We began with Beauty and the Beast, a perennial favourite since Disney got ahold of the tale some 20-odd years ago. A travelling merchant took a rose from a palace garden as a gift for his youngest daughter, named Beauty. The Beast, clearly unhappy with this turn of events, demanded the merchant come back with the first thing he met on the road. This happening to be the merchant's daughter herself, Beauty was taken to the palace and confined within its walls. In time, she came to grow fond of the Beast, and eventually they fell in love, after which time the Beast was transformed into a handsome prince.
Next, it's one of my favourites, The Nutcracker. The Stahlbaum family were holding their annual Christmas party. Drosselmeyer, godfather of the children Clara and Fritz, came with beautiful gifts, presenting Clara with a nutcracker. Later in the evening, Clara snuck back downstairs, where she fell asleep with the nutcracker in her arms and, at the stroke of midnight, was shrunk down to toy size. What unfolds next is a brilliant Christmas story - there's an army of mice and a battle with the Mouse King; a world of sweets; and land of snow; and the appearance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Clara awakes the next morning, her head swimming from her dream. We saw this performed at the Royal Opera House a few years ago - it's touching, almost to the point of tears, when Drosselmeyer's soldier nephew unexpectedly returns. Perhaps, afterall, the nutcracker was more than just a dream?
We both felt that our favourite lantern on the route was the ship from The Little Mermaid, which sat on the lake and evoked the spirit of seafaring adventure. A mermaid princess rescued a prince from a shipwreck, leaving him on the shore to be found by a young girl. The little mermaid continued to visit the prince's palace, observing him from a distance, where she eventually fell in love. Wishing to become human, she was tricked by a witch into exchanging her voice for legs, and was told that she had to marry the prince, or die without a soul, and "become foam on the sea for other mermaids." Unable to achieve her heart's desire, the mermaid thew herself into the sea, expecting to dissolve into foam. Instead, she becomes an ethereal spirit, and is lifted up into the air, to join the daughters of the air who could earn their souls by good deeds.
The tale of Hansel and Gretel is one of the most famous fairytales of all, and was displayed brilliantly with the candy-cane laden house of sweets, in which an evil witch tempts a brother and sister, who have been abandoned in the forest by a poor woodcutter. In the witch's house, Hansel is fattened up to eat, whilst Gretel is forced to cook and scrub. Then, in a rather gruesome twist, Gretel tricks the witch into putting her head in the oven, and after she is bundled inside and thoroughly roasted, the children escape and return to their father, not before pillaging several treasures from the witch's home.
Now, I've never heard of the next tale, named The Gurt Worm of Shervage, but it's a relatively local tale, which has its roots in the Quantock Hills in Somerset, where a bloodthirsty dragon once rampaged through the countryside at night, and slept coiled like a tree during the day. A woodcutter, named Joe, was picking whortleberries on the edge of Shervage Wood, and when stopping for a break, sat upon a fallen tree, which started to wriggle. Shocked, and slightly drunk on cider, Joe swung an axe at the tree, splitting it in half. There was a howl of pain, and when Joe looked at his axe, it seemed to be dripping with dragon blood. The two halves of the tree ran off in opposite directions, reaching Kingston St Mary and Billbrook, before they died. The end. A slightly odd tale from a slightly odd county, but the folk at Longleat did one hell of a job in creating this outstanding lantern.
Finally, to another lesser-known story, the Firebird. Prince Ivan was lost in a deep forest, when he came across an enchanted garden belonging to an evil magician called Kostcheï. A beautiful firebird appeared surrounded by enchanted trees full of magical apples, and was caught by Prince Ivan. After a struggle, the bird offered the prince one of her feathers in return for her release, and promised to help him, if ever he was in trouble. Prince Ivan accepted the feather, and the bird flew away. The prince continued to wander the garden, until he was at the gates of Kostcheï's palace. Here, 13 princesses emerged and began to dance, led by the beautiful Tsarevna, who told Ivan that they were all being held captive in the palace. Prince Ivan followed the princesses back to the palace, where he was confronted by Kostcheï. Ivan then called upon the firebird for help, and once she arrived, she defeated the evil magician, breaking the spell, and freeing the princesses. Naturally, Ivan next married the most beautiful one.
There were many other classic fairytales displayed here - Cinderella, Goldilocks, the Ugly Ducklings and the Frog Prince to name but a few - and I have to say, this really was a wonderful trip and a lovely place to visit on a cold and dark November night, which made a fabulous birthday to never forget - thanks Lizzie! You can see all the photos from the Festival of Light on my Flickr album.
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