29 May Stories behind Stories: Ariadne Armadillo

In this series of blogs, we hear from Bold Beasts Liverpool-based author Rachel Braddock on the inspiration behind her adorable little characters. This week, Rachel talks us through the story behind her creation Ariadne Armadillo.

Let’s start by addressing the elephant in the room – or, in this case, the armadillo. A lot of people comment that Ariadne is a very unusual name, and most have not heard of it before. I think it’s a beautiful name, and it does actually have a rich history behind it.

Ariadne (which roughly translates as ‘holy one’), is a name with its roots in Greek mythology. It was the name given to King Minos’ daughter, who gave a thread to Theseus, which enabled him to escape from the labyrinth.

However, I must confess that there is no grandiose reason behind naming this little creature Ariadne . To be honest, the only reason I chose it is because it sounds so good next to the word ‘armadillo’!

I love armadillos, but funnily enough, I’ve never actually seen one in real life! I was interested in her sweets because, in the small village of Hognaston, located in Derbyshire, England, our Aunty Kath kept the Post Office and General Store, from which she sold a lot of sweets.

Aunty Kath would spoil all of us nieces and nephews outrageously, mainly by giving us loads of sweets whenever we dropped by. It’s a wonder we still had all our teeth by adulthood! Later, when I was old enough to help her in the shop, I was very interested in the sweets I was able to sell, as well as plunder. This is probably why I was able to list so many different types of sweets. Ariadne shares the same passion for sweets that I did all those years ago.

I hope that you enjoy her little tale, and that you’ll check out some of our other creations, such as Rufus the Red Squirrel and Caractacus Cat! Our full range can be browsed here.

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