what he’d promised the young girl fell asleep on the straw.
Rumpelstiltskin
watched her for a moment as she looked like a sorrowful angel, feeling
bad for her. Her father had betrayed her, the man who would marry her
had threatened to kill her out of greed, and now he was planning to
take her son from her.
Rumpelstiltskin tried to shake away his
before continuing his work, what he did he did for the good of tens of
millions of people for generations, he couldn’t allow himself to get
wrapped up in the moment with so much at stake, he looked again to the
future, not only of this kingdom but of dozens of others and focused
again on the task at hand.
| Rumpelstiltskin and the Knight
Rumpelstiltskin and the Fox
Little Red Riding Hood
Discription of the Whispering Forest
The Forgotten and the Future Wicked Step Mother
The Hawthorn Tree Teaches a Girl
Rumpelstiltskin
The Girl Has a Child With the Tree
Fairies Bosom
Wood Wife and the Baker
Forest Kings
Bunnik
Forest King Spreads Illness
Forest King Goes Hunting
Saga of a Nix
The Sealkie
An Old Child |
