Work has just begun on a brand new anthology which will be published by Avalonia in the Summer of 2012 entitled THE FAERIE QUEENS. As the name suggests this new book will bring together essays from different authors and researchers on the subject of important female figures in folklore and mythology who could be considered to be queens of the different faery realms.
The Faerie Queens are powerful and enduring figures in European folklore, magic and literature. Some are ancient goddesses like the Cailleach, Diana, Habundia, and the Morrigan, remembered and honoured with offerings, charms and requests for magical help. Others are figures of old Celtic myths whose stories have survived like Maeve andNuala; or whose names first appear in grimoire conjurations by Renaissance magicians, like Mycob and Sibyllia, and some like Nicneven, the Queen of the May and the Queen of Elfame have been honoured by legendary witches for centuries. Poets and authors have been enchanted by Fairy Queens and woven their magic into plays and epic myths, as seen with Morgan LeFay in the Arthurian tales, Gloriana in Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene, and Shakespeare’s Titania and Mab, adding new and imaginative layers to the powers of these ethereal and alluring monarchs.
If you are interested in finding out more, with the view of possible submitting an essay, you can find more information on the website and blog of author and editor Sorita d’Este – see http://sorita.co.uk/the-faerie-queens-call-for-submissions
Behold the chariot of the Fairy Queen!
Celestial coursers paw the unyielding air;
Their filmy pennons at her word they furl,
And stop obedient to the reins of light;
These the Queen of Spells drew in;
She spread a charm around the spot,
And, leaning graceful from the ethereal car,
Long did she gaze, and silently,
Upon the slumbering maid.(Shelley, 1813)
