Bridey

Creation

Bridey was created by writer Bronwyn Carlton and artist Peter Gross in The Books of Faerie issue 3, in 1997.

Major Story Arcs

Auberon Finds a Friend

Bridey was the midwife who delivered Auberon as a baby. When he becomes king, Auberon describes Bridey as the “most skillful midwife in all of Faerie.”

She is a caring fairy-type known as a Brownie, with much folk wisdom.

Bridey becomes a caretaker of a young Auberon, along with his aunt Dymphna. Auberon is in hiding.

One day Auberon finds a strange-looking but friendly creature that he names Gyvv. They let him keep it.

That night they unintentionally leave the house unprotected by spells, and powerful wood goblins try to enter. However, Gyvv grows in size and destroys them.

When Dymphna and Bridey find the remains of the goblins the next day, they realize how lucky they were, and how powerful Gyvv is.

Auberon’s Tale

Auberon is eventually brought on as the next young king. Bridey is concerned for him. When the regent, Obrey, asks Dymphna to marry him, Bridey is concerned. She knows Dymphna has loved Obrey since they were children, and she knows Obrey does care for Dymphna, but she also knows Obrey has other ambitions.

Obrey becomes regent until Auberon is old enough to be king, but due to various dangers created by Amadan, Auberon runs into hiding. Obrey ends up taking the title of King. However, Auberon eventually kills Obrey and becomes king as an adult.

The Books of Faerie

Bridey continues to have a strong relationship with Auberon after he becomes king of Faerie. She calls him “Aubie.”

She delivers Auberon’s wife Titania’s baby, even though it comes early. It is a human boy (presumably Tim Hunter), and thus evidence of Titania’s affair with the human Tamlin. Amadan and Bridey convince Titania to let Bridey make it disappear and they announce she had a miscarriage.

Bridey, now afraid she may be killed along with the child, takes him to Earth. She is undecided whether she should give him to a human family directly, or to Gran, a woman who seems to be a fairy in human guise, and who originally sent Titania to Faerie. Tamlin tails her in order to protect her.

Auberon, believing the baby died, and knowing Bridey has disappeared, believes Amadan’s manipulations and thinks the child’s death was Bridey’s fault. He curses her to never return to Faerie.

Identity of Tim Hunter’s “Mother”

There is an argument that Tim Hunter’s mother on Earth, Mary, is actually Bridey. This is because when Mary’s coffin was dug up, her skull was clearly inhuman, with fangs. Mary also wore a glamour stone while she was alive that created an illusory appearance that, when others wore it, made them look like Mary. Presumably she did not actually look like that herself and wore the glamour stone to disguise her appearance.

Since Bridey is the last one seen with Titania’s baby, one theory is that she just took him herself, since she was not seen after that. However, Bridey did not have fangs like the skull in the grave, so she is probably not Mary. But she may have given the boy to another Fairy, such as the mysterious Gran, who did then wear the glamour stone and act as Tim’s mother.

The other problem is that Tim’s father, Bill, says that Mary was pregnant when he knew her. He knew he was not the father, but this does throw a wrench in the works for Mary to have just adopted Tim. Perhaps the pregnancy was also an illusion created by the glamour stone.

In any case, Bridey is probably not Mary, but probably did deliver Tim to Mary (if Titania’s baby was, in fact, Tim).