By PROPOLI87 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=109894846
After exploring Rome, the next stop in Italy for a lover of Dante needs to be Florence, his birthplace and home until he was exiled for being a White Guelf in 1302. In Dante’s time, it was a flourishing cultural center at the intersection between ancient trade and pilgrim routes that connected the city to most of the known world. Pilgrims travelling from as far away as England might stop through Florence on their way to Rome, and to this day, the city is associated with a modern pilgrimage route that traces the steps of St. Francis of Assisi to Rome. This centrality not only fostered an immense cultural heritage, but it also positioned Florence at the center of a new European banking industry that made the florin (the coin of Florence) one of the standard currencies throughout Europe. To leave Florence, for Dante, must have felt like leaving not merely his world but the center of the known world itself.
Visitors to Florence today will find an abundance of Dante related things to do from understanding the history of the city at the Museo Storico Topografico Firenze Com’era,the origins of Dante the man at the Museo Casa di Dante, and the cenotaph of Dante in Santa Croce. In the early twentieth century, a team of historians and Dante scholars identified important locations in Florence for understanding the Commedia and marked these locations with white Carrera marble plaques, each containing quotations from Dante. With the aid of this website or Riedesser’s guidebook, Dante lovers can follow the path of the many places and people mentioned by Dante.
While Florence is full of many places for Dante lovers to visit, two particular places in Florence, the Uffizi and the Baptistery of St. John, contain essential pieces of art that help to illuminate some comments made in Purgatorio 11.93—95 given here in the Mandelbaum translation:
In painting Cimabue thought he held
the field, and now it’s Giotto they acclaim–
the former only keeps a shadowed fame.
Although Giotto was an exact contemporary of Dante, Cimabue was about fifteen years older than both of them and Florence’s most important 13th c. painter. Growing up, Cimabue would have been the “newest thing” for Dante and the Florentines, but as he ages, Dante will witness Giotto, who was only two years younger than him, rise to fame throughout Italy. Appreciating the way these two artists constantly tried to improve their art and compete with other artists is essential for understanding Dante’s own self-conception as a poet.
The Uffizi is one of the few museums in the world where it is possible to see the constant struggle that many artists have to achieve their own ideals and the way many artists, including both Cimabue and Giotto, return to the same subjects again and again in attempts to both imitate and out-do the other. This kind of collection allows viewers to see artistic development over time in the life of individual artists and not merely time periods.
Two particular examples of this stand out, paintings by Cimabue and his student, Giotto depicting the Virgin and Child Enthroned.
In his Santa Trinita Maestà,Cimabue takes a favorite subject of artists and approaches it in a fresh way. In Giorgio Vasari’s “Life of Cimabue,” he comments upon this piece, noting, “In that work, at great pains to respond to the fame already attributed to him, he showed more invention, and a fine approach to the disposition of Our Lady, who he shows with her Son in her arms, surrounded by many angels who venerate her in a field of gold.” This painting illustrates both Cimabue’s excellence in applying Byzantine techniques while also responding to the rising naturalism of his younger pupils, Duccio and Giotto. In his day, Cimabue was considered one of the best, and in this painting in particular, he demonstrates his constant attempts to grow in skill throughout his career, competing not only with himself but even with up and coming artists.
And yet, when this painting on a similar subject is placed alongside Giotto’s Ognissanti Maestà, the innovation of Cimabue begins to look old fashioned.
Giotto manages to continue with the Byzantine use of damascene (gold decoration) while using chiaroscuro (light and shade) to create much more realistic faces. His figures also have a kind of weight and proportion to them that gives the viewer a sense that their bodies are much more realistic than Cimabue’s figures. He surrounds the thrown of the Madonna and child with a realistically proportioned tabernacle that is in a fashionable gothic architectural style employing different colors of marble. For years, Giotto’s painting hung in Ognissanti in Florence and became a model for artists working after him.
