Irish Fairy and Folk Tales

Feb 27, 2013 Trevor rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: literature, poetry

This surprised me – I was suspecting this to be very much like the Grimm or Calvino efforts. You know, lots of familiar fairy tales but told in a tippering way with a fetching Irish brogue. If you are after such then you’ll have to jump nearly to the very end of this collection. These stories would possibly come closer to ghost stories in a way. The relationship between the natural and supernatural is more dreamlike in these stories than in what I am used to in fairy tales. There is something mu...more This surprised me – I was suspecting this to be very much like the Grimm or Calvino efforts. You know, lots of familiar fairy tales but told in a tippering way with a fetching Irish brogue. If you are after such then you’ll have to jump nearly to the very end of this collection. These stories would possibly come closer to ghost stories in a way. The relationship between the natural and supernatural is more dreamlike in these stories than in what I am used to in fairy tales. There is something much less comfortable about these – something much less supernatural about their fairies and even giants. There is a real sense that the non-human beings discussed are actually believed in, in much the way people today might believe in ghosts, and that effects the telling of the stories.

But really, to explain the difference between these fairy stories and your common or garden variety we really need a good metaphor. And to me it is like trying to tell someone who has only ever eaten apples the difference between apples and pears. Now, clearly they are from the same family of fruit, but no one who has eaten a pear would be likely to confuse it with an apple. There is a perfume or fragrance to pears that isn’t exactly sweet, and that is subtle, but not so subtle that it goes unnoticed. And pears are ephemeral in ways apples aren’t. Apples are either ripe or they are not - fit to eat or not fit to eat. Pears are totally different. There is a ripeness to them that means eating them today is never the same as deciding to leave them till tomorrow or what they would have been like if they had been eaten yesterday. Irish folktales are like pears. There is a real sense that hearing them today is simply not the same thing as it would have been when this book was first published. But there is still wafting about these the smell of a peat fire and the howl of the wind outside - a fragrance and flavour to them. That is, like pears again, a sense that there really was a perfect time and place to share these but even so that perfect time and place still lingers about these stories, in the very air of them.

Many of these tell of deeply troubling and truly horrible beliefs and (one can only assume) events. They tell of fairies coming to take away perfect children and of them replacing them with changelings, horrible gurney things. The solution being to put the changeling on the open fire or to ram a red-hot poker down its throat.

“Come away, O, human child!
To the woods and waters wild,
With a fairy hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.”

There are tales of magical priests and saints. There are also stories of Irish chieftains and even literal ghost stories. Of corpses that need dragged about the countryside for a place to bury them. And, this being Ireland, there are plenty of stories of men being redeemed from the evils of the drink.

Still, my favourite is The Soul Cages. I’ve a preference for stories where power (in this case, supernatural power) is outwitted by the clever and the patient. This one too is based around the horrible fact of sailors drowned at sea and then their lost souls desperately looking for any shelter only to be trapped in a kind of purgatory. But there are layers to this story – almost made explicit by the surface level of life on the land and the world undersea where quite different rules apply. And there are questions posed by this story that I've amused myself with since reading it. Coomara, a Merrow (a mermaid, but in this case, a male one) is portrayed as the fooled party by a man called Jack (not unlike Jack and the giant at the top of the beanstalk, in many ways). However, in this story I can’t help getting the feeling that Coomara wasn’t as unaware as he is made out to be and that, even if it makes no sense to the literal story, that he intended Jack to steal his treasure all along. And the fact that this ends with Coomara just disappearing one day never to be seen again and with Jack having become fond of him was also interesting. A very human story for that, I think. You know, the Irish aren’t normally as happy as all that about those who come from the sea.

“The sea, oh the sea is the gradh geal mo croide
Long may it stay between England and me
It's a sure guarantee that some hour we'll be free
Oh thank God we're surrounded by water.”

