Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland [By T.C. Croker]

by Thomas Crofton Croker

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Genres: Folklore, Ireland, Fantasy, Irish Literature, Short Stories, Fairies, Fairy Tales

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1825

About the author

From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_...

Thomas Crofton Croker was an Irish antiquary, best known for his Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland (1825–1828), and who also showed considerable interest in Irish song and music.

Reviews

[Silvia ❄️]

Grata di aver scovato questa raccolta di fiabe del folklore irlandese nel mio mercatino di fiducia! Non sono nuova alle raccolte di fiabe e leggende del folklore d’Irlanda, ma questa è stata una piacevolissima scoperta. Thomas Crofton Crocker è stato uno dei più importanti fautori della diffusione del folklore irlandese in Europa nel XIX, tanto da attirare l’attenzione e poi stringere un’amicizia con i fratelli Grimm. Questa è un’edizione del 1998 e ho amato la cura e l’impostazione con cui è stata trattata: alla fine di ogni storia è presente una spiegazione delle origini e dell’etimologia di alcune parole, con vari riferimenti anche alla cultura greca, romana, nordica e a volte anche orientale. Si evince perfettamente tutta la passione e l’impegno che Crocker ha impiegato nel raccogliere le tradizioni della sua Irlanda. Da uomo di grande cultura e ingegno quale era, è riuscito a far arrivare fino a noi una parte di storia ancora non troppo diffusa, ma che fa parte delle più antiche, giungendo direttamente dalla meravigliosa tradizione orale degli antichi Celti. Credo che questa edizione ora sia introvabile, a meno che non la si compri usata o in eBook, ma la consiglio a chiunque sia appassionato di folklore o come punto di partenza a chiunque voglia approcciarsi per la prima volta.

[Mel]

This was an interesting collection of Irish folklore. Originally published in 1825 this book is actually part II but was able to read it on its own. The book was divided into different topics, merpeople, headless people, red caps, treasure and stones. I found different sections of varying interest. The mer-people stories I liked the best. They were pretty humourous with men either marrying merwomen or drinking with the mermen. The headless people started really well with a man chasing after a woman who had no head and then had a wonderful scene in a graveyard. The rest of the stories focused on headless horses which I didn't find as interesting. The redcap stories were all fairly interesting. The treasure and the stones/buildings not quite so interesting. The author told the tale and then related it to other tales in different cultures or other Irish versions of the same stories. It was nice to read pre-Victorian folktales as they hadn't been cleaned up or presented for children but were the original tales in all their strangeness.

[Eloise Sunshine]

Lühikesed Iiri rahvapärimuse lookesed erinevatest ajastutest kohtumistest haldjarahvaga (kuigi paljud neist näivad olevat juhtunud enamal või vähemal määral vägijookide mõju all...mis kindlasti on vabandatav pideva vihmast niiske ilmaga - sest kes see ikka suudaks seda kaine peaga lõputult taluda, eriti kui pead mugava ja sooja auto asemel kõigest keebi ning hobusega läbi ajama, et ühest kohast teise miilide kaugusele saada). Nii et kes teab, kuidas need olukorrad siis päriselt olid ja kas või keda seal nähti, aga tore lugemine ikka ja kuna haldjarahvas on iirlaste ajaloost ning kultuurilisest taustast niivõrd läbi imbunud, siis eks need jutud peegelda ka iirlaste endi olemust.

Kaalu ja peatükkide pikkuse poolest ideaalne käekoti-raamat ühistranspordis liiklemiseks.

[Eyes Of]

Thick with lore, I recommend this book as a starter for anyone looking to read on legends and lore ranging from Welsh, Irish, Finnish, Norwegian and more. It is a classic for those fantasy hounds and its layout is approached as a collection of oral traditions laid down in print. With that comes a book that is tedious, at the best of times. For the modern day reader, this one will take time, and even a Google search or two on a few choice phrases as well as illustrations. My one singular annoyance with the book was the untranslated Latin that permeated so much of the second half. For the completionist, have your favored website bookmarked for this service. You will need it.