One thing that Dante will have to learn along his journey through Purgatorio is the flipside of artistic striving. Artists and poets of all sorts in Florence saw constant improvement as an inherent aspect of pursuing high craftsmanship, but inherently, this striving means that those who are great in their day will likely have those who come after them that will surpass them. A truly great artist will both strive to out-do what came before while also humbly recognizing that the fruits of that striving will have their day and pass away.
For Dante, however, the competition will not only be with other poets, but with craftsman of other sorts like the painters, Cimabue and Giotto. To see this more clearly, we will need to visit two other places, the Baptistery of St. John in Florence and the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua…
Grendel’s mother has long been regarded by scholars as the least monstrous of the three—not being an obvious vampire-cannibal like Grendel nor a fire-breathing dragon. Her vengeful response to the death of her son, and her decision to continue the feud between the Grendelkin has been regarded as ethical (within the broader context of warrior ethos), legal (within the context of early medieval Norse and English laws), and even heroic (aligned with the heroism as depicted in the poem).
Grendel’s mother tries to stab Beowulf. Illustration by J.R. Skelton, 1908.
While I would generally agree with this broad characterization of Grendel’s mother, and there is no doubt that her actions mirror those of any avenging warrior in Beowulf, to erase her monstrosity seems to ignore at least some of the evidence. While I do not find her maternity at all indicative of abject horror (indeed quite the opposite as it is her identity as “mother” that humanizes her in my view), certain terms used to describe her and indeed everything from her association as Caines cynn “Cain’s kin” (107; 1261-65) and the hellish descriptions of her lair suggest some measure of monstrosity embedded in her character. And for this Halloween, we will spend some time unpacking the nature of her monstrosity.
I would contend that the main reason scholars argue about Grendel’s mother’s monstrosity and characterization is because of her enigmatic design. As I point out in my dissertation, riddles encode Beowulf, and, in my opinion, employ riddling rhetorical strategies, especially imitation, equivocation, esotericism and paradox. These obfuscations help account for the many irregularities observed in the poem the scholars have scratched their heads over for more than a century and help explain why often the heroes looks like the monsters—and the monsters like the heroes.
Grendel’s mother battles Beowulf. Illustration by John Howe, 2006. All rights reserved.
Because of the influence of riddling rhetorical strategies on Beowulf, turning to the Anglo-Latin enigmata tradition is an especially fruitful practice, especially in explorations of monstrosity in the poem. Indeed, monsterized riddles have long been a feature starting with the late classical enigmatist, Symphosius, who establishes the Anglo-Latin tradition, includes numerous riddles on wondrous creatures, such as the phoenix (Enigma 31). Similarly, Aldhelm’s enigmata also feature numerous monsterized riddles, in some cases the solution is a wondrous creature (as with Symphosius’ paradoxical phoenix-riddle), in other cases the mundane is made monstrous through imitation, and the monsterization is another mechanism of obfuscation (as in Aldhelm’s Enigma 97 solved nox). Even Boniface, whose riddles center on vices and virtues, monsterizes his vice-riddles in the mode of Prudentius’ Psychomachia, a popular classroom text in early medieval English which depicts vices as monsters in an allegorical epic.
Ira’s sword shatters on Patientia’s helmet, then the enraged Ira dies by her own blade (c.900, Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Codex 264, p.79).
But what does this have to do with Grendel’s monstrous mother? Let’s start with her introduction and the complex portrait it paints:
Þæt gesyne wearþ, widcuþ werum, þætte wrecend þa gyt lifde æfter laþum, lange þrage, æfter guðceare: Grendles modor. Ides aglæcwif yrmþe gemunde, se þe wæteregesan wunian scolde, cealde streamas, siþðan Cain wearð to ecgbanan angan breþer, fæderenmæge. He þa fag gewat, morþre gemearcod, mandream fleon, westen warode.
“That became manifest, widely known to men, that an avenger still lived after the hostile one, for a long time, after war-grief: Grendel’s mother. A lady, a fearsome woman remembered misery, he who must inhabit the terrible-waters, the cold streams because Cain became the edge-slayer to his only brother, kin of the same father. He then went hostile, marked by murder, fled the joys of men, inhabiting the wilderness.”