I think it is fair to say that the English don’t come out of all of this well. But then, as the world’s first negroes, the Irish were likely to get their own back in their dreams and dream-like stories, weren't they? Many of the stories of outwitting others are of outwitting the English or of outwitting their Irish representatives and frequently this is done with the help of Saints or Priests. The politics being clear and transparent in any case.

Like I said, I was really quite surprised by these – they were not at all what I was expecting, in fact, they were much more than I would have even hoped.
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Mar 13, 2012 Parrish Lantern rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: anthology, fiction, ghost-horror, on-my-shelves, kindle, myths-fables-fairytales, short-stories

“People think I am merely trying to bring back a little of the old dead beautiful world of romance into this century of great engines and spinning Jinnies. Surely the hum of wheels and clatter of presses, to let alone the lecturers with their black coats and tumblers of water, have driven away the goblin kingdom and made silent the feet of the little dancers.”

W. B. Yeats, then goes on to state that Old Biddy Hart, in her thatched cottage has little use for such opinions, will hold no truck with...more “People think I am merely trying to bring back a little of the old dead beautiful world of romance into this century of great engines and spinning Jinnies. Surely the hum of wheels and clatter of presses, to let alone the lecturers with their black coats and tumblers of water, have driven away the goblin kingdom and made silent the feet of the little dancers.”

W. B. Yeats, then goes on to state that Old Biddy Hart, in her thatched cottage has little use for such opinions, will hold no truck with the “learned sorts” and their new fangled knowledge. She knows that to offend the old ways will lead to ones come-uppance and any one not rightly respectful of the ancient folk, cannot be alright in their head, regardless of the books & words they claim to know. This is part quote, part paraphrase from the introduction to a lovely book of Irish Fairy Tales compiled in 1892 by William Butler Yeats.

The book is divided under four main headings – Land and Water Fairies, Evil Spirits, Cats, and Kings and Warriors, it also has a fascinating appendix, which explains the classification of Irish Fairies divided into The Sociable Fairies,The Sheoques,Merrows and Solitary Fairies such as The Lepricaun, The Pooka & The Dullahan etc. This is followed by a section listing the authorities on Irish Folklore & a biography of Yeats himself.

What makes this a great read is the universality of the tales. I wrote a post last year about a similar book, Italian Folktales (Fiabe Italiane, pub’ 1956) compiled & edited by Italo Calvino and although this isn’t of that scale, what he wrote in his introduction holds true here.

“These folk stories are the catalogue of the potential destinies of the men and women,especially for that stage in life when destiny is formed, i,e, youth, beginning with birth, which itself often foreshadows the future, then the departure from home, and finally through the trials of growing up, the attainment of maturity and proof of one’s humanity. This sketch although summary, encompasses everything: the arbitrary divisions of humans, albeit in essence equal, into Kings and poor people, the persecution of the innocent and their subsequent vindication, which are the terms inherent in every life, love unrecognised when first encountered and then no sooner experienced than lost; the common fate of subjection to spells, or having one’s existence predetermined by complex and unknown forces. This complexity pervades one’s entire existence and forces one to struggle to free oneself, to determine one’s own fate; at the same time we can liberate ourselves only if we liberate other people, for this is a sine qua non* of one’s own liberation. There must be fidelity to a goal and purity of heart, values fundamental to salvation and triumph. There must also be beauty, a sign of grace that can be masked by the humble, ugly guise of a frog; and above all, there must present the infinite possibilities of mutation, the unifying element in everything: Men, Beasts, Plants, Things.”

One of my favourite of the tales here is The man who never knew fear (Translated from the Gaelic by Douglas Hyde), this is a tale of a man who, through his lack of fear, goes through a series of task and ends up rich and with the pretty girl. This is a tale I already knew under a different title(Dauntless Little John) in the Italian folktales, perfectly demonstrating that these tales under numerous guises are universal. Another of my favourites has echoes of Don Quixote......

http://parrishlantern.blogspot.com/20...

