Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather
{{Short description|Short story by Sarah Pinsker}}
"Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather" is a 2021 fantasy/horror short story by American writer Sarah Pinsker. It was first published in Uncanny Magazine.
Synopsis
The story is told in the form of comments posted by several contributors on a crowdsourced website discussing the history and meaning of the (fictitious) folk song "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather". The song tells the story of a woman who takes her lover's heart from his chest and replaces it with an acorn, after which the townspeople hang the young man and destroy the local oak trees. One of the commenters, HenryMartyn, is a student researching the song's origin. In the comments, he discusses the work of a professor who disappeared years earlier while researching the song, and his own work retracing the professor's steps to the English village of Gall, which he believed to be the source of the legend narrated in the song. He reports that Jenny, a local historian in Gall, has offered to show him an old oak tree in the woods; after that, no further comments from HenryMartyn appear.
Reception
Locus considered that the story's "destination is clear enough (...) but the journey is good meaty fun."{{Cite web |date=2021-06-09 |title=Rich Horton Reviews Short Fiction: Uncanny and Weird Tales |url=https://locusmag.com/2021/06/rich-horton-reviews-short-fiction-uncanny-and-weird-tales/ |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=Locus Online |language=en-US}} A. C. Wise felt it made "excellent use of form."[http://www.acwise.net/?m=202201 Favorites of 2021: Novelettes and Short Stories], by A. C. Wise, at ACWise.net; published January 9, 2022; retrieved March 15, 2022
Awards
"Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather" won the Nebula Award for Best Short Story of 2021,{{Cite web |title=Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather |url=https://nebulas.sfwa.org/nominated-work/where-oaken-hearts-do-gather/ |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=The Nebula Awards® |language=en-US}} the 2022 Eugie Award,{{Cite web |last=Glyer |first=Mike |date=2022-09-04 |title=2022 Eugie Award |url=https://file770.com/2022-eugie-award/ |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=File 770 |language=en-US}} and the 2022 Hugo Award for Best Short Story.{{Cite web |date=2022-09-05 |title=2022 Hugo Awards |url=https://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2022-hugo-awards/ |access-date=2022-09-05 |website=The Hugo Awards |language=en-US}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://uncannymagazine.com/article/where-oaken-hearts-do-gather/ Full text] at Uncanny Magazine
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_PrliX7XGA Recording of the song] on YouTube performed by Sarah Pinsker
{{Hugo Award Best Short Story 2021–2040}}
{{Locus Award Best Short Story}}
{{Nebula Award for Best Short Story}}
Category:Works by Sarah Pinsker
Category:Hugo Award for Best Short Story–winning works
Category:Nebula Award for Best Short Story–winning works