Fairy & Folk Tales of Ireland [Paperback]

William Butler Yeats (Author), Benedict Kiely (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2, 1998

THE CLASSIC ONE-VOLUME INTRODUCTION TO IRELAND'S RICH FOLKLORE: WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS'S MAGICAL SELECTION OF TRADITIONAL IRISH FAIRY AND FOLK TALES

Fairy and Folk Tales of Ireland combines two books of Irish folklore collected and edited by William Butler Yeats -- Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, first published in 1888, and Irish Fairy Tales, published in 1892. In this delightful gathering of legend and song, the familiar characters of Irish myth come to life: the mercurial trooping fairies, as ready to make mischief as to do good; the solitary and industrious Lepracaun and his dissipated cousin, the Cluricaun; the fearsome Pooka, who lives among ruins and has "grown monstrous with much solitude"; and the Banshee, whose eerie wailing warns of death. More than an ambitious and successful effort to preserve the rich heritage of his native land, this volume confirms Yeats's conviction that imagination is the source of both life and art. As Benedict Kiely observes in his foreword, Yeats was seeking "not for the meaning of any mystery but for what he had already determined to find...a world of the imagination...a world that fed on dreaming and not on the painted toy of grey truth."

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Butler Yeats is generally considered to be Ireland's greatest poet, living or dead, and one of the most 

important literary figures of the twentieth century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923. 

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (March 2, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684829525
• ISBN-13: 978-0684829524
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,292 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Traditional Tales from Ireland, May 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Fairy and Folk Tales of Ireland (Hardcover)

Well, I read a different edition, but I'm sure they contain essentially the same stories. The collection contains many traditional folk stories and several poems from Ireland. The stories are entertaining, and some contain folk wisdom in their morals. Many are told in dialect, with some Irish words left intact. The similarities between these tales and folk tales around the world is striking, though of course characters such as the banshee and leprachaun are distinctly Irish. There is a strong Christian influence in these stories, which makes an interesting blend with the older Druidic elements. I found them entertaining, and they definately are distinctly Irish. Anyone interested in traditional Irish culture, or fairy tales in general will enjoy these stories.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating look at the tradition of folklore in Ireland., July 9, 2004

By 

Monika "equestrienne_23" (Davis, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fairy and Folk Tales of Ireland (Hardcover)

In this delightful volume, first published in 1892, William Butler Yeats has collected all manner of Irish folklore (mostly short stories, with a few poems) from a wide variety sources. He has divided the works into categories as follows: the "Trooping Fairies" (fairies, changelings, and the "merrow" or mermaids); the "Solitary Fairies" (the lepracaun, the pooka - an animal spirit, and the banshee); "Ghosts"; "Witches & Fairy Doctors"; "T'yeer-na-n-Oge" or "Tir-na-n-Og" (a legendary island said to appear and disappear); "Saints & Priests"; "The Devil"; "Giants"; and "Kings / Queens / Princesses / Earls / Robbers." Yeats introduces each section with background information on the creature the stories in that category will concern. He also includes numerous footnotes of interest, making this book a valuable resource for anyone seeking to learn about the tradition of Irish folklore.

While I have given this anthology a five-star rating based on it's value as a source of information on Irish mythology, it would probably be worth only four stars for entertainment value alone. Some of the stories are very short and/or don't have much of a point, and are less interesting. These tend to serve more as testimony to the nature of a particular mythical being rather than being an actual story with a plot and message for the reader. Nevertheless, the book as a whole offers a very comprehensive look at just what defines Irish folk culture. The stories that do have a point sometimes take the form of "how things came to be this way" tales, or provide a moral lesson, etc. Many of the stories are rather dark, as that tends to be the nature of lore from this region, but there are also some lighthearted and cheerful pieces.

Despite the book having been compiled more than one hundred years ago, most of the stories are quite easy to read. Yeats makes things even more simple for the reader by making footnotes where old Irish words or phrases are used, giving us their meaning. However, there are a few stories that have been left in a more archaic form, which is distracting and a bit harder to decipher. Take, for example, the following excerpt:

". . . the minit he puts his knife into the fish, there was a murtherin' screech, that you'd the life id lave you if you hurd it, and away jumps the throut out av the fryin'-pan into the middle o' the flure; and an the spot where it fell, up riz a lovely lady - the beautifullest crathur that eyes ever seen, dressed in white, and a band o' goold in her hair, and a sthrame o' blood runnin' down her arm."

One of the things I enjoy most about literature is finding connections with other works I've read, and "Irish Fairy & Folk Tales" does not disappoint in this regard. Many of the pieces are derivations of other, more common fairy tales. For instance, "Smallhead and the King's Sons" (Ghosts) incorporates some elements from both "Cinderella" and "Hansel and Gretel," while "The Giant's Stairs" (Giants) has some similarities to the story of "Jack and the Beanstalk." There are more connections like this. On the whole I found this book to be very enjoyable, and also a valuable read from a literary / academic standpoint. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone interesting in the history of Irish culture, the study of fairy tales and folklore, or both.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A literate touch to classic Irish tales, October 17, 2001

By 

A Williams "honestpuck" (Neutral Bay, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fairy and Folk Tales of Ireland (Hardcover)

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. I purchased it as one of a number of books for a friend. This edition has an attractive cover and a solid construction, important for a volume that will be kept and re-read many times.

Yeats is listed as editor of this volume but I feel that probably underplays his importance. The stories are not his invention, but it seems his writing throughout. The stories are well chosen to cover a large part of Irish myth and are well written. This volume and "Mythologies" show Yeats abiding love for the Celtic heritage that surrounded him.

I always enjoy Yeat's writing, from his poetry all the wy to his essays. This volume shows that he can have a masterful touch for myths.

The only shortcoming is that to the modern reader the language may sometimes appear slightly archaic or stilted, though this is rare and somehow seems to fit for a collection of legends.