Beowulf, 1255-65.
The first term used to describe Grendel’s mother emphasizes her desire for vengeance. The narrator names her a wrecend “avenger” (1256) —an appropriate title considering her entire characterization is framed by revenge and feuding—and her motive is thrice repeated almost verbatim and with language that could apply equally to avenging heroes in the poem (1276-78, 1339-1340, 1546). Moreover, Grendel’s mother’s is thrice described as wif “woman” (1259, 1519, 2120,) and even twice as an ides “lady” (1259, 1351) establishing gender as one of the pillars of her characterization, alongside her roles as avenger and mother. Kinship ties are further emphasized when Grendel’s mother is described as Grendles maga “Grendel’s female relative” (1391) and twice as Grendles mæg “Grendel’s kinsman” (2006, 2353), which account for her desire for revenge in upholding the warrior ethics and continuing the feud between the Danes and the Grendelkin.
Beowulf fights Grendel’s mother. Illustration fromm Gareth Hinds graphic novel, Beowulf (2007). All rights reserved.
Moreover, like the monstrous vices in Prudentius’ Psychomachia and Boniface’s Enigmata, the avenger—Grendel’s mother—is clearly wondrous and monstrous in certain descriptions of her. She and her lake monsters are wæteregesa “water-terrors” (1260). Grendel’s mother is called sebroga “the terror” (1260), and together with her son, she is described as mihitigmanscaða “man-slayer” (1339), miclemearcstapa “great marked-wanderer” (1348), dyrna gast “secret spirit” (1357), ælwiht “alien thing” (1518), thrice as ellorgæst “foreign spirit” (1349, 1617, 1621) and even deofol “devil” (1680). She is even described as a merewif mihtig “mighty mermaid” (1519), aglæcwif “fearsome warrior woman” (1259) or wif unhyre “untamed woman” (2120), grundwyrgenne “ground wolf” (1518) and twice is characterized with the compound a brimwulf “sea-wolf” (1506, 1599).
It is my contention that descriptions of Scylla—a classical monster, famously featured in the Odyssey and popular in Anglo-Latin literature contemporary with Beowulf—likely influence the characterization of Grendel’s mother, a riddle embedded in the poetic compounds used to describe her and in the depiction of her monstrous lair.
Scylla as a maiden with a kētos tail and dog heads sprouting from her body. Detail from a red-figure bell-crater in the Louvre, 450–425 BC. This form of Scylla was prevalent in ancient depictions.
Scylla is a monstrous sea creature from Greek mythology, known for inhabiting a narrow strait opposite the whirlpool Charybdis. She often has multiple heads with each head bearing a set of sharp, ravenous teeth. Scylla’s body is a woman’s often combining serpentine, aquatic and canine features. She emerges from a rocky cliffside and narrow passage where she lives. She preys on passing sailors, snatching them from ships with her many heads and her “sea dogs” which accompany her. Once a beautiful nymph, she becomes cursed and exiled.
Scylla is the riddle-subject of Aldhelm’s Enigma 95 (solved Scilla) and is featured in his prose De uirginitate (X). Aldhelm’s Enigma 95 describes Scylla as follows:
Ecce, molosorum nomen mihi fata dederunt (Argolicae gentis sic promit lingua loquelis), Ex quo me dirae fallebant carmina Circae, Quae fontis liquidi maculabat flumina uerbis; Femora cum cruribus, suras cum poplite bino Abstulit immiscens crudelis uerba uirago. Pignora nunc pauidi refereunt ululantia nautae, Tonsis dum trudunt classes et caerula findunt. Uastos uerrentes fluctus grassante procella, Palmula qua remis succurrit panda per undas, Auscultare procul quae latrant inguina circum. Sic me pellexit dudum Titania proles, Ut merito vivam salsis in fluctibus exul.
