Treasury of Irish Myth, Legend & Folklore: Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (Hardcover)

by Lady Gregory (Author), William Butler Yeats (Editor) "THE Irish word for fairy is sheehogue [sidheog], a diminutive of "shee" in banshee..." (more)
Key Phrases: raspberries every one, three times fifty men, sunny parlour, Emain Macha, Conall Cearnach, Mac Roth (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Introduce yourself to the noble heroes and magical creatures of Irish mythology. Includes the two definitive works on the subject by the giants of the Irish Renaissance. W.B. Yeates' Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry and Lady Gregory's Cuchulain of Muirthemne.

From the Inside Flap
Introduce yourself to the noble heroes and magical creatures of Irish mythology. Includes the two definitive works on the subject by the giants of the Irish Renaissance. W.B. Yeates' Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry and Lady Gregory's Cuchulain of Muirthemne.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 768 pages
• Publisher: Gramercy (May 11, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 051748904X
• ISBN-13: 978-0517489048
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.8 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #279,425 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great collection of stories, August 20, 2000

By	hbcarter (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews

In the first section of this book (Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry), Yeats gathered a large number of stories (about 65) on a variety of supernatural subjects. I found some a little perplexing, but most were enjoyable. The second part of this book is Lady Gregory's Cuchulain of Muirthemne. Being unfamiliar with the legend of Cuchulain, I am unable to compare this version with any others. However, I found it to be an interesting tale of an epic hero, although I had difficulty keeping track of the names of all of the characters and locations.

Having only read American variants of Irish folklore, I was caught off guard by the style and structure of the stories. Readers should not expect them to follow the Brothers Grimm, "Once upon a time...happily ever after"-type construction. However, if you're familiar with Irish myths or you're up for trying something new, this collection is thoroughly entertaining.

5.0 out of 5 stars An anthology of Irish Fairy and Folk Tales, February 3, 2009

By	BYF "Backyard Flix" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

From Foreword:

"This volume unites for the first time 2 classic works of Irish folklore and mythology which could well have been published together long ago, since they were both first printed near the turn of the century.

The opening book is 'Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry,' selected and edited by Ireland's master poet, the Nobel Prize laureate, William Butler Yeats. First published in 1888, the beautiful, comic, and moving renditions of the tales in this collection have made it one of the most popular gathering of folk material in our century.

Though not overly long, the anthology is indeed comprehensive, covering in fine detail the gamut of Irish folklore from the trooping or dancing fairies, the 'Sidhe,' through the witches and sorcerers, shoemaking leprechauns, devils, ghosts, giants, robbers, kings and queens, to the fairy doctors and changelings - those children stolen by the fairies who leave one of their own in the child's place. In this collection, we witness weddings and burials, amble across meadows and through forests, and visit fairy drinking halls on the great feast of Samhain Eve (the Irish Halloween) and the land of the never-dying, ever-young Tir-na-n-Og.

These stories were written by some of the best Irish writers of their time: the illustrious Irish scholars, Douglas Hyde, Samuel Ferguson, William Allingham, and William Carleton, among others. There are also offerings by Yeats himself.

Lady Isabella Augusta Gregory's 'chef d'oevre,' Cuchulain of Muirthemne', constitutes the second half of this volume.