Customer Reviews

FOLKTALES OF THE BRITISH ISLES (Pantheon Fairy Tale & Folklore Library)

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This Book does a splendid job of both providing the myths in an interesting fashion as well as summing up a suficient amount of information on every story. The book as well provides stories from a diverse variety of the Isles from Wales to The Isle Of Man. The stories in this book pertain from a variety of subjects, anything from How football was created to various tales of God and the topography of Britain. These stories are ones that anyone could enjoy and as well should be read over and over again.

In this collection, Kevin Crossley-Holland tells a number of folktales from across the British Isles including areas which have primarily Norse, Celtic, and Anglo-Saxon heritage. The stories are broken up into categories (fairies, animal tales, ghosts, enchantment, etc), and the introduction to each section describes the sources for each story included in that section.

This collection is a great collection for the whole family to enjoy but it also is of use to those studying the mythology and culture of the various peoples who settled these islands. Some of the stories connect quite strongly with Norse myth. Others connect quite strongly with Celtic myth.

I particularly found the bibliography helpful. While I own several books in that bibliography, I expect to find it useful in further fleshing out my folklore collection. Bibliographies are somewhat rare in these sorts of books so it is well appreciated here.

Highly recommended.