PS. In reply to the quote starting this post, What’s wrong with bringing back a little of the old dead beautiful world of romance into this century of great engines.(less)

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Jan 27, 2011 Morticia Adams rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A rich collection of beguiling tales of encounters between Irish peasant-folk and the Daoine Sidhe, the Fairy People, or “fallen angels who are not good enough to be saved, nor bad enough to be lost” as quoted by Yeats in his commentary. Here you will find merrows, changelings, leprechauns, the Banshee, the Pukka, Tir na Nog…..

The stories have been translated or transcribed, quite beautifully, from authentic oral sources by Gaelic specialists who have an imaginative sympathy with this world of m...more

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Sep 30, 2008 Bridgett rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fairy-tales-mythology

I loved this collection. Even though it's large, the stories are short, making it easy to maintain focus. I liked the ending stories which were variations on common fairy tales. I also learned more about fairies and their myths earlier on in the book.

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Apr 08, 2012 John Kulm rated it 5 of 5 stars

Part of the appeal of fairytales, for me, is that I want to understand archetypes. That’s why archetypal literature intrigues me: Faust, Zarathustra, or modern examples like The Alchemist, and The Teachings of Don Juan. Irish fairytales have an interesting similarity to contemporary conversations about archetypal encounters and spirit guides.

The Irish fairy tales recorded by Yeats take on a special meaning when seen as archetypal, and understood as the product of the inner-work described by Car...more Part of the appeal of fairytales, for me, is that I want to understand archetypes. That’s why archetypal literature intrigues me: Faust, Zarathustra, or modern examples like The Alchemist, and The Teachings of Don Juan. Irish fairytales have an interesting similarity to contemporary conversations about archetypal encounters and spirit guides.

The Irish fairy tales recorded by Yeats take on a special meaning when seen as archetypal, and understood as the product of the inner-work described by Carl Jung. The difference between Irish folk tales and modern psychological archetypal work is that the people of their era and culture viewed the archetypal figures in a different way than we view them in our era and culture. The result is, through these fairytales, we can read examples of how people of ancient Europe interacted with archetypal figures. These quotes give evidence of that:

The Confessions of Tom Bourke
“He was invested with the privilege, enjoyed by few of the sons of men, of communicating with those mysterious beings called ‘the good people’ … It is not easy to prevail on Tom to speak of those good people, with whom he is said to hold frequent and intimate communications.”

T’yeer-na-n-oge
“There is a country called Tir-na-n-Og, which means the Country of the Young, for age and death have not found it; neither tears nor loud laughter have gone near it. The shadiest boskage covers it perpetually. One man has gone there and returned. The bard, Oisen, who wandered away on a white horse, moving on the surface of the foam with his fairy Niamh; lived there three hundred years, and then returned looking for his comrades.”

The Trooping Fairies
“The Irish word for fairy is sheehogue [sidheog], a diminutive of ‘shee’ in banshee. Fairies are deenee shee [daoine sidhe] (fairy people). Who are they? ‘Fallen angels who were not good enough to be saved, nor bad enough to be lost,’ say the peasantry. ‘the gods of the earth,’ says the Book or Armagh. ‘The gods of pagan Ireland,’ say the Irish antiquarians, ‘the Tuatha de Danan, who, when no longer worshiped and fed with offerings, dwindled away in the popular imagination, and now are only a few spans high.’”

Carl Jung considered the archetypes to be “primal instincts.” Yeats recorded the view of an earlier time.
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Jul 21, 2012 Katsumi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fairy-tales, poetry

Yeats has long been one of my favorite poets; however, I did not expect his re-telling of Irish Fairy and Folk Tales to be up to his poetry standard. With that said, let me say he does an excellent job re-telling these old stories and if you have any interest whatsoever in fairy tales or Irish Mythology, read this book. "The Trooping Fairies" and "Witches, Fairy Doctors" were 2 of my favorite chapters but overall the whole book is a delight to read. It's an easy read, some stories are funny, som...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Anne Holly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this as part of my research for a short story I was writing, and it ended up taking up taking longer to read than the story did to write! That doesn't necessarily reflect poorly on the book, though, as I found it quite interesting. Engrossing in parts, even.

