This is a character often portrayed in Romanian fairy tales: The Forest's Mum (here you can see her being overprotective of a fox). She's... not quite human, but appears as an old lady. She is literally the mother of the trees, and will punish anyone harming them (or setting foot in the forest. Or looking at the forest. It's like Crazy Cat Lady, but with trees). Sometimes, she'll help the hero, but even then, she'll be grumpy about it.
That sounds pretty cool. Do you maybe have links to some tales with her in it?
ReplyDeleteHmm I wonder if the Penny Arcade people know about this. It reminds me of their "Lookout" spinoff "The Daughters of Eyrewood": http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/story/the-tithe-part-one
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