The myth of the fairy lover in the novels “The Unicorn” by Iris Murdoch, “The Enchanted Musicians” by Halyna Pahutiak and “Liutetsiia” by Yurii Vynnychuk

Abstract

The study examines the specificity of adopting and incorporating the Celtic myth of the fairy lover in the novels “The Unicorn” by I. Murdoch, “The Enchanted Musicians” by H. Pahutiak and “Liutetsia” by Yu. Vynnychuk. It mainly focuses on the visualization of the mythical Niamh of the Golden Hair in the writers’ works, accentuating her distinctive features in the characters of Hannah Crean-Smith, the Princess of Those living underground and flying in the air and Liutetsiia. The study looks at the correlation of the female characters with the motifs of fairy kidnapping, fairyland and fairy music. The paper also highlights the features of La Belle Dame sans Merci in the literary projections of the fairy lover and the gothic arrangement of the characters. In addition, it stresses the role of the bog topos in generating appalling atmosphere of the three novels. The research made it possible to find out typological parallels in the literary prose of I. Murdoch, H. Pahutiak and Yu. Vynnychuk and also identify the specific features which allow drawing a conclusion about original interpretations of the Celtic mythologem of the fairy lover by the Irish and Ukrainian writes. These findings can be useful for further research on similar topics, in particular, on the interpretation of the Celtic mythology in contemporary fiction.