This story, “The Girl Who Loved the North Wind” came to me through the wonderful book Body Eloquence by story-teller-teacher-author-healer Nancy Mellon. This special book not only affirms the healing, life-giving power of stories and story-telling, it also offers specific stories for particular body organs and systems. “The Girl Wo Loved the North Wind” is given as a medicine story for the Lungs.

A young woman receives her father’s dying blessing, but is violently chased from home by her greedy brother. Maimed and wandering one-handed in the forest, she is temporarily rescued by a Prince. But fate and her brother send her into exile in the wild again. And then, the Snake magic begins!

When the princess, Rose, uncovers the secret of her lost brothers, she embarks on a journey to find them, vowing to undo their enchantment. Her quest relies upon the help of wise elders, the length of the summer Solstice days, the guidance of dreams, the potency of nettles, and her own innocence, persistence, and skill in handwork.

The magical under-world journey of Thomas the Rhymer has been preserved in ballads and Scottish oral tradition for hundreds of years.