The Horse-Tamer's Daughter (filksong)

The Horse-Tamer's Daughter is a 1983 filksong by Leslie Fish.
It was the title song of the printed filksong collection by the same name, The Horse-Tamer's Daughter, edited by Teri Lee and published by Off Centaur Publications in 1984.The Horse-Tamer's Daughter in The M.A.S.S. F.I.L.C. Filk Book Index. Last modified November 25, 2006. Accessed September 30, 2008.
The lyrics were also printed, along with art, in Fesarius #6 in 1984.
The lyrics are online here.
==A Variety of Locales and Mediums==
* The Horse-Tamer's Daughter, single filk
* The Horse-Tamer's Daughter, audio collection of Darkover filks
* The Horse-Tamer's Daughter, printed collection of Darkover filks
* the lyrics as printed in Fesarius #6, with art by Pyracantha, a fan in 2016 called it "really a fanfic in its own right." from Horsetamer’s Daughter – Julia Ecklar; archive link (November 20, 2016) 
==Listen==
 
Julia Ecklar: here, fully orchestrated version (with sound effects!) (YouTube) and here (mp3 file).
Daniel Kelly: here (YouTube)
==Awards==
In 1999, it had been nominated for Best Hero Song; it also won a Ohio Valley Filk Fest Pegasus Award in 2002, in the category Best Song That Tells A StoryPegasus Awards - Horsetamer's Daughter. Accessed September 30, 2008. 
==Description==
The song is set on Marion Zimmer Bradley's world of Darkover, during the "Ages of Chaos" after the fall of Hali Tower where some of the psychic-sorcerer leroni were formerly trained. It is based on the novella "Tower of Horses", which is set in the world of the Darkover series created by Marion Zimmerman Bradley. This novella is published as part of a Darkover anthology “Music of Darkover” (Darkover Anthology Book 13). 
The filk is from the point of view of a young woman who has a psychic link with horses; while playing near the ruined tower, she finds a "magic mirror" that enhances her range and power, much to her delight. This brings her to the attention of leroni from other Towers, who insist she must submit to them for training. She fights them, linking her mind with those of several horses, and using their combined strength to keep her freedom.
==Marion Zimmer Bradley's Opinion==
===Unhappy Peasants===
Marion Zimmer Bradley is rumoured to have disliked the song, because it claims that the peasants of Darkover were sometimes unhappy with the requirement to send all people with psychic gifts (laran) to a Tower for training. The leroni insist that an untrained telepath is a danger to self and others, and Bradley may have believed this was obvious to everyone. Although some highborn families would rather not send valuable heirs to the Towers (leroni don't marry), peasants would presumably all be happy with the raise in status and not mind the restrictions and disciplines required of Tower life.
===Horses Don't Have Laran===
===Too Long===
==Yes, So LONG!==
It has 15 verses and a chorus (which is usually only sung in a few spots, instead of after every verse); the version on the album is more than 13 minutes long.
David Weingart's 1994 filksong Filk Up Your Voices includes the lines:
A parody called "Like Comyn to the Slaughter," by Harold Feld, was included in Xenofilkia #16. Cumulative Xenofilkia Index by Title through Xeno #217 Accessed September 30, 2008 It put the events of Horse Tamer's Daughter to the tune of Frank Hayes' "Like a Lamb to the Slaughter," a condensed talking-blues version of Mattie Groves, a tradition Scottish ballad. "Like Comyn..." mocks the length of the original by ending with the lines:
A 2005 parody extension by Damien Sullivan:
From a fan in 2023: 
==Parodies and Related Fanworks==
* On the Edge of Hali Plain, story by Patricia Shaw Mathews (printed in Moon Phases #11 (1989)
* The Programmer's Daughter by Heather Stern
* Damien Sullivan wrote a parody extension of "The Horse-Tamer's Daughter" parody extension linked to from Filk and me by Damien Sullivan (January 5, 2005) 
* "Like Comyn to the Slaughter," by Harold Feld, was included in Xenofilkia #16 Cumulative Xenofilkia Index by Title through Xeno #217 Accessed September 30, 2008
==Fan Comments==
===Unknown Date===
===2005===
===2013===
===2023===
== References ==
Category:1983 Filk Songs Category:Darkover Filk Music Category:Marion Zimmer Bradley