Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Argues that the first-season storyline of Will Byers in the Duffer Brothers’ Netflix series Stranger Things (2016) can be productively read as an unacknowledged modern adaptation of the traditional Scottish border ballad Tam Lin (Child Ballad #39). Drawing on comparative folklore and narrative theory, this study demonstrates that Will’s abduction, captivity, and rescue closely follow the structural, thematic, and symbolic patterns that define the Tam Lin tradition.
Source: Slayage
Author: Kris Swank
Institution: Pima Community College
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7205013233