A Whisper in the Woods: A Spring Folklore Roundup of Art, Books, and Music We Love
- Kelly Jarvis
- 20 hours ago
- 9 min read
Spring is season of rebirth and new growth, and here at The Fairy Tale Magazine we are celebrating spring in style! In addition to our luscious Spring/Summer issue Wildwood, a gorgeously illustrated collection of poetry, essays, and fiction featuring cover art by Leonard Greco, we have compiled a roundup of spring folklore, art, and quotations along with a Green Man, Green Woman, and Tree Spirit reading list. And, as a special spring surprise, our Editor-in-Chief Kristen Baum DeBeasi, a gifted composer and poet, has created two musical playlists for your listening pleasure, one that will invite you to dance through the forest and one that will help you relax among the trees.
Wander through our roundup and let the magic of spring scatter its seeds of inspiration. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed creating it!
Spring Folklore & Facts
*April showers bring May flowers
*A Swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay
*Marry in May, and you'll rue the day
*Oak before ash, in for a splash. Ash before oak, in for a soak
*Violets, one of spring's earliest flowers, carry love and luck
*Plant primroses by your front door to please the fairies
*The full moon of May is known as the Flower Moon
*The May birthstone is a deep green emerald
*Tie a ribbon to a tree on May 1st (Beltane) for luck
Books to enjoy this Spring
If spring is the season to plant new seeds, then why not fill your minds with seeds of botanical beauty? Below you will find a roundup of stories, essays, poetry, and gorgeously illustrated books that awaken the Green Man and the Green Woman from their winter slumber and plunge readers into the arms of trees. Add them to your reading list today!
Brian Froud’s Green Women: With Original Contributions by Extraordinary Women Writers of Fantasy and Myth does not publish until October, but why not preorder this treasure now? Seventy of Brian Froud's evocative illustrations of the Green Woman are accompanied by poems, stories, and folklore, and fairy tales crafted by writers like by Terri Windling, Shveta Thakrar, Maria DeBlassie, Theodora Goss, Kate Forsyth, and Delia Sherman. This is sure to become a classic for all those who adore the natural world and its mysteries.
The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest is a collection of stories and poems curated by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. Writers including Charles de Lint, Tanith Lee, Jane Yolen, and Patricia McKillip journey deep into the mythic forest and return with spellbinding explorations of Elfland. You’ll find stories about Dionysus and Herne, a retelling of Daphne’s experience, and a take on Jack and the Beanstalk. This is a must read for those who love forest folklore and fairy tale!
Walking with the Green Man: Father of the Forest, Spirit of Nature by Dr. Bob Curran traces the origins of the Green Man figure from prehistoric times to the contemporary world. Focusing on the interplay between folklore and culture, Dr. Curran examines the Green Man as symbolic art and living history through the lens of human perception.
The Green Man by David Russell Mosley is a collection of poetry dedicated to Southwall Minster “whose beautiful architecture first introduced {him} to the Green Man.” Divided into sections which cover creation, spirituality, loss, spring, summer, winter, and fall, this book is a thoughtful contemplation about the intersections between faith and the natural world. Although not every poem is about the Green Man, the title situates the pieces within an understanding of his mythic presence. Moving and honest, these poems help readers see the presence of nature beneath contemporary life.
If you enjoy Gothic novels and dark humor check out Kingsley Amis’ The Green Man, a tale of a middle-aged man haunted by death. Although the story is about achieving redemption through the intervention of ghostly presences, the protagonist, Maurice Allington, owns a pub and inn called The Green Man, which offers interesting insights into how the legendary figure of spring can be used as a symbol of altered consciousness and good cheer.
Are you looking to relax while enjoying some artistic inspiration this spring? Let The Green Man: Coloring Book for Adults sweep you away to the leafy forests. The pages offer pictures of the Green Man alongside Celtic symbols and mandalas designed to soothe the soul and stimulate creative thinking.
Many scholars link the Green Man to Robin Hood, so why not revisit Howard Pyle’s classic text The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood? Here you will find Robin and his band of Merry Men battling the Sheriff of Nottingham, proof that the wild man of nature cannot be contained by the arbitrary and oppressive laws of man. This version features over sixty original illustrations by Pyle himself!
The titular knight from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is also linked to the Green Man, though his story takes place over the Christmas season. A large, leaf-clad green knight crashes Camelot’s holiday feast and challenges Arthur’s court to a beheading game. Sir Gawain is the knight who steps up to the challenge, learning about his own strengths and faults in the process. Do you think the Green Knight functions as a Green Man?
Celtric Tree Magic: Ogham Lore and Druid Mysteries by Danu Forest explores the magic of twenty-five different trees. In addition to exploring tree folklore and myth, this book offers tips for communing with nature and hands-on exercises for salves, ointments, and crafts. Written by a Druid witch and Celtic shaman, this book will help readers find connections between nature and the human soul.
Nine Ways to Charm a Dryad: A Magical Adventure to Connect with the Spirit of Trees also aims to help readers experience the wonders of nature firsthand. Meditations, writing prompts, and craft projects offer advice for healing, and the author Penny Billington encourages people of all faiths to learn how to recognize the aura of the trees and the beauty of the landscape. This is a lovely, accessible book filled with art and poetry.
Julie Armstrong gifts readers a story about May and Jack, a couple living among the forest Fae, in A Wild Calling. When developers shatter their pristine world, Jack-in-the-Green and his May Queen must become Eco-warriors, fighting to find one another and restore balance. Filled with lush description and mythic symbolism, this tale is one of redemption and hope. Armstrong also leads readers through nature in her stunning books The Root & the Wing, a collection of lyrical poetry and prose rooted in the turning of the seasons, and Journal of a Nature Lover, a memoir about mothers and daughters who share a passion for flora and fauna.