“Look, the Fates gave me the name of dogs—thus does the language of the Greeks render it in words—ever since the incantations of dread Circe, who stained the waters of the flowing mountains with her words, deceived me. Weaving words, the cruel witch deprived me of thighs together with shins, and calves, together with knees. Terrified mariners relate that, as they impel their ships with oars and cleave the sea, sweeping along the mighty wave while the tempest rages, where the broad blade of howling offspring that bark about my loins. Thus the daughter Titan [scil. Circe] once tricked me, so that I should live as an exile—deservedly—in the salty waves.”
Lapidge and Rossier, Aldhelm: The Poetic Works, 91.
In this riddle, solved Scylla (Scilla), Aldhelm emphasizes her canine connection, and gives a reference to her origin in Greek mythology and her transformation at the hands of the witch, Circe. There is also mention of the danger she poses to any who sail by her watery abode, alongside her “howling offspring that bark” about her an further threaten wayward travelers.
Scylla also appears twice in the Liber monstrorum (I.14, II.19), where she is described in detail. This first mention from Liber monstrorum I.14 in the section on humaniod monsters is as follows:
Scylla monstrum nautis inimicissimum in eo freto quod Italiam et Siciliam interluit fuisse perhibetur capite quidem et pectore uirginali sicut sirenae, sed luporum uterum et caudas delfinorum habuit. Et hoc sirenarum et Scyllae distinguit naturam quod ipsae morifero carmine mauigantes decipiunt et illa per uim fortitudinis marinis succinta canibus miserorum fertur lacerasse naufragia.
“It is reckoned that Scylla has been the monster most hostile to sailors in that channel which washes between Italy and Sicily, having indeed the head and chest of a maiden (like the sirens), but the belly of a wolf and the tail of dolphins. And what distinguishes the nature of the sirens from Scylla is that they deceive seamen by their deadly song, whilst she with the strength of her force, girt about with sea-dogs, is said to have mangled the wrecks of the unfortunate .”
Orchard, Pride and Prodigies, 266-67.
This description emphasizes her superlative hostility [inimicissimum]—similar to Grendel’s mother’s characterization as an aglæcwif “fearsome warrior woman” (1259) or wif unhyre “untamed woman” (2120). Emphasis on the narrow channel where Scylla resides shifts to her hybrid representation with “the head and chest of a maiden (like sirens) but the belly of a wolf and the tail of a dolphins” (fuisse perhibetur capite quidem et pectore uirginali sicut sirenae, sed luporum uterum et caudas delfinorum habuit). This establishes Scylla as a woman-canine-marine creature, combining “maiden” (virgo), “wolf” (lupus), and “dolphin” (delphinus) parts. Moreover, she is twice compared to the treacherous sirens, while explaining that unlike the sirens, who use song to ensnare their victims, Scylla uses force, violence and her mighty strength, with her “sea-dogs” (marinis canibus) to take down unfortunate sailors who enter her domain.
Scylla, relief sculpture on a pair of terracotta plaques with glass inlays, late 4th century BCE; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, Sandra Brue Gift, 1998 (accession no. 1998.210.1, .2); www.metmuseum.org.
In the second section, centered on bestial monsters, there is an entry on the sea-beasts of Scylla. Liber monstrorum II.19 reads as follows:
fingunt quoque poetae inmari Tyrrheno ceruleos esse canes, qui posteriorem corporis partem cum piscibus habent commune. Ipsis quoque Scyllam ratem Ulixis lacerans marinis succincta canibus describitur.
“the poets also image that there are azure dogs in the Mediterranean, the hind parts of whose bodies they share with fish; also girt round with these same sea-dogs Scylla is described tearing apart the ship of Ulysses”
Orchard, Pride and Prodigies, 266-67.
This entry focuses on the “azure dog” (ceruleos canes) or “sea dogs” (marinis canibus) of Scylla, which are described as featuring canine heads and legs, but “the hind parts of whose bodies they share with fish” (qui posteriorem corporis partem cum piscibus habent commune) making them a canine-marine hybrid creature. Scylla is directly mentioned in connection with her accompanying sea-monsters, and the passage directly references the struggles of Odysseus [i.e. Ulysses] when he encounters Scylla on his epic journey home.