Here, Yeats gathers and edits stories and myths from Ireland, largely from the translations and collections of other folklorists. It focuses mainly on the faeries, though it also includes water creatures (i.e. the merrow), witches, gho...more I read this as part of my research for a short story I was writing, and it ended up taking up taking longer to read than the story did to write! That doesn't necessarily reflect poorly on the book, though, as I found it quite interesting. Engrossing in parts, even.

Here, Yeats gathers and edits stories and myths from Ireland, largely from the translations and collections of other folklorists. It focuses mainly on the faeries, though it also includes water creatures (i.e. the merrow), witches, ghosts, and various mythical creatures. If you're wanting a lot on the mythic heroes, there's some but not a great deal. (You'd want to supplement in this area, I should think.) It does, however, include a good mixture of "traditional Irish" tales and "Irish Catholic" lore, which I found fascinating, such as discussions of the souls of faeries, folk tales about saints and the devil, and so forth. Too many studies are apt to separate "pagan" and "Catholic" beliefs artificially, in my opinion, and this synthesis feels more authentic to Irish culture.

If you're studying Irish folklore for scholarly or academic reasons, I think you can find better sources, though this might be useful as a historical look. The stories are largely anecdotal, and I didn't always know what was regional and what was widespread. Academic sources generally have more specificity to them, which would be necessary to avoid generalizing local legend. However, for a writer or an interested reader, this collection is very nice. I found it highly readable, with a nice feel of the local dialects, and the price was outstanding, if I recall correctly. My one major criticism of this book, in terms of usefulness, is that I'd love to have an edition with an index. Without one, the book is really only useful for a read, and not as a reference.

Finally, it's exciting to read such a record from the pen of such a famous writer, and as a piece of national literature or history of ethnography, it has become something of a classic.

I found it very interesting, and it was useful for my purpose. I'd recommend it, considering its price and classic status, to anyone wanting casual reading or light research on the topic of Irish folklore, with the caveat that it is comparatively light in the hero legends, as well as a bit lacking in the rich cryptozoology of Ireland (aside from the pooka and a few other common ones).

I enjoyed it, though it was a bit of a long haul. It made excellent before-bed reading, one or two stories at a time.(less)

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Feb 14, 2013 Mary Overton added it · review of another edition

From Yeats' end notes [note Paracelsus' opinion of scientists]:
"It has been held by many that somewhere out of the void there is a perpetual dribble of souls; that these souls pass through many shapes before they incarnate as men - hence the nature spirits. They are invisible - except at rare moments and times; they inhabit the interior elements, while we live upon the outer and the gross. Some float perpetually through space, and the motion of the planets drives them hither and thither in curre...more From Yeats' end notes [note Paracelsus' opinion of scientists]:
"It has been held by many that somewhere out of the void there is a perpetual dribble of souls; that these souls pass through many shapes before they incarnate as men - hence the nature spirits. They are invisible - except at rare moments and times; they inhabit the interior elements, while we live upon the outer and the gross. Some float perpetually through space, and the motion of the planets drives them hither and thither in currents. Hence some Rosicrucians have thought astrology may foretell many things; for a tide of them flowing around the earth arouses there, emotions and changes, according to its nature.
"Besides those of human appearance are many animal and bird-like shapes.... Though all at times are friendly to men - to some men - 'They have,' says Paracelsus, 'an aversion to self-conceited and opinionated persons, such as dogmatists, scientists, drunkards, and gluttons, and against vulgar and quarrelsome people of all kinds; but they love natural men, who are simple-minded and childlike, innocent and sincere, and the less there is of vanity and hypocrisy in a man, the easier will it be to approach them; but otherwise they are as shy as wild animals.'"
Kindle location 4889-4899

From Yeats' introduction:
"Many poets, and all mystic and occult writers, in all ages and countries, have declared that behind the visible are chains on chains of conscious beings, who are not of heaven but of the earth, who have no inherent form but change according to their whim, or the mind that sees them. You cannot lift your hand without influencing and being influenced by hoards. The visible world is merely their skin. In dreams we go amongst them, and play with them, and combat with them. They are, perhaps, human souls in the crucible - these creatures of whim."
Kindle location 235-244

