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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #422504 in Books
• Published on: 1988-05-11
• Released on: 1988-05-11
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 768 pages

Inside Flap Copy
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.

Customer Reviews

Great collection of stories
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.