Paestan red figure calyx-crater showing Scylla wielding a trident (ca. 350 BCE). Museo Archeologico Nazionale del Sannio Caudino, Montesarchio.
The key features of Scylla’s narrow channel are present also in the monster-mere found in Beowulf which is the home and hall of the Grendelkin. Grendel’s Mother’s lair is described in the poem as follows:
Hie dygel lond warigeað, wulfhleoþu, windige næssas, frecne fengelad, ðær fyrgenstream under næssa genipu niþer gewiteð, flod under foldan.
“They [Grendelkin] inhabit the secret land, the wolf-slopes, the windy narrows, the dangerous fen-path, where the mountain stream cascades downward under the cover of cliffs, the flood under the land.”
Beowulf, 1357-61.
This description emphasizes the dangerous narrows and the crafty cliffs surrounding the monstrous abode and in this way echoes Scylla’s watery domain. In this passage are numerous references to the steep and narrow geography, especially in descriptions of the wulfhleoþuwindige næssas “wolf-slopes (and) windy narrows” (1358), and fyrgenstream under næssa genipu, “a mountain river under the cover of cliffs” (1359-60). As Beowulf enters the waves, he finds himself, like those caught by Scylla in the Odyssey, in a violent struggle for his life at the hands of a ferocious woman who pulls him to the depths of her haunted lake. The narrator explains how:
Bær þa seo brimwylf, þa heo to botme com, hringa þengel to hofe sinum, swa he ne mihte, no he þæs modig wæs, wæpna gewealdan, ac hine wundra þæs fela swencte on sunde, sædeor monig hildetuxum heresyrcan bræc, ehton aglæcan. ða se eorl ongeat þæt he in niðsele nathwylcum wæs, þær him nænig wæter wihte ne sceþede, ne him for hrofsele hrinan ne mehte færgripe flodes; fyrleoht geseah, blacne leoman, beorhte scinan. Ongeat þa se goda grundwyrgenne, merewif mihtig .
“When she came to the bottom, the sea-wolf bore the prince of rings to her hall, so he could not, no matter how brave he was, wield weapons, but so many wonders afflicted him while swimming, many a sea-beast poked the battle-armor with battle-tusks, harassed the fearsome assailant (Beowulf). Then the man perceived that he was in some kind of hostile-hall, where no water could harm them at all, nor could the sudden grasps of the flood touch them because of the roofed-hall. He saw firelight, pale illumination brightly shining. Then the good one (Beowulf) perceived the bottom-wolf, the mighty sea-woman.”
Beowulf, 1506-1519.
Henry Justice Ford “Beowulf battles with Grendels Mother” (1899).
In reading this passage from the poem, we can observe numerous parallels between Grendel’s mother and Scylla, which I believe suggests that the classical monster, frequently featured in Anglo-Latin texts, may have influenced the depiction and characterization of Grendl’s mother. Just like with Scylla’s channel, the monster-mere in Beowulf includes sea-creatures that attack anyone who enters their watery lair. Both Scylla and Grendel’s mother are ancient, cursed and exiled monsters, the former as a result of a witch’s curse, the latter is prediluvian, cursed and marked as kin of Cain. Grendel’s mother seems to travel with sea-beasts (nicoras) which resemble Scylla’s sea-dogs. Both Scylla and Grendel’s mother are hybrid women monsters—featuring both canine or lupine characteristics (as indicated by her description as brimwulf “sea-wolf” and grundwyrgenne “bottom-wolf”) characteristics and piscine or serpentine characteristics (as indicated by her description as merewif “mermaid”). And, both Scylla and Grendel’s mom occupy a craggy narrow passage that is terrifying and dangerous for sailors or sea-men.
While I would not push so far as to contend that Grendel’s mother is intended as a literal representation of Scylla, and while I agree with others who have observed her ethically complex characterization, it seems plausible—even probable—that the famous Scylla could have influenced her enigmatic monsterization. At the very least, many counted among the learned audiences of Beowulf in early medieval England would likely have discerned the numerous and noteworthy parallels between these two monstrous women.
