“Once Upon A Time…” — A Quote from Sara Maitland
“Once upon a time is no particular time, fictional time, fairy-story time. This is a doorway; if you’re lucky, you go through it as a child, aurally, before you can read, and if you are very lucky, you become a free citizen … and can come and go as you please. ”
– Sara Maitland
Sara Maitland is a UK author, who has been describe as “writer, thinker, seeker, seer.”
This quote appealed, in part because of the reflections sparked by Victoria M Adams’ recent posts on myth, magic, and fairy tales. I also believe books offer us doorways into disparate worlds: all we have to do is work through (yes, a little like Narnia and the wardrobe 😉 ) — and, of course, I write fantasy that features portals, gates, and other magical doorways.
The quote also resonated in terms of my personal writing and storytelling journey, because I first listened to Sleeping Beauty (on the radio) as a very small child, then later read the fairy tale for myself, before — many years later — writing Thornspell, which is my own retelling of the tale.
‘Once upon a time is no particular time…’ I love it, not least because it puts me in mind of a quote from Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea, where stories begin with the phrase: “As far away as Selidor* and as long ago as forever…”
* Selidor is the island where the great dragons may be found, in the archipelago known as the Dragon's Reach.
I love the way different cultures start and finish fairy/fantastical stories:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_upon_a_time
That’s a great wiki. And definitely agree. 🙂