The Fairy Mythology [Paperback]

Thomas Keightley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1983

This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

About the Author:

"Thomas Keightley (1789 - 1872) was a historian, educated at Trinity College, Dublin, who wrote works on mythology and folklore, and at the request of Dr Thomas Arnold of Rugby, a series of text-books on English, Greek, and other histories. His History of Greece was translated into modern Greek. Among his other books are Fairy Mythology (1850, 1870), and Mythology of Ancient Greece and Italy, and a work on Popular Tales and their transmission from one country to another" (Quote from wikipedia.org) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 580 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; New edition edition (January 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0704504464
• ISBN-13: 978-0704504462
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,479,851 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Useless Without Table of Contents, September 5, 2009

By 

Holly Cooley (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Fairy Mythology (Kindle Edition)

The Kindle edition is very disappointing - it has no Table of Contents.

The actual book's Table of Contents is lengthy and divided into the mythologies of many places. The Fairy Mythology isn't the sort of book you read cover to cover, but read in small doses, or to look up a particular myth. That's impossible in this edition.

I'm holding on to my dtb until a table of contents is added.

4.0 out of 5 stars Mythic tales, February 15, 2011

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Fairy Mythology: Illustrative of the Romance and Superstition of Various Countries (Forgotten Books) (Paperback)

It's a credit to Thomas Keightley's "World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves & Other Little People" that it's still a relevant mythologic source today, over a hundred years after it was first published. The stories, explanations and legends are still as informative as they were in 1880, although they are rather restricted.

Okay, "World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves and Other Little People" sounds like a cutesy title for a Brian Froud-illustrated book. And it's a rather lightweight title for a book with genuine merit -- especially the "little people" part of it, since the elves, fey and gnomes in here are anything but dainty Victorian fairies.

Instead, Keightley focuses on traditional goblins, dwarves and elves -- Scandinavian trolls and beautiful alfar, Germanic Zwerge and kobolds, British fairies, Celtic spirits and seal-men, and the epic sagas that greatly influenced early fantasy authors like J.R.R. Tolkien and George MacDonald. Take a look at the chapter on the "Eddas and Sagas," and it's hard not to think of Middle Earth.

Its one flaw is that it's restricted mostly to Europe -- there's a brief chapter on African superstitions, and one for Judaistic ones, and for Persian ones, et cetera. Other than that, nothing that originates outside Europe. While it's understandable, considering the time that Keightley lived in, it's hard not to wonder if he couldn't have found out at least a few other cultural legends.

However, this is a rich source for European myths and legends, especially since Keightley obviously did his research. He includes snippets of untranslated poetry, ballads, and footnotes detailing migratory myths and differing versions. He also summarizes some of the denser material like the two Eddas, which are extremely long and sometimes difficult.

Though Thomas Keightley wrote this a hundred and twenty-five years ago, "The World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves and Other Little People" is still a valuable and informative resource for anyone interested in European myths and legends. So ignore the title.