Yeats' collection includes one of the most frightening ghost stories I have read, "Teig O'Kane and the Corpse." Teig, a spoiled only son of a rich man, has compromised a good & decent girl but will not marry her. So at midnight, on a lonely road:
"... the fairies caught him, some by the hands and some by the feet, and they held him tight, in a way that he could not stir, with his face against the ground. Six or seven of them raised the body [of a dead man] then, and pulled it over to him, and left it down on his back. The breast of the corpse was squeezed against Teig's back and shoulders, and the arms of the corpse were thrown around Teig's neck. Then they stood back from him a couple of yards, and let him get up. He rose, foaming at the mouth and cursing, and he shook himself, thinking to throw the corpse off his back. But his fear and his wonder were great when he found that the two arms had a tight hold round his own neck, and that the two legs were squeezing his hips firmly, and that, however strongly he tried, he could not throw it off, any more than a horse can throw off its saddle."
Kindle location 513-523(less)

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Feb 08, 2013 Anna rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, onceuponatime-chlg, abc, unfinished

Abbastanza delusa da questa raccolta di fiabe incentrate sulla mitologia celtica e le credenze popolari della tradizione irlandese. Attirata dal nome del celebre poeta e drammaturgo irlandese, premio Nobel per la letteratura, William Butler Yeats che curò e scelse i racconti e le ballate più rappresentative di vari autori irlandesi, mi ero avvicinata a questo libro con l'aspettativa di scoprire qualcosa di più su folletti e lepricani. In realtà le storie si assomigliano tutte troppo e, se pur ra...more

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Aug 04, 2011 Anna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's somewhat hard to rate and review a collection of fairy tales, really--it's not like the usual collection of short stories. However, Yeats managed to put together a number of stories that are quaint and entertaining. Not only that, but he provides notes about the creatures and people found therein, as well as cross-referencing another writer and folklore collector: Lady Wilde (whose own collection I haven't quite gotten around to reading yet). Being rather interested in these sorts of tales,...more

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Sep 18, 2011 Benjamin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: folio-society, fiction, fairy-tales, mythology, 2011-read

From what I was able to dig up, this book is a product of the late 19th century Gaelic renaissance. Yeats did not collect all these stories himself, he simply gleaned all the best ones from a variety of sources which are all well documented in the bibliography. At the point of this book's creation, I believe that Yeats was rather well known and he was using his notoriety as a poet to bring attention to the disregarded tradition of Irish folk tales. The general consensus among Yeats and his fello...more From what I was able to dig up, this book is a product of the late 19th century Gaelic renaissance. Yeats did not collect all these stories himself, he simply gleaned all the best ones from a variety of sources which are all well documented in the bibliography. At the point of this book's creation, I believe that Yeats was rather well known and he was using his notoriety as a poet to bring attention to the disregarded tradition of Irish folk tales. The general consensus among Yeats and his fellow Irish intellectual contemporaries was that Irish culture was 1. slipping away as the older people died and modern culture was advancing, 2. that through a concentrated effort, Irish language, art, music, and written word could revitalize the peoples identity as a separate culture from England, and 3. perhaps spark a nationalistic fervor in the hearts of the peasantry. This collection of folk/fairy tales was one of Yeats attempts to add to this movement.

