For those of you who don't know, Keats' poem "La Belle Dame Sans Merci"

"... describes the encounter between an unnamed knight and a mysterious fairy. It opens with a description of the knight in a barren landscape, "haggard" and "woe-begone". He tells the reader how he met a beautiful lady whose "eyes were wild"; he set her on his horse and they went together to her "elfin grot", where they began to make love. Falling asleep, the knight had a vision of "pale kings and princes", who warn him that "La Belle Dame sans Merci hath thee in thrall!" ( The Lady without pity has you in her charm !). He awoke to find himself on the same "cold hill's side" where he is now "palely loitering". (Wikipedia)

When I first read the poem, it soundedx strangley familiar. Does anyone else know of any stories (or myths more likely, as it is written in the ninetheen century) that are similar to this?

If you want, a copy of the original poem may be found here

Thanks

It kinda sounds like the swedish "Skogsrå" - She appears as a woman of unusual beauty, sometimes dressed in colorful clothes, sometimes naked. Her back, though, is a cave, rotting log.
She can be also be told from a human being by her high, mean laughter, and in northern Sweden it is believed that she might have a fox' tail. Also, she is completely unable to understand the human sense of humour. Joking with her is always dangerous.

She shows herself mostly to men working or living alone in the woods. She loves men and will often attempt to seduce those she nears. Men who fall for the Skogsrå are completely in her power. They have great luck as hunters, as the Skogsrå commands the animals of the woods, but they are also compelled to leave their home and go to her whenever she calls for them.

There are ways to protect yourself from the Skogsrå, should you ever meet one. The best one is, of course, to firmly but politely resist her avances. Wearing your jacket outside-in, uttering the Almighty's name or swearing can also make her poweless. Another possibility is the use of herbs called Tibast and Vendelaroot.

A relationship with the Skogsrå could lead to prosecution and the capital punishment in Sweden, as late as the early 18th century.
According to tradition, the norsegod Oden (Odin, Woden, Woutan) dispised her and hunted her like an animal.


Taken from here

Reminds me of part of Gawain's story from Gawain and the Green Knight, there are many links, but try this http://csis.pace.edu/grendel/projs3d/begi.html

Fairy women are notorious for the tempting and trapping of mortal men, the minxes, so there are loads of stories there, especially local ones, do a search.

I remember there are also quite a few about virtuous christian knights being led astray by the sight of pagan ankle.
The literary theme of man's struggle for salvation usually produced a woman who tempts the bloke away from God. These were no doubt smear campaigns by the (unoriginal) patriarchal church, scared of women's natural, unfathomable power and wotnot, before it hit on the no-nonsense idea of witch-hunting.
And then there are the classics of women driving men to ruin: Adam and Eve, Pandora's box, Samson and Delila, the sirens, Spenser's the Fairy Queene, McBeth, etc...

Women are clearly dangerous and should not be handled without gloves.

and don't forget Monty Python and the lovelies of castle Anthrax, Gawain was sure he could cope with a bit of peril then.

Anyway, my distinctly unhelpful point is that there are thousands of stories with a similar theme out there. Good luck.

Saard, you said for me to try searching for it.

I am trying, but I just can't seem to find the right keywords.

Any ideas?

chinese mythology has these sort of beings. 9 (?) tailed fox people. the women are the most porminent. one (in some literature) even tried to swoon a chinese emperor in history, which resulted in a nation wide chaos.

in malay culture, there's these sort of being from another dimension (sort of). they have no philtrum (that vertical lines above the lips) and they don't eat salt. they have their own place to live. their own culture and their own lives. they say if you want to meet them just don't eat any salt for 30-40 days. some people do have encounters with these sort of people, if you choose to "cross over", people would either died or just disappear from this realm. (no kidding).

wonder if they are the same sort of beings. some of these beings have those pale features too

You're right. They're not easy to find. My bad. I've read essays on the subject in the past, the temptress as an archetype, and was hoping to unearth one of them, but could I? Could I f... Anyway, here's some things that might help you in your search.

The encyclopaedia mythica http://www.pantheon.org/mythica.html

This site has a small database of stories and a discussion board that you might want to ask your question again on. http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/

This is an essay called fox wives and other dangerous women, about Korean fairy tales http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/fordangr.html

here's adatabase of supernatural stories http://homepages.pavilion.co.uk/users/tartarus/d8.htm

"Evil women fairy stories" brought up this essay from a feminist perspective http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/tales/03-2/extra_credit/maggiore-brittany_paper.pdf ://http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/tales...tany_paper.pdf it'll probably mention some specifics if it's any good. (too lazy to read it)

Belle and Sebastian sing a song called "Beyond the Sunrise" on their album called Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant on the same mythological basis.

--Jaylemurph

Dear Saard:

Thankyou ever so much. It is very much appreciated




Really? I shall d/l it right now.

This is a series of painting by Sandro Botticelli

First painting and narrative
http://historylink101.com/art/Sandro_Botti...astagio_jpg.htm

Second story continues
http://historylink101.com/art/Sandro_Botti...Nastagi_jpg.htm

Third
http://historylink101.com/art/Sandro_Botti...iodes-2_jpg.htm

final
http://historylink101.com/art/Sandro_Botti...astagio_jpg.htm

Regards,
Mabon.

Well Elizabeth Bathory was literally a woman without mercy.

While I understand that, I thought that she was more of the young virgin persuasion, than knights?

Yeah that's true, just thought I'd mention it.

Ah ok, well thanks for that.

Made more sense the second time I read what you said.