Favorite Celtic Fairy Tales

by Joseph Jacobs

Experience the whimsy, charm and magic of the Celtic imagination in this captivating collection of timeless stories that have enchanted generations of youngsters and adults.
Among the eight popular tales included here are "The Fate of the Children of Lir," a haunting narrative of four children turned into swans by a wicked stepmother; "The Shepherd of Myddvai," in which a beautiful woman, risen from the sea, orders her husband-to-be to observe certain rules; and "Beth Gellert," a touching tale of a brave dog that dies after saving a child's life. Five additional stories include "The Tale of Ivan," "Morraha," "The Story of Deirdre," "The Llanfabon Changeling," and "The Sea-Maiden."
Reset in large, easy-to-read type, these engaging stories are enhanced by six new illustrations.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Mythology, Short Stories, Picture Books, Ireland

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 17, 1995

About the author

Joseph Jacobs was an Australian folklorist, literary critic, historian and writer of English literature who became a notable collector and publisher of English Folklore. His work went on to popularize some of the worlds best known versions of English fairy tales including "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Goldilocks and the three bears", "The Three Little Pigs", "Jack the Giant Killer" and "The History of Tom Thumb". He published his English fairy tale collections: English Fairy Tales in 1890 and More English Fairytales in 1894 but also went on after and in between both books to publish fairy tales collected from continental Europe as well as Jewish, Celtic and Indian Fairytales which made him one of the most popular writers of fairytales for the English language. Jacobs was also an editor for journals and books on the subject of folklore which included editing the Fables of Bidpai and the Fables of Aesop, as well as articles on the migration of Jewish folklore. He also edited editions of "The Thousand and One Nights". He went on to join The Folklore Society in England and became an editor of the society journal Folklore. Joseph Jacobs also contributed to the Jewish Encyclopedia.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_J...

Reviews

[Iva · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a very beautiful and magical insight into the Celtic fairy tales I enjoyed it very much but I liked the Irish fairy tales in the same edition a bit more. Longer review soon.

[Christian · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quick tour in Irish folklore, the 8 fairy tales in this collection are morbid and tragic but of course, with lessons and bravery to spare. I always like it when fairy tales are not sanitized to fit PG standards. Kids better know early on that the world is not a good place all the time.

[Hailey Stalter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. Was purchased for my daughters by a friend and I used it for the required reading for about 3 weeks for my 1st grader for our home school curriculum.

This paved the way for many opportunities to examine certain themes, learn new words, and to help develop critical thinking skills.

The translation didn't flow as well as I'd have liked at times but for the most part I was able to further translate it as I read in a way that would help make more sense. She's only 6 but I've found reading books with big or "exotic" words like this one really helps her develop a much better understanding of language and grammar.

The stories themselves were really interesting as well, and given there's an awful lot of Irish heritage on my maternal side it really appealed to me.

[Heri · Rating 4 out of 5]

dongeng Celtic sering kali menampilkan keajaiban dan keanehan yang mewakili cara hidup masyarakat Irlandia - Skotlandia di masa kuno

delapan kisah yang diceritakan mewakili cinta, kepahlawanan, tragedi, kesedihan dan kebahagiaan yang dipadu dengan keajaiban, sihir, benda ajaib dan lain-lain

meski diceritakan dengan gaya bahasa lawas, plot yang diceritakan masih bisa dipahami dengan baik. dalam sejumlah cerita, orang baik tidak selalu mendapat akhir bahagia

delapan cerita Celtic ini hanya sebagian kecil dari kisah2 masyarakat Irlandia - Skotlandia dengan budaya mereka yang khas dan berbeda dari bangsa Eropa lain

[_Readwithroses · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
This was a birthday present from a friend and though it may be short, it is worth it.
The translations and wording can be confusing but that is to be expected from mythology and history in general. The book has wondrous stories full of giants, fairies and other creatures that spring to life from the paper.
Though it is a children's book in name, it is surprisingly just as enjoyable for an adult and will entertain you for a short time.
If you want a quick insight into Celtic mythos and culture that isn't 1000 pages long, this is for you.