Richard Fahey, PhD Medieval Institute University of Notre Damme
Selected Bibliography
Acker, Paul. “Horror and the Maternal in Beowulf.” Publication of the Modern Language Association 121.3 (2006): 702-16.
Aldhelm. Aldhelm: The Poetic Works. Translated by Michael Lapidge and James L. Rosier. Dover, NH: D. S. Brewer, 1985.
—. Aldhelm:The Prose Works. Translated by Michael Lapidge and Michael Herren. Cambridge, UK: D. S. Brewer, 1979.
Fahey, Richard. “Enigmatic Design and Psychomachic Monstrosity in Beowulf.” Dissertation: University of Notre Dame, 2020.
Hennequin, M. Wendy. “We’ve Created a Monster: The Strange Case of Grendel’s Mother.” English Studies 89.5 (2008): 503-23.
Klaeber’s Beowulf, 4th Edition. Edited by Robert D. Fulk, Robert E. Bjork and John D. Niles. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press, [reprint] 2009.
Kiernan, Kevin S. “Grendel’s Heroic Mother.” InGeardagum 6 (1984): 13-33.
Lockett, Leslie. “The Role of Grendel’s Arm in Feud, Law, and the Narrative Strategy of Beowulf.” In Latin Learning and English Lore: Studies in Anglo-Saxon Literature for Michael Lapidge (I), edited by Katherine O’Brien O’Keeffe and Andy Orchard, 368-88. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press, 2005.
Orchard, Andy. A Critical Companion to Beowulf. Cambridge, UK: D.S. Brewer, 2003.
—. Pride and Prodigies: Studies in the Monsters of the Beowulf-Manuscript. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press, 1995.
Sayers, William. “Grendel’s Mother, Icelandic Gryla, and Irish Nechta Scene: Eviscerating Fear.” Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium 16 (1996): 256-68.
Recently, I composed a blog on my role as playwright, academic consultant and creative & theatrical director of two recent Renaissance faires, and I then followed up with a blog centered on the community spirit that imbued our first faire, Wyndonshire Renaissance Faire. This blog will take the second of our inaugural 2024 spring faires, Enchanted Orchard Renaissance Faire, as the topic of discussion, and continue discussion of the community efforts that went into putting this event together at warp speed. In addition, I will discuss the educational and agricultural focus of this faire, which brought regional tourism to North Central Massachusetts and offered the opportunity to create a story that explores issues specific to local and sustainable farming. This year, Enchanted Orchard will commence in just a few weeks, on May 3rd and 4th 2025.
The Gate Leading to the Fantasy Realm of Enchanted Orchard at our inaugural Renaissance Faire, 2024.
As I mention in my previous blog, after building the creative team at Wyndonshire, because of some uncertainty with respect to funding the project by the town of Winchendon, my wife, Rajuli, and I reached out to a local farm and festival venue, Red Apple Farm, owned by Al and Nancy Rose, to see if they might be open to bringing a Renaissance Faire to their business in the event that we needed a change of venue. After pitching the project, the whole team at Red Apple Farm was excited for the prospect, and once Winchendon determined they were able to move forward with the project, we agreed to produce a second “sister” faire with Red Apple Farm, with characters and plot lines intersecting with those at Wyndonshire. I began to conceive of a second fantasy realm, the agrarian kingdom of Enchanted Orchard.
Rajuli and the Nagashri Dancers at Enchanted Orchard Renaissance Faire, 2024.
Rajuli’s and my ability to produce a second large-scale Renaissance Faire was only possible with the help of our team, what became FaeGuild Wonders, and Red Apple Farm, our incredible partnering venue. Red Apple Farm embraced our vision and helped shape and grow Enchanted Orchard into the fabulous event that it was, ranked by a popular vlogger, Chelle Belle, as one of the best Renaissance Faires in New England last year (2024). Al and Nancy Rose, the entrepreneurial owners behind the blooming success of Red Apple Farm, are some of the kindest and most collaborative people I’ve personally had the chance to partner with, and without their leadership, there would be no Enchanted Orchard (and for that matter, no NorthFolk Nightmarket). They partner with local businesses, and are committed to growing regional tourism and community, which is deeply embedded in their mission and the way they run their business.
