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midwintersgrace's Journal

Created on 2008-05-30 19:21:26 (#15737687), last updated 2008-07-27

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Basic Info

Name:	Mab, Winter's Queen
Birthdate:	1980-10-31

Bio

Mab, the Winter Queen, the Queen of Air and Darkness

"She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the fore-finger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Over men’s noses as they lie asleep;
Her chariot is an empty hazel-nut
Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub,
Time out o’ mind the fairies’ coachmakers.

Her wagon-spokes made of long spinners’ legs,
The cover of the wings of grasshoppers,
The traces of the smallest spider’s web,
The collars of the moonshine’s watery beams,
Her whip of cricket’s bone, the lash of film,
Her wagoner a small grey-coated gnat,
Not so big as a round little worm
Prick’d from the lazy finger of a maid..."

Background

Mab, the Faerie Queen as opposed to the divine Celtic figure Medb from whom she is supposedly derived, appears rarely enough before the above speech in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet as to indicate that she did not exist in folklore in that form before Shakespeare's time. It may be that he popularized the image of Mab as a queen of Faerie, a dark and changeable figure who rules over a court of Faeries. Often portrayed as one of the Sidhe, the Shining Ones of the myths of the British Isles, if there is a polarization among the courts she is portrayed as Unseelie or Darker Sidhe.

As to the Queen of Air and Darkness, such powers have been attributed to Mab ever since she first appeared as a queen of faerie. However, the first reference to such a title occurred in 1939 [confirmation needed] as the title of a novel by author TH White. A fitting enough title for a creature whose powers are connected so strongly to rumors, shadows, and sinister things done under the cover of night.

Traditional aspects of Faeries yet remain. They are bound by the oaths they make, and as a result have a reputation for being the slipperiest buggers around as they try and word their bargains so that they win, no matter what. They respect audacity (up to a point) and demand unflinching and total respect in turn. They are flighty, mercurial creatures whose moods change in a flash, none more so than their queen. They are still vulnerable to cold iron, but little enough else. They are generally, in short, not the sort of creatures one should deal with unless there is absolutely no other choice.

Dresden Canon History (SPOILER ALERT)

In the Dresden Files, the Courts of Faerie are divided into Winter and Summer, and the rulership of the Courts is further divided into three: Crone, Queen, and Lady. The Winter and Summer Crones rarely intervene in the affairs of mortals, but the Winter and Summer Ladies and Queens have been known to get involved. Mab is the Winter Queen; her Winter Lady is Maeve, again recalling the Celtic goddesses and the triple goddess figure.

Mab first appears in the events of Summer Knight, having bought out Harry Dresden's contact with the Leanansidhe, his fairy godmother. She offers Dresden's release from his obligations in exchange for three favors, the first of which is investigating the death of a man Dresden later finds out to be the Summer Knight. Of course, she says she didn't do it, and it turns out that this is the case. The balance of power is established in this book between the Summer and Winter courts, waxing and waning with the seasons. The setup of the Courts is also established. Mab's alias in this book is Sommerset, feel free to snicker or groan. She appears as a mortal woman who makes an appointment with the private investigator; he only discovers her nature when he threatens her with cold iron out of a show of clumsiness and in a way that would not threaten a normal human woman. When she avoids it, she gives the game away.

Arctis Tor, Winter's Heart and the seat of her kingdom makes an appearance at the end of Proven Guilty when Dresden storms the gates of winter in order to rescue Molly Carpenter from her abductors, creatures of Winter. Although not directly connected to Mab he did unleash fire at the wellspring at Winter's Heart, severely damaging it and providing Summer a brief advantage. It wasn't until later that he discovered that another group had also attacked Arctis Tor, using Hellfire. Perhaps for this reason Mab refrained from torturing him for the damage done to her home.

In Small Favor, Mab created a snowstorm to hamper the efforts of Summer in attacking Dresden. When she appeared to him here she spoke through Grimalkin, a servitor of Mab's both in the Dresdenfiles and a demon or at least supernatural cat in other fiction. No reason was given for why she needed an interpreter or why she had lost her voice, and she stated that that secret would incur further obligation to her from Dresden. He opted not to press the question. She told him that Summer's Emissary would seek his and the crime-baron Marcone's death unless he investigated and stopped it, or unless he took up the mantle of the Winter Knight, a servitor to the Winter Court. He opted for the former option. She later speculated that his older brother might not be so stubborn, and indicated that his true love made him mortal enough for her servitude.

In Small Favor it was also revealed that she was familiar with the Archangels as well as the more mortal-involved Fallen Denariians.

RP History

In fanon thus far, Mab has extended her offer of Knighthood to Thomas, who accepted. The bait she used was Thomas's love for Justine and the ability to touch her again without harm or pain. What plans she has for him remain yet to be seen.

Disclaimer

I do not own the Dresden Files, or the copyrighted concepts within. All concepts from The Dresden Files used with much love to Jim Butcher for creating this wonderful world. I have no affiliation with Jim Butcher or Emilie Wold, whose face I am using for the Winter Queen, nor with any of the models in the stock photos in the other icons. This version of Queen Mab will draw primarily upon the Dresden Files, although other sources may be used as well.

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