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of "Celtic fairy tales" I used for homeschooling for a unit on Celtic (post-Roman, pre-Anglo-Saxon) Britain. Unfortunately, I did not find this collection very well edited, and I felt like there were translation issues from the original Celtic languages in one or two cases. Also, the writing was a little above the level of the kids (which is my fault, not the book's, but it did limit the usefulness to me). Still, I enjoyed some of these stories, and hope my kids did too, at least a little . . .

[Kalilah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the stories in here seem very interesting, unfortunately they're just told quite poorly. They're written in a very straightforward, almost slapdash, sort of way with very little description to really pull you into the story. Which is a shame because I've been wanting to read more Irish, Scottish and Welsh traditional tales, but I imagine this wasn't a good entry into that. If anyone has any good recommendations, do let me know.

[Trico Lutkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another one of those books that I've had for years, but never read them. Most of the stories seemed familiar (I listen to a lot of Myths and Legends Podcast). I loved the names of the characters and I liked how it had notes on some of the old celtic words that I didn't know so I didn't have to look them up.

[Katerina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Same feelings as with the other Dover fairy tale book.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these stories were very strange. It was an interesting mix of superstition and Christian beliefs. This was not an easy read aloud. Little guy and I enjoyed it overall.

[Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very poor writing style and thus not very engaging

[Tirzah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this set of fairy tales, although some of the endings left me feeling sad and/or annoyed.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

So many stolen and murdered children in these old school fairy tales 🧚‍♂️ 🧚‍♀️ 🧚

[Beverly Hess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating tales, charming language, morbid endings.

[❄Elsa Frost❄ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read all of the stories here and found them all delightful--it felt like reading Grimm's Fairy Tales all over again.

However, I did have a slight issue with one story, "Beth Gellbert". I mean, the entirety of the story sounded more like a folk tale than a fairy tale. Not to mention, that story was extremely depressing for a "fairy tale".

But I guess the back of the book sums some of the stories up fairly well. So if you want to know what they're generally about, here it is:

"Among the eight popular tales included here are 'The Fate of the Children of Lir,' a haunting narrative of four children turned into swans by a wicked stepmother; 'The Shepherd of Myddvai," in which a beautiful woman, risen from the sea, orders her husband-to-be to observe certain rules; and 'Beth Gellert,' a touching tale of a brave dog that dies after saving a child's life."

The other stories included in here are "The Tale of Ivan", "Morraha", "The Story of Deirdre", "The Llanfabon Changeling", and "The Sea-Maiden".

My personal favorites would be a tie between "The Sea-Maiden" and "The Shepherd of Myddvai". I think either would make pretty good novels, if somebody decided to re-tell them!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty nice little collection of folktales from Ireland, Wales, and Scotland. The stories range from short tales with a moral to traditional folk stories, but these aren't the Cinderella/Beauty and the Beast type of fairy tales (they don't all have happy endings or tie things up neatly). The illustrations are nice and I like that they use words from the local dialects and gloss them the first time they appear, though the book doesn't provide any context or background for the stories. There are times when the text reads a bit roughly, like it was transcribed or translated oddly, but overall it's very fun to read.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading the complete Brothers Grimm I sort-of enjoyed these fairy tales but the translation or the text itself wasn't particularly enjoyable to read. The stories themselves were... ok, but the writing was either unclear in places or too simplistic even for a fairy tale. I think a bit of better editing would have made this a better read. (Though it was really cheap so I probably oughtn't complain)

[Lizzi Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of original fairy tales of old Ireland and Wales - entertaining for a light, quick read.

[John Hanscom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, though a little stilted.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mildly interesting fairy tales. Celtic stuff is cool.

[Robin Dawes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This re-telling of some ancient stories is charming and straightforward. These stories are wonderful for telling or reading aloud.

[Lamar · Rating 5 out of 5]

great stories!

[Suzanne Hess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Darling tales, worth the read.

[Tweller83 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't care for these. I sort of liked two of the six but some were just hard to get through.
My own challenge read A to Z author's last name: J
Unhauled 7-4-21

[Alyssa Streller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this stories but the language was difficult compared to what I am used to reading.