preview

Tam Lin Relationship Analysis

Decent Essays

From Blackstock to Nowhere: Relationships and Power Dynamics in Two Retellings of the Ballad of Tam Lin The Scottish folk ballad “Tam Lin” is a very popular ballad which has inspired many contemporary writers and artists to create their own retellings and reinterpretations. Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones and Tam Lin by Pamela Dean are two of these retellings. In these novels, Jones and Dean have masterfully brought the events and characters of the traditional ballad into the modern world. Although both novels have drawn from the same source there are a number of distinct differences between the two, especially when it comes to the relationship between their Janet and Tam Lin characters (Polly Whittacker and Tom Lynn in Fire and Hemlock, and Janet Carter and Thomas Lane in Tam Lin), and the balance of power between them throughout the narrative. While Jones’ novel is very much centered around the idea of “Tam Lin” being one of the rare few folk ballads or tales with a female hero and is structured as such to give Polly a position of power and equality in the relationship by the end, Dean seems to approach her retelling of the ballad from a different direction, questioning whether Janet really is as empowered by her role as the hero as it may seem at first. In both novels, the first meeting between the Janet and Tam Lin characters sets a strong base for their initial relationship, especially regarding the power dynamics within that relationship. In the ballad of Tam

Get Access