History Literature / TamLin

* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Inverted, Tam Lin tells Janet how to save him and then the poem goes into detail about her actually doing it and it goes off without a hitch.

[[quoteright:185:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Tamlane_VernonHill_274.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:185: [- Burd Janet waits for the Fairy Ride (Vernon Hill, 1912) -] ]]

In a nutshell: Headstrong young Janet hears that the mysterious Tam Lin has forbidden all maidens to go to the wood called Carterhaugh (a real place; it's near Selkirk), on pain of... how shall we put this... [[RapeAsDrama no longer being maidens]]. She declares that she will go to Carterhaugh, but she has no sooner picked a rose[[note]]in ballads and stories, picking a rose summons the ruler of the place. See also "Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast".[[/note]] than Tam Lin himself shows up...[[note]]in the earlier and common versions it's consensual, but in some later versions it's portrayed as though he rapes her, and in some versions, the deed isn't mentioned at all, just the resulting pregnancy.[[/note]]

Sometime later, a knight at Janet's father's court remarks that Janet looks knocked up[[note]]alternatively, it's Janet's father who notices[[/note]]. Janet agrees but says the baby's father is not any of the men at her father's court. She returns to Carterhaugh and speaks to Tam Lin.

Tam Lin tells Janet that he was once mortal, but was captured by the Queen of the Fairies. The fairy folk must make a sacrifice to Hell every seven years, and Tam Lin fears that he's going to be offered.[[note]]There's an oblique reference to this in ''[[ComicBook/TheSandman The Sandman]]''.[[/note]] Janet can save him, he explains, if she waits by Miles Cross until midnight on [[UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve Halloween]]. That's when the fairy folk will ride by, and Tam Lin will be on a white horse. She must pull him down off his horse and hold on to him throughout his transformations. Janet does this, and the Queen of the Fairies is obliged to let Tam Lin go. Tam Lin and Janet get married.

* FantasyContraception: In some versions this is why Janet goes back to Carterhaugh, for a "poison rose" or herb which will end her pregnancy.

* FantasyContraception: In some versions this is why Janet goes back to Carterhaugh. A "poison rose" is mentioned (although it might just be called that because roses were important earlier in the song). Poison rose is usually interpreted as being a reference to primrose which was historically brewed into teas and used to induce miscarriage.

* TheFairFolk: The main antagonists and the titular character. Tam Lin himself seems to be an adult changeling if anything, having been a human who was taken and turned into a fairy. Lucky for him, he seems to have been afflicted with a curse that can be cured.

* FantasyContraception: In some versions this is why Janet goes back to Carterhaugh. A "poison rose" is mentioned (although it might just be called that because roses were important earlier in the song).
** Poison Rose is usually interpreted as being a reference to primrose which was historically brewed into teas and used to induce miscarriage.

* RebelliousPrincess: Janet was explicitly told not to go to Carterhaugh, doesn't stop her.
* RescueRomance: Granted the rescue comes second, but it still fits.

Tam Lin tells Janet that he was once mortal, but was captured by the Queen of the Fairies. The fairy folk must make a sacrifice to Hell every seven years, and Tam Lin fears that he's going to be offered.[[note]]There's an oblique reference to this in ''[[ComicBook/TheSandman Sandman]]''.[[/note]] Janet can save him, he explains, if she waits by Miles Cross until midnight on [[UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve Halloween]]. That's when the fairy folk will ride by, and Tam Lin will be on a white horse. She must pull him down off his horse and hold on to him throughout his transformations. Janet does this, and the Queen of the Fairies is obliged to let Tam Lin go. Tam Lin and Janet get married.

* In ''An Artificial Night'' from Seanan McGuire's ''Literature/OctoberDaye'' series, October gets taken by the Blind Michael, who heads TheWildHunt. The Luidaeg and Toby's friends retrieve her the way Janet rescued Tam Lin, and the ballad itself is referenced several times. In ''Night and Silence'' it is revealed that [[spoiler: Janet herself is both real and Toby's grandmother.]]

