Cora’s origin fairytale: the Nightingale?

[minorshan]

I know it’s kind of been a forgone conclusion that her origin is likely the miller’s daughter who had to get Rumple to spin straw into gold in exchange for her first born, but as I was doing research for a fanfic I’m writing I ran across an interesting possibility that the writers may just incorporate.

It’s Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Nightingale”. It shares a similarity with the miller’s tale, in that the maiden develops a relationship with a royal. The quick Wikipedia synopsis:

The Emperor of China learns that one of the most beautiful things in his empire is the song of the nightingale. When he orders the nightingale brought to him, a kitchen maid (the only one at court who knows of its whereabouts) leads the court to a nearby forest where the bird is found. The nightingale agrees to appear at court. The Emperor is so delighted with the bird’s song that he keeps the nightingale in captivity. When the Emperor is given a bejeweled mechanical bird he loses interest in the real nightingale, who returns to the forest. The mechanical bird eventually breaks down due to overuse. The Emperor is taken deathly ill a few years later. The real nightingale learns of the Emperor’s condition and returns to the palace. Death is so moved by the nightingale’s song that he departs and the emperor recovers. The nightingale agrees to sing to the emperor of all the happenings in the empire, that he will be known as the wisest emperor ever to live.

Ok, so why do I think they may take this direction? Because Barbra Hershey was in an adaptation of this tale, as the maiden, in the early 80s. You can watch that in full, here: Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre _ The Nightingale. Per that movie’s description:

An Emperor finds true friendship from a lowly kitchen maid and a plain little bird; both of whom are worth more than they appear.

Now, OUAT has slipped fairy tales on their heads more than once, so why not take this one for the Red Riding Hood treatment? I think a mashup of the miller’s tale and nightingale would be far more interesting, and the timing with Rumple would line up nicely with the Pinnochio section of the storyline. I see it as an origin story for Cora’s magic powers, with Rumple as the “nightingale” – traditionally the nightingale’s song was considered to be a lament of a cursed being. As we know, Rumple has acted as an information broker before.

Additionally, I can’t be the only one who think’s Henry Sr. doesn’t seem like the brightest or most heroic guy on the block, even if he has good intentions, and easily led around by the nose. This makes his a perfect dupe for someone like Cora, trying to make something of herself, and Rumple’s machinations.

Whether or not this winds up panning out into the show at all, theorizing is fun and I have’t heard anyone else suppose this, so I thought I’d throw it out here as a new shiny to play with. It has plenty of possibilities for OUAT story material.

In any case, it’s now the backstory in my head, so it will have to be in the fanfic I mentioned… 😀

[LisaFromOH]

Very interesting theory. I wonder who would play the role of the emperor in this scenario- someone we’ve met or a new character?

[Author]

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