Trail Ride in Iceland- Fjoerdur Elves and Trolls Tour

When people think of Iceland the first thing they think of is either some remote and cold island or Bjork. What most people probably don't know about Iceland is the persistent belief in elves and trolls amongst some of the residents, and as a tourist one can actually go on a trail ride in Iceland to learn about the faeries.

The ride is 8 days long and essentially allows tourists to come in contact with the wilds of Iceland  as a tour guide informs you of the myths and legends of the area. And apparently you will do all of this while travelling with a wild pack of horses and will be able to ride a couple of different ones as the days pass. Sounds pretty amazing.

http://www.hiddentrails.com/tour/iceland_northern_elves.aspx

Fairies Pyjamas

Fairies Pyjamas is a fair trade clothing retailer that makes very flowing, loose-fitting clothing for both men and women. Some of the pieces are more obviously fae inspired than others, but the clothes are fashionable and you could wear most of them in a contemporary casual setting. Here's the website. It has links to the online store, locations, a travel log, and a statement on fair trade http://thefairiespyjamas.com/

The pictures are from the facebook page http://www.facebook.com/TheFairiesPyjamas

Jack Frost (1934)

In honour of the current seasonal changes, here's an old short featuring a spritely Jack Frost as he helps a young bear learn a lesson

Schleich Action Figures

Schleich is a company that makes action figures for children. The figurines they make range from animals to knights to dinosaurs to Native Americans to fairies. And of course in this case I would be interested in the fairy figurines. The product line is called Bayala. It has figurines of fairies (standing, sitting, and on horse back), unicorns, and dragons. The line has figurines that will appeal to both boys and girls (and this is true for all of the lines, there are both male and female  figurines in each product line that involves humans). There are more on the website which you can check out for yourself here http://www.schleich-s.com/en/action_figures/collectables/product_range/world_of_fantasy/bayala_the_world_of_elves/index.html

David Adams

Another fairy artist. Not my favourite style, but pleasant to look at. Here's his website http://www.davidadamsonline.com/fairy_paintings.htm

Thumbelina (1994)

The story of Thumbelina was originally a fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson. It's the story of a thumb- sized girl and her adventures in life and love.

Here is an online version of the story on the Hans Christian Anderson website http://www.andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/Thumbelina_e.html

There is also an audio version available here http://storynory.com/2009/04/20/thumbelina/

The movie most popular film version is probably the 1994 cartoon by Don Bluth, I wrote a review on my other blog so instead of copying and pasting because I think this'll be kind of lengthy as it is, I'll just link it if you want to read it here.

There have  been many film adaptations of the story, here are a few I found on YouTube. I haven't seen all of them, but it kind of blows my mind a bit at the number of different versions there are. I mean it's a good fairy tale, don't get me wrong, but doesn't have the same level of popularity or publicity as do some of the other fairy and folk tales out there, so I didn't expect this many variations of the story.

This version is probably most well-known of them all. It was done by Don Bluth who worked on other films like A Troll in Central Park and Anastasia. This was also the version I came to know first, so obviously has a special place in my heart.



Here are some fan sites for the film

http://www.theneitherworld.com/thumbelina/index.htm

http://cbl.orcein.net/thumbelina/

This is one of the Timeless Tales movies. If you've never heard of them they were these films released in the 90's hosted by Olivia Newton John and each one retold a different fairy tale. I would definitely check out the others and share them with the children in your life.



This one is very short, the whole story crammed into 8 minutes or so, so if you are unfamiliar with the story of Thumbelina, here it is in a condensed version. This is from a series of shorts called World's Greatest Fairy Tales.



Here's a version done by Faerie Tale Theater



Some anime version called Thumbelina: A Magical Story



A Golden books version



There's also a Barbie version apparently, but judging from the trailer I'd assume they take some liberties with the plot



This isn't actually the story of Thumbelina, but is from the movie about Hans Christian Anderson and it's kind of funny. Not that it's meant to be of course... but if you take the scene out of context as I guess I am here, he looks like a mad man.

The Sunshine Makers (1935)

A short cartoon about these sunshine worshipping gnomes who have a sort of battle with another troop of gloomy dark loving gnomes. My favourite part of the cartoon is at 6:11- 6:25 or when the gloomy guy is hit with the sunshine and starts dancing around and the other one beside him looks at him in disgust and calmly sprays him back to a gloomy state. Then they both get hit and prance around like idiots. I laugh every time.