From a cultural history point of view, its a fine collection, and I think it says a lot about what Yeats considered to be the cultural values worth passing on. Some of the stories are written phonetically, so if one were to read it out loud, one could practice a Donegal or Connemara accent. This proved quite entertaining as I read my wife to sleep from this book. The collection is also divided up into categories so that chapter headings have titles such as: Solitary Fairies, Trooping Fairies, Merrow, Ghosts, Banshees, Witches, The Devil, Giants, ect. Some are written as first hand accounts and some are written in the classic "Once upon a time..." format. I found the story entitled "The Banshee of the MacCarthy's" to be particularly effective and unnerving, despite my complete disbelieve in the existence of such entities. Regardless, a culture's folk tales help describe the fears, hopes, and values of the community who pass them on. This is a fine collection which certainly accomplishes this and I recommend it as a good starting point for delving deeper into the tradition of Irish folk tales.

ps. the cat with the fish on the cover of this Folio Society edition is a depiction of a cat who is an agent of Satan, a "demon cat" if you will. Apparently they were quite common back in day, always stealing peasant's food. After reading this story, I am now considering the possibility that one of my gluttonous cats is likewise possessed by Lucifer; a rumor I fully intend to cultivate.(less)

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Dec 07, 2009 Gary rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When he was young, Irish poet William Butler Yeats published two collections of Irish folktales: *Fairy and Folk Tales of the irish Peasantry* (1888) and *Irish Fairy Tales* (1892). Between these two collections, he assembled over 300 tales. He also addresses fairy themes in *Celtic Twilight*, a collection of poetry/nonfiction. Any of these books would be excellent reading for anyone interested broadly in folklore or specifically in Irish stories or Yeats.

This collection includes 19 stories (an...more

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Mar 01, 2013 Mike Christani rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book, with its charming folk tales, of fairies, ghosts, giants, etc etc, helped me quit smoking once when I was 23. The stories are charming, presented by an open-minded WB Yeats (whose own works are among the tales and poems). For pure enjoyment, as well as learning of the discerning morailty of seemingly chaotic fairies, it's a great read. The stories usually aren't more than five pages long, and are complete tales in themselves. Great for a train, plane, or quiet evening.

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Nov 03, 2011 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology

A very enjoyable and lively collection of fantastic, quaint tales collected by Yeats from various sources. They are arranged topically by the type of fantasty element: leprechauns, witches, giants, etc. This makes some read too similar, but owning the book and dipping in over a few months has been a real joy. Many tales are much more absurdist and even modernistic than I woud have expected.

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Nov 03, 2011 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology

A very enjoyable and lively collection of fantastic, quaint tales collected by Yeats from various sources. They are arranged topically by the type of fantasty element: leprechauns, witches, giants, etc. This makes some read too similar, but owning the book and dipping in over a few months has been a real joy. Many tales are much more absurdist and even modernistic than I woud have expected.

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Nov 03, 2011 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology

A very enjoyable and lively collection of fantastic, quaint tales collected by Yeats from various sources. They are arranged topically by the type of fantasty element: leprechauns, witches, giants, etc. This makes some read too similar, but owning the book and dipping in over a few months has been a real joy. Many tales are much more absurdist and even modernistic than I woud have expected.

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Nov 03, 2011 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology

A very enjoyable and lively collection of fantastic, quaint tales collected by Yeats from various sources. They are arranged topically by the type of fantasty element: leprechauns, witches, giants, etc. This makes some read too similar, but owning the book and dipping in over a few months has been a real joy. Many tales are much more absurdist and even modernistic than I woud have expected.

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Nov 03, 2011 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology

A very enjoyable and lively collection of fantastic, quaint tales collected by Yeats from various sources. They are arranged topically by the type of fantasty element: leprechauns, witches, giants, etc. This makes some read too similar, but owning the book and dipping in over a few months has been a real joy. Many tales are much more absurdist and even modernistic than I woud have expected.

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Nov 03, 2011 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology

A very enjoyable and lively collection of fantastic, quaint tales collected by Yeats from various sources. They are arranged topically by the type of fantasty element: leprechauns, witches, giants, etc. This makes some read too similar, but owning the book and dipping in over a few months has been a real joy. Many tales are much more absurdist and even modernistic than I woud have expected.

