Folktales of England

by Katharine Briggs

Internationally acclaimed as one of Britain's most respected folklore scholars, Katharine Briggs(1898-1980) was also one of the most popular authors in the field. These "Selected Works provide facsimile editions of her landmark writings, spanning the whole of her publishing career, from 1959 to 1980.

Genres: Folklore, Fantasy, Paranormal, Classics, Short Stories, Fiction, Fairy Tales

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Capn]

(Returned to library after never having made it through the introductions and having had learned about Ruth Tongue's track record. Was probably still worth a read, but was put off and ran out of time on my loan).

[Eduardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short one, but we’re doing it anyway.

I am always down for some Katharine Briggs literature on fairies and folklore. This appears to be part of a series on “Folktales of the World”, and Briggs did the one on England (along with Ruth L. Tongue). There are a couple of forewards here which are not… particularly useful, I think? It draws a lot of connections that I don’t think are still held up by scholars today–there’s an assertion that Robin Hood is a Christian English take on Odin, which, uh, is A Take–but the stories? That’s what we’re here for, and they’re gold.

Well, mostly. A few are recorded in the accents that the recorder heard them in, and that makes them a little difficult to read. Also, many of the stories are short little anecdotes, or even narrative jokes. Which is important to record, I guess, but they’re not what you necessarily expect from an academic text on folklore.

It’s really cool, though, that scholars wanted to keep these on paper, so that they wouldn’t be forgotten. And the editors make notes before each one explaining where they heard each one, and what variations are out there. There are quite a few that the editors state have versions in Germany or Scandinavia, or, incredibly, the United States, especially in Appalachia. I’ve heard that Appalachia was a treasure trove of folklore, but it’s awesome to see it confirmed in a book by experts.

It’s cool to check out if you like folklore, or want to see a bunch of short little stories from the English country folk, you should try this book.

Now let me see if I can find the other volumes in this series…

[Doria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really nice, somewhat old-fashioned collection of folktales from England, complete with references and sources and motif index, perfect for a folklorist. Most of the stories are pretty short, and many are written in regional dialect. They are arranged by take type, so the reader can jump to ghost stories or humorous tales, depending on their preference.

[vroni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich hab es immer als kleines Mädchen gelesen, vor allem das Kapitel mit der Binsenkappe hat mir damals besonders sehr gefallen. Auch heutzutage lese ich noch ab und zu mal etwas rein für die Nostalgie Gefühle.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was such a fascinating read. (Although a bit hard to read, as it is transcriptions of stories and often includes regional words.)

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of tales. Many are done in phonetic renditions of dialect, which can be a bit hard to read.

Very few fairy tales. One is a cross between a fairy tale -- kind and unkind girls -- with more anecdotal fairy lore, such as not eating fairy food and being blinded for seeing something they don't want you to see.

A lot of legends. The jocular tales were less to my taste, some were full blown urban legends.

[Massimo Penazzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Come tutte le raccolte, un po' altalenante, però mi è davvero piaciuta.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

"So thou'st heerd tell o' th' boggarts an' all the horrid thing o' th' au'd toimes? Ay, they wor mischancy, onpleasant sort o' bodies to do wi' [...] But if thou likes them sort o' tales, a' can tell thee some as ma au'd gran'ther tould us when a' wor nobbut a tiddy brat." (The Green Mist, 39)

This isn't for everyone, but I loved the attempt to preserve the oral telling of these tales, including phonetic spellings for accent. (Which is very fun to read aloud.)

The context of who was telling this story, and where and when, added a lot. (Though, how reliable they all are, I can't say. I've heard Ruth L. Tongue's collections may not be.)

"Mossycoat" was perhaps the most genuinely relatable Cinderella-like story I've ever encountered. The clear opinions and little quips from the teller give you some insight into their way of seeing the world. That made it a lot more meaningful to me than if I'd read it in a glossy storybook that took the bare bones, translated it into language more contemporary and middle class, and filled it out with fancy, romantic frills.

Some of my favorites were: "The Fairy Follower," "The Green Mist," and "Room For One More."

[Cindya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personalmente ho trovato l’introduzione illuminante, e più in generale godibile per qualsiasi appassionato di folklore. Katharine Mary Briggs offre un’analisi profonda e dettagliata di quello che è il genere della fiaba e delle sue raison d’être, un genere che l’ha appassionata fin dai primissimi anni di vita e per cui l’amore che prova traspare chiaramente sin dalle prime pagine di questo libro.


Lette:

Peldicenere (mera rivisitazione di Cenerentola)
I Tre Porcellini
La palla d’oro
Figli ingrati
La storia senza fine
Lo spirito del burro
Anne Jeffries e le fate
Il fantasma riconoscente
Lo scialle di seta (Brrr)
Il pettine di Ginevra

[Roberta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Il libro più bello nella collezione della Mondolibri. L'ho riletto così tante volte che la copertina è visibilmente consumata.
Nelle varie sezioni che compongono il volume la Briggs ci presenta la varietà delle storie britanniche, fino ad arrivare alle odierne leggende metropolitane con, per esempio, l'aneddoto della macchina rubata contenente il cadavere della vecchia nonna/zia. Le più antiche però sono le più interessanti. Amo la storia della luna che scende tra le paludi per controllare quanto siano pericolose quando lei non le illumina. I re sono generosi e onesti, i poveri onesti e intelligenti abbastanza da scambiare la paga di tre anni di lavoro con tre saggi consigli. I santi sono molto, molto umani e la magia è solo un'altro aspetto della quotidianità. Vorrei un secondo volume

[Autumn Duffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Folktales of England is a great place to start with British folktales. It is, essentially, a bastardized and shortened version of A Dictionary of British Folk-Tales , a much better anthology. Unfortunately, the original book anthology is out of print and hard to find, so this may be your best bet if you want to read a collection by Briggs.

If, however, you can get your hands on a copy of the original anthology, get it! Otherwise, this is a good place to start.