[Amy Louise]

It’s just very important to me to have the opportunity to read stories that are so local to my area, and despite it’s density, and the fact that some stories are better than others, it is still a very interesting and inspiring collection of region-specific Irish folklore, which isn’t very common to see, as usually most Irish folklore books focus on the country as a whole.

[Lisa]

It's a large collection put together by a historian from the 1800s. Naturally, there are some good stories but as a whole it drags and includes a fair bit of fluff that could have been edited out.

[Cassandra]

Sono sempre stata affascinata dalle leggende, tradizioni e folklore irlandesi. Mi sono sempre appassionata di storie di fate soprattutto. Quando ero piccola e vagavo per lo studio di mio padre, mi sono trovata tra le mani questo libro. Assurdo, non lo avevo mai visto prima nonostante io avessi l’abitudine di leggere i titoli di, posso dire, tutti i libri presenti in quella stanza. Ma un giorno, così dal nulla, puff! Eccolo. Me ne sono subito innamorata e, dopo aver ottenuto il permesso di prenderlo, l’ho letto, con parsimonia, perché me lo volevo “godere” a pieno. Avrei voluto leggere storia dopo storia ma mi sforzavo a fare delle pause perché così la magia durava più a lungo. Ad oggi posso dire che ne è davvero valsa la pena; sono entrata in questo mondo di folklore con gli occhi di una bambina che ha tanta voglia di scoprire e ne sono uscita estasiata, era proprio il genere di libro che fantasticavo di leggere. Apprezzo tantissimo che ci siano molte annotazioni a fine pagina: sui vari termini, luoghi o personaggi citati. Essendo stata piccola molte cose non le conoscevo ma grazie ad esse riuscivo a capire ogni cosa. Ora sono passati anni da quando l’ho finito e ho letto molti altri libri di questo genere, ma questo rimane uno dei miei preferiti in assoluto.
Oh, e alla fine mio padre mi ha regalato il libro :)

[Nancy]

This book went very slow for me. I used to love stories about Brownies and Fairies when I was a child. Many of these mythical beings, are rather mean, and hateful. There were a few good stories. Many of the encounters with the creatures, happened to drunken men.

[Andrea Brandani]

It Is a reference for a full knowledge of Irish and Welsh Fairy Tales. However the introduction is a little bit longer and, at least in my case, not so clear. It is understood that this book should be considered as a milestone but maybe the curator should have been more essential.

[Kieran Fanning]

Some gems in here.

[Lynn]

Hat mich leider nicht so abgeholt. Die Sprache gar nicht und die Geschichten leider auch nicht. Sorryyyyy 🥲

[Glenda]

Se siete affascinati da questi incantevoli personaggi, se amate le credenze popolari, se volete conoscere l’anima dell’isola di smeraldo o semplicemente provare qualcosa di nuovo dovete assolutamente immergervi in questa lettura💚

[Andreas Schmidt]

Non saprei esattamente come commentare questo testo. Da quanto ho capito è passato attraverso un autore originale (Croker), rivisto poi da Murray e infine finito, in veste di prima edizione originale, tra le mani del curatore/curatrice. La vetustità (con quel pizzico di Ottocento) delle note originali al testo, mi strappa giusto qualche piccola emozione. Per il resto sono racconti, di tradizione irlandese. Non particolarmente interessanti (per me) né particolarmente belli.

[Elizabeth]

This was really cool even though pages 252-255 were missing in the second volume... Not only do you get some wonderful Irish fairy-tales but it also gives you some of the background information on how those stories came to be told.

[Saxitlurg]

The stories aren't as varied as I would have liked and most of them are pretty mediocre, but all of them are told with a very convincing voice, like you're listening to a real person talk. You can feel the author's passion despite all the years in between.

[Karschtl]

Hab das Buch als Kind gelesen, und kann mich ehrlich gesagt auch nicht mehr an viel erinnern - nur daran, dass ich Märchen sehr gemocht habe.

[Alex]

This has a nice collection of benign Irish folktales (yes, even the Dullahan ones), and after each tale is a section that provides further information, details, and references to other folktales.

[Mark]

This is one of the books about fairies and the Irish that you can find out about easily through looking up related articles on Wikipedia.

[Ashley]

It was long, but some were interesting.