This wonderfully told tale starts with an old, exhausted man wandering through the woods at night and carrying a lantern in which the candle is about to go out. Unexpectedly, he finds himself at the door of a warm, light-filled cottage, and it is there that he is looked after by an old woman and nursed back to vigour. Ostensibly a straightforward fairy tale, Estés explains that the story is really about creativity, and its ebb and flow. A deeply satisfying tale of transformation, it’s one that I’ve told to my children many times, and over many years. I don’t think they know why they like it so much, but being an archetypal story of rebirth, it will never fail to cast its spell on the reader who is still open to the power of magic.

First published in Women Who Run With The Wolves, Ballantine Books, 1992