Orchard Wizard (Richard Fahey) with the Stewards of the Orchard (Al & Nancy Rose) at Enchanted Orchard Renaissance Faire, 2024.
In addition to Al and Nancy Rose, our Orchard Stewards, Enchanted Orchard thrived because of many other members of the Red Apple Farm team, including Sarah McLennan (who coordinated vendors and helped organize the event), Kirsten Killay (who manages the Red Apple Farm Cidery), Loryn Killay (who spearheads marketing and promotion necessary to advertise the event), Aaron Rose (who redesigned the webpage) and the Sams—Samuel Miller and Samuel Dosset—who constructed the picturesque towering gate that leads into the fantasy kingdom of Enchanted Orchard. The latter Samuel updated the event’s map to account for the faire’s expansion this year, and has become Enchanted Orchard’s royal cartographer.
Kristin Killay and Alicia Pelkey at the Red Apple Cidery also known as the “Toadstool Tavern” at Enchanted Orchard Renaissance Faire, 2024.
To further highlight the level of Red Apple Farm’s integration into the event, their Cidery—transformed into the Toadstool Tavern for Enchanted Orchard—featured all the different flavors made specifically for the faire. Many of these ciders developed for the event are now standard or seasonal options available throughout the year at Red Apple Farm’s Cidery. Moreover, the cider is a connecting point for our events, as it is one of the main economic exports of the Enchanted Orchard kingdom, and it was available at Wyndonshire as well as an imported drink from their neighboring kingdom.
Mt. Witchusett Witches gather outside the Brew Barn at Red Apple Farm during Enchanted Orchard Renaissance Faire, 2024.
Red Apple Farm also collaborates with a local restaurant, the Gardner Ale House, which manages the Brew Barn at Red Apple Farm. The Brew Barn is a cozy, tavernesque restaurant on the farm, which serves food and drink, and was crucial for the success of Enchanted Orchard’s second day (Sunday, May 5th, 2024) when the rain threatened to drown out the event. Because of the Brew Barn’s openness to collaborating, we were able to pivot and move many performance acts inside and out of the inclement weather. Although this required a major reworking of the schedule, we did our best to make sure each performer or group had at least one indoor show in case they were rained out during their showtime. While the rain did put a damper on some performances, the event was sustained by adding outdoor fires throughout the faire and bringing many of the performances indoors and the event was a success. Despite the weather, the turnout and experience from patrons on the second day was extremely positive and this gave us the added benefit of a learning opportunity with respect to what to plan for in the case of inclement weather in future.
May Queen (Tammy Dykstra), Knight of the Tree (Quinne Richards) and the Orchard King (Paul Taft), Enchanted Orchard Renaissance Faire, 2024.
I wrote an entirely new script for this faire, and last year’s story, “Seeds of Wonder,” was a prologue to the first act, “The Romance of the Orchard,” which will commence this year. Enchanted Orchard Renaissance Faire highlights sustainable farming which was the foundation of agrarian life in the medieval world. The major conflict in this faire centers on the issue of conservation versus preservation. This takes the form of a heated debate between the Enchant Orchard nobility with the May Queen (played by Tammy Dykstra and Siobhan Doherty) and Duke of Thorns (played by Dave Fournier) arguing for the protection of the Thornwood and the creatures that live there, who are part of the kingdom’s broader ecosystem. Alternatively, the Orchard King (played by Paul Taft and Gary Joiner) and Blossom Baroness (played by Jen Knight) contend that expanding the orchard would better provide for the people of the kingdom and foster economic growth for the realm while at the same time minimizing food insecurity throughout the kingdom. This tension is played out in both staged theatrical scenes and numerous immersive skits and side conversations had between members of the Enchanted Orchard nobility throughout the event.
