Did you know that reindeer lived in Scotland? Well, they did! Up in the hills called the Highlands. Some of them are magical.
Do you know the story of Fanna of the Deer?
Well…
Once upon a time, in a time long ago, when magic was real and fairytales were true, a girl named Fanna and her family lived in a cottage in a small village tucked between the hills and the forests of Northern Scotland.
One chilly day, Fanna and her mother and father were gathering firewood at the edge of the forest. They dared not venture in there, though, for that was where the fairies lived!
Fanna’s mother had told her stories of the forest fairies and their magical reindeer. She told Fanna of their queen whom they called the Mother of the Deer, for she could turn herself into a beautiful white deer with the greatest antlers ever seen. “Fanna,” her mother said, “if you call to Deer Mother three times, on a misty, moonlit night, you might see the herd of fairy reindeer flying over the hills and into the great forest.” Fanna wished more than anything to meet the forest fairies and their queen!
Now, the days were getting shorter and the nights were getting longer…and colder. In fact, this very night was the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, and the beginning of the Yuletide season. On this night every year, Fanna’s parents would build a special fire with the wood they had gathered. On top would be the Yule log, decorated with evergreen branches and bright red berries. They would tuck their wishes for the coming year in the log so that when it burned, the wishes would rise on the smoke, up through the chimney, to be gathered by the forest fairies riding their flying deer. They would give the wishes to their queen , the Deer Mother, who would work her magic to make them come true.
It was Fanna’s job this year, to find that special piece of wood to be the Yule log. Her parents moved quickly, gathering as much firewood as they could carry, but Fanna moved slowly. She looked carefully at each piece of wood she found to see if it was good enough to be the Yule log. “Fanna! Hurry up! There’s a storm coming. We need to get home before the snow flies!”
“I’m coming,” Fanna called back to them. But she wasn’t coming. She was still looking. Suddenly, thick clouds darkened the afternoon sky. The wind started to howl. Fanna was getting cold! She felt snowflakes on her face. She looked around for her parents, but all she could see was blowing snow. “Oh, no! I’ve stayed too long! Mother! Father! Where are you? I can’t see you!” But they couldn’t hear her in the storm. The snow was falling so fast, it was up to the tops of her shoes and she couldn’t see the way home. Fanna was frightened. What should she do? She sat down on a fallen tree and started to cry. Fanna called out to the Mother of the Deer. “Please come, Deer Mother! Help me get home!”
Then suddenly, there in the distance, Fanna thought she saw something! She squinted her eyes and peered through the blowing snow. There, just above the hilltops, a herd of reindeer were flying! They landed near Fanna. She watched in awe as the deer who led the herd approached her. The deer was so beautiful; almost as white as the snow and with the greatest antlers ever seen! The deer looked at Fanna with eyes that sparkled like stars. As Fanna watched, the deer turned into a woman dressed in reindeer skins. This must be the fairy queen, Fanna thought.
The woman spoke to the girl as she wrapped her up in a soft fur blanket to keep her warm. “We are going on a great adventure, Fanna! Then I will take you home to your mother and father, safe and sound.” As she turned herself back into a deer, the Deer Mother said, “Climb up onto my back and hold on tight!”
Fanna climbed on and gripped the fur of the magical reindeer’s neck. With two running leaps through the snow, off they flew into the night sky! “Where are we going?” asked Fanna, barely breathing from the excitement of it all.
“We are going to find the sun,” the Mother of the Deer said. “We will bring him back from his wanderings on the other side of the world, so his light will make our days longer and our nights shorter. Then Sun’s warmth will melt the snow and make all things grow again. And you, Fanna, are going to help me.”
“How will I do that?” asked Fanna. “When we find Sun, you will call to him and tell him he is loved by all our people and how much we need him. Then I will catch Sun in my great antlers and we will bring him back in time for the Solstice sunrise.”
As the long night went on, the white deer and Fanna searched for him. When they found the sun, Fanna called out to him. She told him how muchthey loved him and how much they needed his warmth and light back in her homeland. Sun paused in his wanderings and Deer Mother caught him in her great antlers. Together, they flew back to Scotland in plenty of time for the sunrise.
While Sun settled himself in place behind the hills and prepared to rise at dawn, Deer Mother flew Fanna home. The beautiful white deer with the greatest antlers ever seen, turned once again, into the fairy queen dressed in reindeer skins. “Thank you for a job well done, Fanna! But I will ask of you three favors. Every year on the longest night, gather all the people of the village together for a party. Ask everyone to bring a log for a big bonfire full of wishes. My fairies will fly on their magical deer and catch the wishes from the smoke. Then, you, Fanna, will teach the villagers how to call to the sun. And I will go find him and bring him back just in time for the Solstice sunrise.”
With that, the fairy queen turned herself back into the white deer. In her antlers was a perfect Yule log for Fanna. She laid at her feet. The girl wrapped her arms around the deer’s neck in a big hug. “Thank you, Deer Mother. I will miss you!” she said.
“Oh Fanna! We will see each other again” the Mother of the Deer said as she winked. Fanna took the Yule log and ran through the cottage door, into the arms of her mother and father. There was still a little bit of night left, so together, they lit the Yule fire and waited to watch the sunrise.
Every year afterward, on the longest night of the year, the villagers celebrated the Winter Solstice with a party while Fanna rode the through the sky with the Mother of the Deer to bring back the sun.
Even to this day, on some misty, moonlit night, you might see the herd of magical, flying reindeer. And on the back of Deer Mother you will see Fanna of the Deer.
Fanna wanted me to tell you…
You are someone’s wish come true.
You have a bit of magic in you.
It makes you sparkle, it makes you shine.
Use it to be helpful and kind.
