The Fair Folk of Mullarkey Inspiration - Black Annis

This is a discussion article for Black Annis Year. If you haven’t read the book yet, please skip this article  for now. There will be spoilers. 
 

Black Annis is the dark fae living in the woods outside Equinox Farm. Her origins are a little misty, but Elenna figures out that she opened a door from Fairyland under the rock in the woods. Her presence in the human world causes a blight on the surrounding foliage, and within the circle of that blight, she has power over any living thing. 

Oh, and she eats children. 

I knew I needed something dark living near Equinox Farm and I spent the last year reading just about every book on fairies I could find—and not the Tinkerbell type fairies. I searched out source material when I could, and took inspiration from folklore websites too. 

I liked the idea of a “hag” because it kept with the theme of “girls’ night out” that  is sprinkled through the rest of the story, though in a dark way. The term hag has shifted to mean something negative, but originally it simply meant a wise woman or often a goddess who takes the form of an old woman. There are many hag figures in fairy folklore. The most famous is probably Baba Yaga, and she has been included in many modern fantasy stories. 

I wanted a relatively unknown hag so that I could play with the mythology a bit. For instance, in the old stories, Black Annis has metal teeth and one the nights that she hunts you can hear her gnashing them together from miles around. I made Black Annis’s teeth bone in the story because I felt that went along better with her theme, and because the metal teeth sound like a crossover to the Baba Yaga myth. 

If you’re interested in learning a bit more about Black Annis, I found an article HERE.
 

How does Black Annis’s story arc reflect Elenna’s transition from grief to hope?

What do you think about Elenna’s solution for dealing with Black Annis? 

Find more discussion questions on the Book Club Prompts page.