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Nov 03, 2011 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology

A very enjoyable and lively collection of fantastic, quaint tales collected by Yeats from various sources. They are arranged topically by the type of fantasty element: leprechauns, witches, giants, etc. This makes some read too similar, but owning the book and dipping in over a few months has been a real joy. Many tales are much more absurdist and even modernistic than I woud have expected.

like · see review

Nov 03, 2011 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology

A very enjoyable and lively collection of fantastic, quaint tales collected by Yeats from various sources. They are arranged topically by the type of fantasty element: leprechauns, witches, giants, etc. This makes some read too similar, but owning the book and dipping in over a few months has been a real joy. Many tales are much more absurdist and even modernistic than I woud have expected.

like · see review

Nov 03, 2011 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology

A very enjoyable and lively collection of fantastic, quaint tales collected by Yeats from various sources. They are arranged topically by the type of fantasty element: leprechauns, witches, giants, etc. This makes some read too similar, but owning the book and dipping in over a few months has been a real joy. Many tales are much more absurdist and even modernistic than I woud have expected.

like · see review

Nov 03, 2011 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology

A very enjoyable and lively collection of fantastic, quaint tales collected by Yeats from various sources. They are arranged topically by the type of fantasty element: leprechauns, witches, giants, etc. This makes some read too similar, but owning the book and dipping in over a few months has been a real joy. Many tales are much more absurdist and even modernistic than I woud have expected.

like · see review

Nov 03, 2011 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology

A very enjoyable and lively collection of fantastic, quaint tales collected by Yeats from various sources. They are arranged topically by the type of fantasty element: leprechauns, witches, giants, etc. This makes some read too similar, but owning the book and dipping in over a few months has been a real joy. Many tales are much more absurdist and even modernistic than I woud have expected.

like · see review

Nov 03, 2011 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology

A very enjoyable and lively collection of fantastic, quaint tales collected by Yeats from various sources. They are arranged topically by the type of fantasty element: leprechauns, witches, giants, etc. This makes some read too similar, but owning the book and dipping in over a few months has been a real joy. Many tales are much more absurdist and even modernistic than I woud have expected.

like · see review

Nov 03, 2011 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology

A very enjoyable and lively collection of fantastic, quaint tales collected by Yeats from various sources. They are arranged topically by the type of fantasty element: leprechauns, witches, giants, etc. This makes some read too similar, but owning the book and dipping in over a few months has been a real joy. Many tales are much more absurdist and even modernistic than I woud have expected.

like · see review

Nov 03, 2011 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology

A very enjoyable and lively collection of fantastic, quaint tales collected by Yeats from various sources. They are arranged topically by the type of fantasty element: leprechauns, witches, giants, etc. This makes some read too similar, but owning the book and dipping in over a few months has been a real joy. Many tales are much more absurdist and even modernistic than I woud have expected.

like · see review

Nov 03, 2011 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology

A very enjoyable and lively collection of fantastic, quaint tales collected by Yeats from various sources. They are arranged topically by the type of fantasty element: leprechauns, witches, giants, etc. This makes some read too similar, but owning the book and dipping in over a few months has been a real joy. Many tales are much more absurdist and even modernistic than I woud have expected.

like · see review

Nov 03, 2011 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology

A very enjoyable and lively collection of fantastic, quaint tales collected by Yeats from various sources. They are arranged topically by the type of fantasty element: leprechauns, witches, giants, etc. This makes some read too similar, but owning the book and dipping in over a few months has been a real joy. Many tales are much more absurdist and even modernistic than I woud have expected.

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Nov 03, 2011 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology

A very enjoyable and lively collection of fantastic, quaint tales collected by Yeats from various sources. They are arranged topically by the type of fantasty element: leprechauns, witches, giants, etc. This makes some read too similar, but owning the book and dipping in over a few months has been a real joy. Many tales are much more absurdist and even modernistic than I woud have expected.

like · see review

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/770876.Irish_Fairy_and_Folk_Tales?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1178210674l/770876.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/770876.Irish_Fairy_and_Folk_Tales?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Irish Fairy and Folk Tales by W.B. Yeats[/url]

Irish Fairy and Folk Tales

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