The Maiden on the Moor

 

 

The book I did this week for my book talk is called The Maiden and the Moor by Marilyn Singer. In this book the two characters the reader is introduced to first are two shepherd brothers, an older and a younger. The older brother is wealthy with riches and family but poor in kindness and caring for others. The younger is quite opposite, with a great willingness to help and care for others but very alone and poor. The story begins when the two shepherds are out finishing up on a very cold and wintery night. When they begin to turn back, one of the younger shepherds three dogs find a woman unconcious in the snow. The older brother is scared that witchcraft is involved and quickly hurries home. The younger brother picks the maiden up and carries her to his home. He lays her in his bed, covers her with blankets and falls asleep on the floor in front of the fire. The maiden sleeps for 7 days and the younger shepherd takes care of her the entire time. He confides in her that he is lonely and wishes she would wake up and be his companion. Finally, the maiden awakens when the shepherd is away. She puts a curse on the older brother that causes his home to be filled with ice that cannot be melted or chipped away. Lastly she begs one of the younger shepherds dogs to kill her. With much hesitation the dog fulfills her wish and after her death a snow swan is magically transformed. Later that night when the shepherd returns home he is distressed to see that the maiden is gone. He then hears a knock at the door and when he opens it, finds the most beautiful woman standing there. She quietly tells him that she will be his companion and they live happily ever after.

 

This book is an excellent book to introduce the genre of fantasy. It incorperates an old english folk tale chalk full of magic, mystery and hidden meanings. I would recommend it for an older classroom like fourth to sixth grade. It would be good to pair with an English poetry lesson and is a nice example of how a story can be created around a poem. An activity that can be done would be to pick another old English poem and have the students write their own stories around it. It would be neat to see the diversity among the classroom and a good teaching tool to show that we all have different ideas.