* BalefulPolymorph: The fairy queen turns Tam Lin into various animals after Janet pulls him off the horse. In some versions, she also says she should have turned him into a tree instead of taking him along on the hunt.

* In ''An Artificial Night'' from Seanan Maguire's ''Literature/OctoberDaye'' series, October gets taken by the Blind Michael, who heads TheWildHunt. The Luidaeg and Toby's friends retrieve her the way Janet rescued Tam Lin, and the ballad itself is referenced several times. In ''Night and Silence'' it is revealed that [[spoiler: Janet herself is both real and Toby's grandmother.]]

** However, in some versions, the Fairy Queen is completely ommited, and it's Tam Lin himself who is the fairy. In this version, Tam Lin states that he will gladly marry Janet if she's able to hold him while he turns into a wolf, a wild bear, a lion bold, and finally himself but naked. Janet does, throws her cloak over him, and Tam Lin returns home with Janet.

* In the ''Literature/DresdenFiles'' series' 14th book, ''Literature/ColdDays'', it is revealed that Tam Lin once served the Winter Court as Winter Knight, and was one of the few Knights to call the Winter Court to task for their treatment of humans before Harry took up the position. Pretty much every element of the story is compatible with the mechanics of the Dresden Files too.

The numerous variants collected by Francis Child can be found [[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch039.htm here]]. Joseph Jacobs' "Tamlane" can be read [[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/More_English_Fairy_Tales/Tamlane here.]] The song or songs inspired by it have been recorded by numerous artists, including Music/FairportConvention, Music/SteeleyeSpan, Music/{{Current 93}}, and Music/TheDecemberists (the latter a loose adaptation of it as ''The Hazards of Love'' with a DownerEnding).

* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: See above. In those versions, Janet, while she states that she does want to keep the baby, she isn't about to be an unmarried mother, and tells Tam Lin off for acting horrified when he's in no position to fix that. But, of course, she rescues him, so she ends up keeping their baby.

* Creator/SarahJMaas has a character named Tamlin in ''Literature/ACourtOfThornsAndRoses''

[[quoteright:185:[[http://spiritoftheages.com/Tamlane%20%28Ballads%20Weird%20and%20Wonderful,%201912%29%20-%20Vernon%20Hill.htm https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Tamlane_VernonHill_274.jpg]]]]

In a nutshell: Headstrong young Janet hears that the mysterious Tam Lin has forbidden all maidens to go to the wood called Carterhaugh (a real place; it's near Selkirk), on pain of... how shall we put this... [[RapeAsDrama no longer being maidens]]. She declares that she will go to Carterhaugh, but she has no sooner picked a rose[[note]]in ballads and stories, picking a rose summons the ruler of the place. See also "Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast".[[/note]] than Tam Lin himself shows up...[[note]]in the earlier and common versions it's consensual, but in some later versions it's portrayed as though he rapes her, and in some version, the deed isn't mentioned at all, just the resulting pregnancy.[[/note]]

* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', both Magrat's rescue of Verence in ''Discworld/LordsAndLadies'' and Tiffany's rescue of Roland in ''Discworld/TheWeeFreeMen'' have elements of ''Tam Lin''. Magrat is even inspired by hearing the ballad, despite Shawn's insistence that [[ThisIsReality real life isn't like folk songs]].

Tam Lin tells Janet that he was once mortal, but was captured by the Queen of the Fairies. The fairy folk must make a sacrifice to Hell every seven years, and Tam Lin fears that he's going to be offered.[[note]]There's an oblique reference to this in ''[[ComicBook/TheSandman Sandman]]''.[[/note]] Janet can save him, he explains, if she waits by Miles Cross until midnight on [[AllHallowsEve Halloween]]. That's when the fairy folk will ride by, and Tam Lin will be on a white horse. She must pull him down off his horse and hold on to him throughout his transformations. Janet does this, and the Queen of the Fairies is obliged to let Tam Lin go. Tam Lin and Janet get married.

