LadyJean --

Do you have a name for that French folktale, so that I may Google it? Also, in that Breton story, I recognise myself in Ugly Jan -- not that I see myself as ugly or stupid, but in that, even if I had the power to "fix" myself by wishing, I wouldn't use it. The princess wants a husband who is handsome and clever; Jan is just happy being Jan.

Mysha and Penny S --

This morning, I was gifted, via email, with this article from "Disability Studies Quarterly": Toward an Archtypal Psychology of Disability Based on the Hephaestus Myth, and it includes some interesting details not often recorded in mythology dictionaries.

Suibhne -- Thanks! I'll definitely keep an eye out for "The Squirrel and the Fox. Also, since mental illness is now considered a form of disability (now that we understand the brain's physical function in the process of thought), it occurs to me that your Internet namesake is another hero for me to explore at some point (and I have Seamus Heaney's translation of Suibhne Astray on my shelves. It may be time for a reread).

Jack Campin -- That detail sounds very similiar to the Grimms' tale The Girl Without Hands