Blueberry Princess (Melanie “Melegie” Long) and Prince of Leaves (Michael Barboza-McLean) reunite at Enchanted Orchard Renaissance Faire, 2024.
Toward this end, the Orchard King takes advantage of his royal authority to press upon the newly returned Prince of Leaves (played by Michael Barboza-McLean and Vajra Spring), advocating for the virtues of his proposed expansion of the orchard. Because the Prince of Leaves seems somewhat amenable to his ideas and influence, and seizing an opportunity to undercut the wishes of his rival, the May Queen, the Orchard King announces at the end of Enchanted Orchard’s annual Beltane Banquet, that he is betrothing his daughter, Blueberry Princess (Melanie “Melegie” Long), much to her sorrow and surprise, to his rival’s son, the Prince of Leaves, in an effort to “weave peace” in the realm and as a means to press his advantage on the young prince now enfianced to the heiress of the realm.
Knights of Lord Talbot’s Frank Walker and Cameron Hardy battle at the tournament melee in celebration of the Beltane Banquet at Enchanted Orchard, 2024.
However, because of the fast production of this faire, the script was centered primarily on the nobility, leaving many of the other characters to participate in a highly immersive and interactive character scavenger hunt, which invited patrons to find and receive specific items from cast members in order to earn a small prize. This encouraged frequent interaction between character actors and patrons, and the activity was a huge success, especially with the kinderfolk who attend. The scavenger hunt was coupled with a “knight’s quest”, which asked patrons to find a noble from each house and resulted in a knighting ceremony, conducted by the royal champions from the The Knights of Lord Talbot. Moreover, the Sheriff of Thornwood (played by Jennifer MacLean), gave out citations through the day to fairgoers for various offenses and Sir John Fastolf (Frank Walker) held a baronial court to deal out justice for crimes cited by the Sheriff, which might sometimes involve a short stay in the stockades.
Viking Jarl (Jason Sumrall) takes the Sheriff of Thornwood (Jennifer McLean) into custody at Enchanted Orchard Renaissance Faire, 2024.
As with Wyndonshire, The Green Sash marauders raided Orchard Toward, while the The Mt. Wichusett Witches made secret bargains and brewed magic potions for a number of the Enchanted Orchard nobles, ending with a flash mob dance that led patrons to the final event at the faire, the community Maypole dance which brought performers, cast members and patrons together for a final celebration of spring and the planting season.
May Pole Dance and celebration at the inaugural Enchanted Orchard Renaissance Faire, 2024.
Skeleton Crew Theater’s trolls wander through the Enchanted Orchard Renaissance Faire. Image by Kit Catlett (May 4th, 2024).
The Orchard King made a surprise wedding pronouncement arranging the union of his daughter, the Blueberry Princess, and the Prince of Leaves, the son of his rival, the May Queen, at the end of last year’s faire. Enchanted Orchard’s second annual event picks up where last year left off, and this year features “The Romance of the Orchard,” in which a love triangle blooms and whispers of revolution and news of “The Wyndonshire Wedding” and the fall of Wyndonshire spreads to all of high and low estate. If you came last year to experience the magic of our inaugural faire, we hope that you return for more wonders and delights. f you didn’t make it last year, and you enjoy immersive storytelling and modern medievalism, we hope you join us this year for Enchanted Orchard Renaissance Faire 2025—which brings together the local performing art and farming communities in North Central Massachusetts—and combines theater, music, comedy, performance art, interactive activities, family fun and an artisan vendor market.
Master of Arms (Keith Fisher) at the Knights of Lord Talbot Camp during Enchanted Orchard Renaissance Faire. Image by Kit Catlett, May 4th, 2024.
Fairegoers will be able to learn how to sword fight, try their skill at axe-throwing, ride a unicorn or catch a goblin hayride, watch a joust and medieval melee combat in both European and Middle Eastern traditions. This year, Enchanted Orchard will commence on the first weekend in May, so consider saving the date, and I hope to see you there—just look for the wandering wizard!
Richard Fahey PhD in English Medieval Institute University of Notre Dame
