Traditional Irish Fairy Tales - Softcover

James Stephens

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486291669 ISBN 13: 9780486291666

Publisher: Dover Publications, 1996

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author

James Stephens (9 February 1880– 26 December 1950) was an Irish novelist and poet. James' mother worked in the home of the Collins family of Dublin and was adopted by them. James was brought up in a Protestant orphanage, the Meath Protestant Industrial School for Boys. He attended school with his adopted brothers Thomas and Richard (Tom and Dick) before graduating as a solicitor's clerk. They competed and won several athletic competitions despite James' slight stature (he stood 4'10" in his socks). He was known affectionately as 'Tiny Tim'. He was much enthralled by tales of military valour of his adoptive family and would have been a soldier except for his height. By the early 1900s James was increasingly inclined to socialism and the Irish language (he could speak and write Irish) and by 1912 was a dedicated Irish Republican. He was a close friend of the 1916 leader Thomas MacDonagh, who was then editor of "The Irish Review", manager of the Irish Theatre and deputy headmaster in St. Enda's, the radical bilingual school run by P.H. Pearse, and spent most with MacDonagh in 1911. His growing nationalism brought a schism with his adopted family, but probably won him his job as registrar in the National Gallery of Ireland, where he worked between 1915 and 1925, having previously had an ill-paid job with Mecredy solicitors' firm. James Stephens produced many retellings of Irish myths and fairy tales. His retellings are marked by a rare combination of humour and lyricism (Deirdre, and Irish Fairy Tales are often especially praised). He also wrote several original novels (The Crock of Gold, Etched in Moonlight, Demi-Gods) based loosely on Irish fairy tales. The Crock of Gold in particular has achieved enduring popularity and has often been reprinted.

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

Edition details

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0486291669
• ISBN 13: 9780486291666
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 197
• Illustrator: Arthur Rackham