Back on my Blodeuwedd / Elain has Goddess Like Powers Theory
(based on SJM’s pinterest tag of Blodeuwedd under Elain and skipping how Lucien and Az easily fit into the retelling this time)
Lucien to Feyre in ACOFAS:
“You will need Tamlin as an ally before the dust has settled. Tread carefully.”
Eris to Nesta while in Spring:
“And though he roams these lands, he does not see or care for the neglect he passes, the lawlessness, the vulnerability. Even his manor has fallen into disrepair, half-eaten by thorns, though rumors fly that he himself destroyed it”
“Elain would love this place.”
“But Elain…The Spring Court had been made for someone like her
Blodeuwedd is considered by some to be the Welsh Goddess of Spring bringing warmth and new life, in the form of flowers, after the cold and barrenness of winter.
Nesta tells us Spring has been MADE for someone like Elain. Spring which has fallen into disrepair and neglected by it’s High Lord. Spring which Lucien tells Feyre they will need as an ally. Spring made for someone like Elain who also was tagged under Blodeuwedd by the author. Blodeuwedd who is the Welsh Goddess of Spring bringing "warmth and new life, in the form of flowers”. Flowers desperately needed considering “The pink roses that had once climbed the pale stone walls of the sweeping manor house were nothing but tangled webs of thorns.” New life desperately needed for a neglected court fallen into disrepair.
“Her gaze shifted to the carved wooden rose she’d placed upon the mantel,” “beside a figurine of a supple-bodied female, her upraised arms clasping a full moon between them. Some sort of primal goddess-perhaps even the Mother herself. Nesta hadn’t let herself dwell on why she’d felt the need to set the ROSE there. Why she hadn’t just thrown it in the drawer.”
Nesta takes the carved rose her father made for Elain and didn’t let herself dwell on why she felt the need to place it next to a figure of the Goddess. Elain is often represented by roses, was tagged under Blodewudd a Goddess of Spring, and we know the Cauldron found her so lovely that it gifted her with powers (plural).
Elain’s scent: “Jasmine and honey:
"Jasmine has long been associated with femininity”
“Because it’s a symbol of feminine power, jasmine is often used to honor goddess figures”
Honey is associated with Spring.
Blodewudd is also turned into an owl at the end of the fairytale. The “stealthy hunting hypothesis” holds that owls fly inaudibly so that prey CAN’T HEAR THEM coming”
Owls are known as SILENT predators of the night, capable of flying just inches from their prey WITHOUT BEING DETECTED.
Mercifully, Elain QUIETLY approached me at breakfast.
Elain was again at my side. I HADN’T HEARD HER steps.
Elain PERCHED SILENTLY on the couch nearby.
Elain spoke from the doorway, having appeared so SILENTLY that they all twisted toward her, “Using me.”
“You came,” Elain said behind her, and Nesta started, NOT HAVING HEARD HER sister approach. She scanned Elain from head to toe, wondering if she’d been taking lessons in STEALTH either from Azriel or the two half-wraiths she called friends.
“Could you have done it? Decided to take a male form?”
“Then why did you pick this body?” Elain asked.Elain asked, “And once you were in this body, you couldn’t change?”
It’s so easy to assume Elain is going to be a spy because she hangs out with the wraiths but I think her moving silently is suggestive that she can shift into an owl form (the power of Spring is shape shifting). It could also be the reason Cassian noted a “tightness” to Elain’s face when she said she headed out early in the morning to “tend to an elderly faerie’s garden”. Because she’s not comfortable with the change’s she’s experiencing, that her body demands of her.
I think the Cauldron has gifted Elain with Goddess like powers that will help her restore the destruction that has befallen Spring, bring life back into it. Lucien warns Feyre that before the dust settles (meaning before the end of the war that is on their horizon), they are going to NEED Spring to be up and running and right now that isn’t happening with Tamlin. Gifted her with the ability to shift into an owl form, a shifter ability that is a marker belonging to the High Lords of the Spring Court.
This is not to say Elain will end up living there forever, but I do think she will be instrumental in restoring it to its former place of beauty and strength.
Lucien is also tied to the Spring lands. As far as we know, he is the last to perform in the Great Rite in Tamlin’s stead and there’s no mention of it being performed since.
Not canon but I am so ready for my Elucien Great Rite scene. I think she’s going to be the one to restore Spring but I think she’s going to need a willing male partner for some of that 😉
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