The Well at the World’s End

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well at world's end

This week my students have to read another fairy-tale and do their homework online answering some questions. One of my goals in the English classroom is to encourage my students to read actual texts in English, not abridged versions, and reading tales written for children is a good place to start.

This tale is about a girl who has to get water from a well…

The fairy-tale The Well at the World’s End is very popular and there are many different versions of it in English, Scottish and Irish folklore. They usually involve a girl travelling very far and meeting a number of strange creatures on the way…

Our version is from a book of Scottish fairy-tales and features a beautiful princess with a very cruel stepmother and an extremely ugly stepsister… I’m sure that rings a bell!

Here are the questions:

1. Who did the fair princess meet on her way to the well?

2. Why do you think the stepsister didn’t meet the same fate as the fair princess?

3. Why do you think the fairytale is about a “the well at the worl’d end”?

4. What is the moral of this story?

5. Did you like this story? Why/why not?

The Seal Woman: a fairy-tale

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scottish legends, selkies

This week we have something different, evocative and romantic…

My students have a couple of days off due to the town festivities so I decided to give them some extra reading homework.

They have to read a short Scottish fairy tale about the famous seal folk, or selkies. Selkies are an important part of Scottish and Irisk folklore. I’ve always liked these legends about creatures who are part seal, part human, ever since I visited Scotland and had the chance to go on a boat trip to visit a colony of seals living at Loch Scavaig, off the shore near Dunvegan Castle, on the Isle of Skye.

It was the first and last time I’ve seen such beatiful animals living in the wild… The way they look at you reminded me of humans, in a way, so I can understand the legends!

 

There is also a beautiful film based on this legend. It was directed by John Sayles and called The Secret on Roan Inish. It tells the story of a young girl who moves to a small island in Ireland to discover that years earlier her baby brother was taken away in a cradle by the sea folk… Highly recommended!

After reading The Seal Woman, my  students have to log in and answer the following questions:

1. Give a summary of the story, in about 50 words.

2. Do you believe in the existence of these creatures?

3. Why do you think the woman left her husband and children?

4. Do you think the man chose a good hiding place? Why?

5. Find out the origin of the word “selkies”

    If you are interested in these legends, there is a tale in Scotland concerning people of the clan MacCodrum, who were seals in the daytime, but men and woman at night. No man of the MacCodrums, it is said, would ever kill a seal. I think the story we read in class is based on this clan.

You can read more about this here:

http://chestofbooks.com/fairy-tale/Fairy-Ghost/Tom-Moore-And-The-Seal-Woman.html#ixzz1vaZJCamO

Happy reading!