Folklore Friday: forbidden fruit

plant folklore of my own creation part III

Hi, friends. Thank you for joining me as I frolic off the beaten path of Folklore Fridays to delve into lore I made up for my stories–for the last time, as far as I can say.

Read the first made-up post

How about the second made-up post?

This one, I’m especially excited for. There is a ton of ‘real’ (not made up by yours truly) apple folklore you can find out there, and some of it inspired the origin story of the orchard that Maeve guards with her foster mother, Finna, in The Secret Heart of Maeve MacGowan.

In the book, the lore of these sacred apple trees is vital to how the villagers of Quin view their world.

Quin’s Sacred Apple Orchard

Photo by Sandra Bittmann on Unsplash

Girls do not see visions. But when hunger or harshness press against me too sharply, I go to the orchard. If I cannot reach the orchard, I let my mind take me there instead. The branches hold me until I can bear the present again, or until it calls me back. I always carry my—I will say it, just this once—my trees, my refuge, within me.

It is the one thing Finna can never take away.

-from The Secret Heart of Maeve MacGowan, Maeve’s chapter

The orchard serves as a place of safety and reprieve for Maeve, but one that is complicated by two things.

First, perched outside of the village of Quin, it is a liminal place. From behind its stone walls, Maeve can hear snatches of song floating from the forbidden hills known as the downs. The music stirs something in her she can’t examine too closely for fear of what she might find.

Secondly, the orchard itself was established by the founders of Quin.

Maeve, like all Quin’s children, had learned the orchard’s story from birth. Sir Arthur Bromley had established Quin and her orchard generations ago. When the wild men had attacked the settlement unprovoked, Sir Arthur had prayed for protection, and in the miracle that followed, the trees drove the attackers back into the downs. God also granted Sir Arthur some magical ability, which passed down with the orchard to his grandson, the current Patrician. So long as the orchard was tended with reverence, Quin would have nothing to fear in this strange and untamed land.

So the lore is very much about who is good and who is bad; who is allowed to wield power and who isn’t.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

Questions of both autonomy and community are wrapped up in the orchard. Maeve’s journey throughout the story–her Maiden’s Arc–is about claiming ownership. This ownership is sometimes beautiful and freeing. Her own personal development results in seizing that which she has been taught to fear, to take hold of forbidden fruit.

At other times, it is about facing the ugly truth of living entangled in a narrative that favors power and control over true belonging. It’s a type of lore that has its roots in crown and colonialism rather than the everyday folk who live on the land. It’s a tale that benefits a few to the detriment of others.

Maybe this exploration is a little heavy-handed. I personally enjoy puzzling out some of the themes for myself as I’m reading a book; I don’t love having everything handed to me.

But the themes in this orchard continue to fascinate me, and while there is a lot more depth to it than I can share here, I do want to share some of it with you.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post. What do you think about forbidden fruit?

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Forbidden

visions

take me there

with reaching hands

parched mouth

hollowed belly

hunger

eyes go wide

catching glimpses

beyond the wall

hearing music

I am not supposed to hear.

©Stephanie Ascough 2025.

Smashwords Sale

Before I go, all of my ebooks are 50% off on Smashwords until the 8th!

a little drama/humor as I try to sell copies of my books in times like these

Next week sign ups start for the Rose & Mirror course! Yes, actually! No more empty yapping!

Thanks for reading, friends.

Meet you over the orchard wall.*

*One of my wonderful early readers for my book started signing her emails like this. I like it.

Thanks for being here. My AuDHD brain is a bit scattered and prone to change things last minute, but here in The Purple Vale you can count on reflections on folklore, fairy tales, and the seasons from my little corner of East Tennessee–which is unceded Cherokee and Muscogee land.