* AllHallowsEve: Janet must wait until midnight that night to save Tam Lin on account of it being when the Fair Folk will ride.

* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: See above. In those versions, Janet, while she does want the baby, isn't about to be an unmarried mother, and tells Tam Lin off for acting horrified when he's in no position to fix that. But, of course, she rescues him, so presumably she ends up keeping the baby.

* PregnantBadass: Janet rescues Tam Lin while she's pregnant and wearing a miniskirt.

* WhiteStallion: Tam Lin claims that he was given this honor in the wild hunt because he was once a human knight.

* Creator/SarahJMaas's Tamlin in ''Literature/ACourtOfThornsAndRoses''

* Meg Baird's version of "[[https://youtu.be/X6jawN9Ivso Willie O'Winsbury]]" seems to borrow elements from Tam Lin (despite being another Literature/{{Child Ballad|s}} and having multiple folk song adaptations itself), such as naming the heroine Janet. The narrative is fairly similar, although it cuts out the faeries and the possibility of rape entirely.

In a nutshell: Headstrong young Janet hears that the mysterious Tam Lin has forbidden all maidens to go to the wood called Carterhaugh (a real place; it's near Selkirk), on pain of... how shall we put this... [[RapeAsDrama no longer being maidens]]. She declares that she will go to Carterhaugh, but she has no sooner picked a rose[[note]]in ballads and stories, picking a rose summons the ruler of the place. See also "Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast".[[/note]] than Tam Lin himself shows up...[[note]]in some versions it's consensual, in some versions he rapes her, and in some the deed isn't mentioned at all, just the resulting pregnancy.[[/note]]

Some time later, a knight at Janet's father's court remarks that Janet looks knocked up[[note]]alternatively, it's Janet's father who notices[[/note]]. Janet agrees, but says the baby's father is not any of the men at her father's court. She returns to Carterhaugh and speaks to Tam Lin.

Tam Lin tells Janet that he was once mortal, but was captured by the Queen of the Fairies. The fairy folk must make a sacrifice to Hell every seven years, and Tam Lin fears that he's going to be offered.[[note]]There's an oblique reference to this in ''[[ComicBook/TheSandman Sandman]]''.[[/note]] Janet can save him, he explains, if she waits by Miles Cross until midnight on [[AllHallowsEve Halloween]]. That's when the fairy folk will ride by, and Tam Lin will be on a white horse. She must pull him down off his horse and hold on to him throughout his transformations. Janet does this, and the Queen of the Fairies is obliged to let Tam Lin go. Tam Lin and Janet marry.

* In ''An Artificial Night'' from Seanan Maguire's ''Literature/OctoberDaye'' series, October gets taken by the Blind Michael, who heads TheWildHunt. The Luidaeg and Toby's friends retrieve her the way Janet rescued Tam Lin, and the ballad itself is referenced several times.

* British neo-folk/world music band The Imagined Village did a hip-hop SettingUpdate of this ballad called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bIvFg5fXUM Tam Lyn Retold]]. Janet is a modern British woman who seduces Tam, a foreign refugee, in a dance club on May Day. When she finds out she's pregnant, she meets him again and he informs her he will soon be deported to his war-torn homeland. She helps defend him in court after he transforms into a variety of negative stereotypes about refugees (presumably how the court, and society by extension views him). He is allowed to stay and settles down with Janet, starting a family with her.

* British neo-folk/world music band The Imagined Village did a hip-hop SettingUpdate of this ballad called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bIvFg5fXUM Tam Lyn Retold]]. Janet is a modern British woman who seduces Tam, a foreign refugee, in a dance club on May Day. When she finds out she's pregnant, she meets him again and he informs her he will soon be deported to his war-torn homeland. She helps defends him in court after he transforms into a variety of negative stereotypes about refugees (presumably how the jury views him). He is allowed to stay and forms a family with Janet.