Jonathan's Annual Events
The Elf Walk
October 2009, at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, in Cross River, Westchester County, NY.
History of the Elf Walk
My career as a professional storyteller began with faery folk; the elves, pixies, sprites, brownies & trolls, the Good Neigh-bors at Ward Pound Ridge in 1980. The local paper could not imagine a man leading children on a elf walk, and called me "Ms." in their article. Still, I imagined children would follow me into the colorful woods and fields of the park to listen to true faery lore, and perchance spy one of the fantastic folk of legend. Garbed in green and gold with bells, I open with a quote from the Irish poet, W.B. Yeats:
All of nature is full of invisible people ... some of these are ugly or grotesque, some wicked or foolish, many Beautiful beyond any one we have ever seen, and the beautiful are not far away when we are walking in pleasant quiet places.
Mostly, families with young children come. We've had as many as three hundred. The New York Times often features the event. Local notables like actors Tim Robbins, Jill Claibourne and Christopher Reeve all brought their children on this fairy tour. Twenty-seven Elfwalks later, young adults now share their tale of enchantment found when they wandered with me and the faery folk while a child.
How it Happens
The walk begins with a wonder warning on encountering the Gentle Folk. 'They love making mischief! Turn up your sleeves to help keep on your feet.! The Hey Hey Men, tiny one legged trolls will whoop and slip slippery leaves under your shoes, just to see you flop!' Take with you acorns and apples to leave at the homes of any Fair Folk we find. Then, with a grand Heigh Ho, we go!
We begin straight away to encounter the "Them" as some fearful human folk are wont to call them. A lump on a log turns out to be a Troll "turned" by the Sun. A story is shared of Mound Folk or trolls galumping so in a moondance they forget to ditch it under ground before dawn turns them to stick or stone or both. We approach, with care and trepi-dation, the Troll Bridge into the Wild Flower Garden. We have no big horns like a Billy Goat for protection from this grassy haired, knot-nosed, Belly-Button swiping Troll. Our inverted sleeves as usual don't ward off this creature! Worse, the toll -troll shouts it'll stick Dads with a beer belly too, if they dare cross this bridge. What to do!? Put a pinky in your belly button, and dash over the bridge, tossing a gift of an acorn to the cantankerous troll.