Editing Tam Lin (section)

===Motifs===
Child took the threat to take out Tam Lin's eyes as a common [[Scottish folklore|folklore]] precaution against mortals who could see fairies, in the tales of [[fairy ointment]]. [[Joseph Jacobs]] interpreted it as rather a reversal of the usual practice; the Queen of Faeries would have kept him from seeing the human woman who rescued him.<ref name="JacobsMore" />

In some variants, "[[Hind Etin]]" has verses identical to this for the first meeting between the hero and the heroine.<ref name="Child" />{{rp|340}}