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WINTER IS HERE
and The Fairy Tale Magazine
is celebrating with some quotes, art, and folklore!
Winter is the time of year when we're inspired to read more, enjoy meals with family and friends on a cold night, walk in the snow, and dream by the fire. To inspire you, we've collected some of EC's favorite things about winter...so please enjoy the quotes, art, tales, music, and folklore below that highlight this magical season!
The Winter Solstice is the time of ending and beginning, a powerful time - a time to contemplate your immortality. A time to forgive, to be forgiven, and to make a fresh start. A time to awaken.
-- Frederick Lenz
"Brew me a cup for a winter's night.
For the wind howls loud and the furies fight:
Spice it with love and stir it with care,
And I'll toast our bright eyes,
my sweetheart fair."
~ Minna Thomas Antrim
"There is no winter without snow,
no spring without sunshine,
and no happiness without companions."
~ Korean Proverb
WINTER FOLKLORE
& ANIMALS
10 Strange Signs Predicting a Hard Winter
Woodpeckers sharing a tree
Pigs gathering sticks
Ants marching in a line rather than meandering
"See how high the hornets nest, 'twill tell how high the snow will rest"
Early arrival of crickets on the hearth
Thick hair on the back of a cow's neck
Raccoons with thick tails and bright bands
Muskrats burrowing holes high on the river bank
Spiders spinning larger than usual webs and entering the house in great numbers
3 snowy owls flying overhead together during daylight hours
"The twelve months...
Snowy, Flowy, Blowy,
Showery, Flowery, Bowery,
Hoppy, Croppy, Droppy,
Breezy, Sneezy, Freezy."
~ George Ellis
"I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, 'Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.'"
~ Lewis Carroll
STORY INSPIRATION:
Neuschwanstein Castle in Winter
This 19th-century palace, locatedin southwest Bavaria, Germany, has inspired many authors and artists with its fairy tale-style appearance. It has appeared prominently in several films through the years, as well as serving as the visual inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle.
5 SOUPS
to Warm the Winter Soul
Watch the recipe below:
"In January
it's so nice
while slipping
on the sliding ice
to sip hot chicken soup with rice.
Sipping once
Sipping twice."
~ Maurice Sendak, In January
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
- Robert Frost
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
"Antisthenes says that in a certain faraway land the cold is so intense that words freeze as soon as they are uttered, and after some time then thaw and become audible, so that words spoken in winter go unheard until the next summer.
~ Plutarch, Moralia
THE HOLLY KING
In various folklore traditions, the Holly King and Oak King are personifications of winter and summer that engage endlessly in a battle that reflects the seasonal cycles of the year. The Winter Solstice is the day that the Holly King is at the height of his power, bringing winter to the land, but at the Spring Equinox, his brother, the Oak King, wins the battle and begins his summer reign. The Holly King then retires to nurse his wounds for the next six months until it is time for him to win the battle and once again reign over the land.
Winter Reading Nook Goals
because it's a valid excuse to stay home when it's snowing
just to spend the day reading in a cozy nook..
"In the winter she curls up around a good book
and dreams away the cold."
~ Ben Aaronovitch, Broken Homes
"There’s just something beautiful about walking on snow that nobody else has walked on.
It makes you believe you’re special."
~ Carol Rifka Brunt, Tell the Wolves I'm Home
WINTER ART GALLERY
Gerda and the Reindeer, Arthur Rackham
Fairies Dancing in Snowy Starlight, Ida Rentoul Outhwaite
The Dreamer of Dreams, Edmund Dulac
Storal Park, Julian Onderdonk
Winter Landscape,Iványi Grünwald Bél
THE FULL MOONS
OF WINTER
THE COLD MOON
December 26, 2023
This first full moon of winter is named the Cold Moon because of the frigid conditions in December, when cold weather starts to reign in the Northern Hemisphere.
THE WOLF MOON
January 25, 2024
It was Native Americans who named the second full moon of winter the Wolf Moon due to seeing packs of wolves in the wintertime howling at night.
THE SNOW MOON
February 24, 2024
The full moon for February is named the Snow Moon for the simple reason that it's cold and snowy at this time of year.
WANT TO READ SOME NEW
WINTER TALES?
Check out
FROZEN FAIRY TALES
Edited by The Fairy Tale Magazine's Kate Wolford
HAPPY WINTER TO ALL!
Share what you love about this season in the comments section below
The Fairy Tale Magazine's contributing editor, Amanda Bergloff, writes modern fairy tales, folktales, and speculative fiction. Her work has appeared in various anthologies, including Frozen Fairy Tales, After the Happily Ever After, and Uncommon Pet Tales. Follow her on X @AMANDABERGLOFF
Cover Art: Artus Scheiner
Quotes/Various Graphic Design: Amanda Bergloff