The Enchanted Forest: A Scottish Fairytale

by Rosalind Kerven

In a retelling of the story of Tam Lin, Janna, the landowner's daughter, enters a forest of which everyone else is afraid, where she meets Tam Lin, a prisoner of the Queen of the Fairies, who tells her what she must do to win his freedom.

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

"Rosalind Kerven, connoisseur of myths and folktales" – THE INDEPENDENT (one of the UK's leading online news websites)

I'm the author of over 70 books published in 22 countries, with total world sales of nearly a million.
Specialising in myths, legends, folk tales and fairy tales from all over the world.

Follow me on Twitter @MythsandTales

Reviews

[Marquise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Tam Lin adaptation is unremarkable in terms of storytelling compared to others. Meaning, there's nothing to remark on the adaptation itself, because it's so faithful to the original ballad but told rather dully and boringly. The only highlight is that the name of the heroine isn't Janet as usual, or Margaret as some versions call her, but Janna. A bit too-modern girl name at first glance, you'd think, but it wasn't unheard of in the 19th century.

The artwork is better than the textual adaptation; it looks watercolour-ish, very colourful, sometimes rather too colourful for the atmosphere the tale is supposed to have. Not enough creepiness in the wood, and the appearance of Tam Lin is a bit... curious. He's dark, which is new to me, because he's always shown to be this golden piece of male beauty to contrast with Janet's plainness, so to see him like this was quite the change. And not a good one, because he's not done well compared to Janet, who is drawn better. I didn't like the illustrations all that much, Alan Marks' way of drawing people isn't one I find likable, but he does great landscapes and his vision for the transformation scene was lovely and very good.

[Saffron Moon · Rating 5 out of 5]

An abridged retelling of Tam Lin.

[Lottie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations and nice pacing of the story.

[Nancy Lockett · Rating 3 out of 5]

What can I say? I'm partial to Scotland.