![]() This seems to be a very ancient conception, perhaps based on the Pole Star, the centre of the heavens, and the image of an omphalic tree in Scandinavian myth. The idea of the Yggdrasil tree, placed at the center of the cosmos and rising through a number of worlds, is found in northern Eurasia and forms part of the shamanic lore shared by many peoples of this region. The Faraway Tree series, published very early on in her writing career (1939), is about a magic tree inspired by the Norse mythology that had fascinated Blyton as a child. ![]() ![]() But for me, Noddy and Big Ears, The Secret Seven, Famous Five, and perhaps above all The Magic Faraway Tree shaped the contours of my childhood. Or maybe they’ve read the “nightmare mother” exposés online. I don’t know if children read Enid Blyton these days, their parents having perhaps seen the less than hagiographic biopics ( Enid, with Helena Bonham Carter: an especially acidulous Blyton). ![]()
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