The Lovespoon (A Fairytale for St David's Day)

Once upon a time, in Wales, a poor man gave the woman he hoped to marry a lovespoon he had carved out of wood.
And on the lovespoon was carved a key because, he said, she had the key to his heart; a pair of wings, because her love lifted him up; chains, because he was bound by her love and a candle, because her love lit up his heart.
But the womans father, because the man was poor, did not want him to marry his daughter and told him to stay away from her.
Not long afterwards however, the woman was kidnapped by an evil wizard and locked in a dungeon at the top of a tower  surrounded by a moat and guarded by a red dragon.
But she still had the lovespoon that her beloved had carved for her and because, whilst carving the lovespoon, he had poured all his love into it, the lovespoon had become magical.
And suddenly, while she was sitting in her dungeon within the tower looking at the lovespoon, the key that was carved into it turned into a real key.
At first she was just astonished by it but then it gave her an idea and, taking the key, she tried to unlock the door of her dungeon with it.
Amazingly the key worked and, hurrying down the spiral staircase within the tower, she ran out of it.
But then she came to the moat that surrounded the tower and was filled with horrible poisonous adders that raised up their heads and hissed at her .
"How will I get across that?", she wondered.
No sooner had she spoken, however, when the wings that were carved upon the love spoon became a real pair of wings upon her back that, flapping, lifted her up into the air and carried her over the moat.
"Oh thank heavens for this love spoon", she thought as she landed on the other side of the moat, "It has saved me again".
But then, the giant red dragon that guarded the tower woke up and the woman wondered how her love spoon could ever protect her against that.
She needn't have worried though, because then the third thing that was carved upon the lovespoon, the chain, became a real chain that bound up the dragon so that it could not move.
And seeing that the dragon was bound up by the chain, the woman started to walk home through the woods.
As she was walking home however, the wizard returned to his tower and, seeing that the woman had escaped, he made a magical mist rise up.
And because she couldn't see in the mist, the woman started to get lost and wondered if she would ever find her way home through the woods.
But then the last symbol that was carved upon the lovespoon, the candle, became a real candle and, floating in front of her, its light guided her through the mist so that was able to find her way through the woods.
And leaving the woods she saw the road that led to her house and rejoiced that she was finally safe.
But then, just as she was nearing her house, suddenly, she heard the sound of a galloping horse getting nearer and, looking round, she saw the evil wizard on his black horse riding towards her.
Looking at her love spoon she started to despair.
"What am I to do now?", she wondered, "All the symbols upon the spoon are gone. All that I have left is the bowl of the spoon".
Just then however, the bowl of the spoon started to glow and, leaping from her hands, it began to dig at the ground infront of her.
It dug faster than a thousand men with a thousand shovels and, in only a few seconds, had dug a deep pit.
Now the Wizard, looking up ahead, saw the pit but he was galloping so fast upon his black horse that couldn't stop it in time and so he and his horse went crashing down into the pit and the wizard was killed.
But then, thanking the lovespoon for saving her again, the young woman ran to her house.
And when she ran inside, she told her father all about what had happened.
At first her father didn't believe her but then he saw the wizard lying in the pit and, realizing that her daughters story was true, he said,
"Any man who can carve such a magical spoon must be a man worthy of marrying my daughter".
And so the womans father gave his consent to them being wed and the young man and woman lived happily ever after.