This collection of ten time-honored tales brims with enchantment, whimsy, and sly humor. Assembled by a renowned poet and student of Gaelic language and culture, this illustrated edition includes "The Birth of Bran," "The Little Brawl at Allen," "The Enchanted Cave of Cesh Corran," "Becuma of the White Skin," "Mongan's Frenzy," and other stories.
Irish Fairy Tales
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Time-honored Irish fairy stories will appeal to kids in the middle school grades on up, as James Stephens' Traditional Irish Fairy Tales presents memorable classics which are notable retellings of traditional favorites. Recommended for leisure pursuit as well as young readers studying ethnic folklore, these are fun and lively tales. -- Midwest Book Review
About the Author
James Stephens (1882-1950) was an Irish novelist and poet. James Stephens wrote many retellings of Irish myths and fairy tales. His retellings are marked by a rare combination of humor and lyricism (Deirdre, and Irish Fairy Tales are often singled out for praise). He also wrote several books (Crock of Gold, Etched in Moonlight, Demi-Gods) which are fiction, but loosely based on Irish fairy tales. "Crock of Gold," in particular, achieved enduring popularity, and was frequently reprinted throughout the author's lifetime. Stephens began his career as a poet under the tutelage of "Æ" (George William Russell); his first book of poems, "Insurrections," was published in 1909. His last book, "Kings and the Moon" (1938), was also a volume of verse. In the 1930's Stephens had some acquaintance with James Joyce, who found that they shared a birth year (and, Joyce mistakenly believed, a birthday). Joyce, who was concerned with his ability to finish what would later become Finnegans Wake, proposed at one point that Stephens assist him, with the authorship credited to JJ & S (James Joyce & Stephens, also a pun for the popular Irish whiskey made by John Jameson & Sons). The plan, however, never came to fruition, as Joyce was able to complete the work on his own. In the last decade of his life, Stephens found a new audience through a series of broadcasts on the BBC.
--This text refers to an alternate
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Faerie Tales,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Irish Fairy Tales (Kindle Edition)
This was more a book of Faerie Tales than one of Fairy Tales--instead of Cinderella-like maidens being rescued by princes and aided by fairy godmothers, there are the shi' of Faery who mingle with the humans for mischief and pleasure, although often the humans manage both of those quite well on their own.
Most of the tales deal with Fionn the son of Uail, and his life and times. They are well-written and witty, and captured my attention. The first story, though. The first story was boring, uninteresting and had nothing to do with Fionn (although I admit I had no idea who he was when I read it). It was about Tuan, the son of Cairill and how he started as one of Noah's grandsons, and then after achieving old age, managed to be reborn as every notable creature that inhabits Ireland. It was...not a great start to this otherwise wonderful book, and I was expecting the worst after reading it, so I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the rest of the stories were actually interesting. There's a few typo-esque mistakes from the scanning, but nothing to cry about, there's a table of contents that isn't as useful as it wants to be (it's a chart, and you can't see the whole thing at once), and there are no illustrations (are you still expecting those from a kindle?), but otherwise the book is sound. Stories included are: The Story of Tuan mac Cairill The Boyhood of Fionn The Birth of Bran Oisin's Mother The Wooing of Becfola The Little Brawl at Allen THe Enchanted Cave of Cesh Corran Becuma of the White Skin Mongan's Frenzy (which has VENOMOUS SHEEP in it)
41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stephens as a poetic voice of ireland,
By A Customer
This review is from: Traditional Irish Fairy Tales (Celtic, Irish) (Paperback)
to limit, as you do, your review of Stephens irish fairy Tales to adolescent readers is a disservice to the book. While it is eminently readable, it does far more than many fairy tale compilations. Stephens presents a voice, a carefully chosen, well modulated voice, to present the web of tales which comprise the Irish tradition. As in Crock of Gold, he does this with beautiful natural imagery, and references to the bays and rivers and isles of Ireland. Moreover, unlike much of literature considered adolescent fare,he encompasses adult virtues and vices including lust, envy and pride. This book is written with a compelling sense of humor, aimed not at the cute, but at the failings which each of us possess. it is a book worthy of reading by a person of any age.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful and Enteraining!,
By
This review is from: Traditional Irish Fairy Tales (Celtic, Irish) (Paperback)
This is my favorite collection of Irish Fairy Tales and a wonderful introduction to the the genre for people unfamiliar with it. I frequently give this book as a gift to children who also enjoy Harry Potter books but like the reviewer above it's a wonderful read for all ages.
James Stephen's collection is special because every tale contained in it is a gem and the language, while modern, retains the wit and spirit of these oral tales.
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