Silver in the Wood, the first book in Emily Tesh’s Greenhollow Duology, tells the tale of a wild man named Tobias who lives deep in the forests surrounding Greenhollow Hall. When Henry Silver takes possession of the property, readers are plunged into both magic and darkness as they witness a slow-burn love story unfold. This novella is a beautifully written tale with lush descriptive imagery, and readers will certainly reach for its sequel Drowned Country which takes place in seaside town which was once a part of the woods.
Finally, while Comus, a masque written by John Milton, is not about the Green Man or nature spirits themselves, its poetic allegory between virtue and temptation takes place in a “wild wood.” This version, sumptuously illustrated by Arthur Rackham, is sure to delight those looking for visual inspiration. And for more spring-themed reads, visit our Spring Book Roundup.
Art and Quotations for Springtime Contemplation
'I am thought of all plants', says the Green Man,
'I am thought of all plants', says he (William Anderson).
"Now Jack in the Green is a very strange man
Though he dies every Autumn he's born every spring
And each year on his birthday, we will dance through the street
An in return Jacky will ripen the wheat
Jack in the Green, Jack in the Green
And we'll all dance each springtime with Jack in the Green" (Martin Graebe).
"Marion, my darling, I love you more than life itself" (Walt Disney's Robin Hood).
"He was a lovely boy, clad in skeleton leaves and the juices that ooze out of trees" (James Barrie, Peter & Wendy).
"I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine."
(William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream)
"Spring hangs her infant blossoms on the trees,
Rock'd in the cradle of the western breeze" (William Cowper).
"Spring drew on...and a greenness grew over those brown beds, which, freshening daily, suggested the thought that Hope traversed them at night, and left each morning brighter traces of her steps" (Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre).
"Spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil" (Reginald Heber).
Music to sweep you into Nature
Below, you will find two playlists curated and described by Editor-in-Chief of The Fairy Tale Magazine Kristen Baum DeBeasi and shared on The Fairy Tale Magazine's YouTube Channel. Enjoy it all season and return whenever you long for the sweet breath of spring!
Green Man Playlist: Come celebrate the greening of spring! and the renewing power of nature in spring. Listen to music about The Green Man, Jack-in-the-Green, Robin Hood, and let’s rollick together! This playlist is sure to get you on your feet and dancing. There’s a "Mummers’ Dance" (Loreena McKennit) music for Beltane, Walpurgisnacht (from FAUN) and a couple of fantastic tracks from Jennifer Cutting’s Ocean Orchestra (YES with Steve Winick). There’s a tribute to the Tree of Life from The Fountain (there was a time when I listened to the entire soundtrack from this movie on repeat, I loved it so much!). Enjoy Two Corbies duo, La Ceiba and even The Olurombi song. And no rollicking playlist about powerful trees would be complete without a song about Yggdrasill. Let this playlist call you to your feet for little rousing celebration of the strength of tree spirits and of spring. Once you’ve danced your tree roots off, enjoy an encore by Ray Charles singing to us that "It’s Not Easy Being Green."
Whispering Woods Playlist: Enter this enchanted wood with “My Robin to the Greenwood Did Go” from Hamnet and stay for the variety I’ve gathered here. This playlist highlights aspects of the dryads, tree spirits, spending time in their quiet beauty, and the call of the forest to each one of us individually. My favorite tree, the willow, gets a bit of extra love (not just from Taylor Swift—there are others writing odes to my favorite weeping tree) in this playlist, but never fear, we have everything from lighter to darker tree ideas (“Sycamore Trees” from Twin Peaks). And any time I can include Hildegard of Bingen, I will do it! If you're thirsty for a translation of the Latin, click through to the video (on YouTube) and look in the description--a translation is provided and trees are exulted and adored in much of this song. There’s everything in this playlist from opera (Handel, “Kumudha’s Prayer" from John Adams’ opera A Flowering Tree) to Ruth B singing to us about Peter Pan and the lost boys.
If you've enjoyed A Whisper in the Woods: The Fairy Tale Magazine's Spring Roundup of Folklore, Art, Books, and Music, be sure to download our Spring/Summer Issue Wildwood. Spring may be a season, but it is also a state of mind we can return to again and again whenever we need the hope, joy, and beauty that inspiration brings.
Kristen Baum DeBeasi, the Editor-in-Chief of The Fairy Tale Magazine, was born a flower child (on the inside). In fact, she remembers communing with the flowers surrounding her PNW home as a young girl. It wasn’t until later in life when her inner flower child grew bold enough to emerge (on the outside). Kristen has loved faeries and fairy tales for as long as she can remember. She is a poet, writer, and composer with a M.M. in theory and composition. The marriage of storytelling and music guides her creative expression. Visit her at: https://www.kbdebeasi.com/
Kelly Jarvis works as the Contributing Writer for The Fairy Tale Magazine and teaches writing and literature at Central Connecticut State University. Her work has been featured in A Moon of One’s Own, Blue Heron Review, Corvid Queen, Eternal Haunted Summer, Mermaids Monthly, The Chamber Magazine, The Magic of Us, and Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers. Her debut novella, Selkie Moon, was a semi-finalist in the Speculative Fiction Indie Novella Championship and her Gothic historical romance Sea and Stars releases in July 2026. You can connect with her on Facebook (Kelly Jarvis, Author) or Instagram (@kellyjarviswriter) or find her at https://kellyjarviswriter.com/
