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It is a widely held belief, especially amongst the peoples of English-speaking nations, that the Irish have the gift of the gab. Samuel Lover's Irish Stories and Legends shows the utter truthfulness of this conviction. After a recitation by Samuel Lover of a few tales at a dinner party, he was subsequently convinced to publish two of them in the Dublin Literary Gazette. The favourable reception of these tales resulted in Irish Stories and Legends, an exquisite and exceptional volume of Irish folklore. Prepared and collated with very few changes, Samuel Lover wanted to stay true to the original stories, so that the written story would enchant readers as though it were being presented in the vernacular. So curl up with this unique piece of Irish folklore, not seen in print for over one hundred and seventy years, and let the Gift of the Irish enchant and captivate you. Samuel Lover (1797-1868) was an Irish novelist, a songwriter, and a painter of portraits. So famous was this son of Ireland that a memorial to him stands in St Patrick's Cathedral, in Dublin. Less well-known is the fact that he was the also the grandfather of Victor Herbert, a famous Broadway composer. Renowned for his clever twist of phrase, Samuel Lover once said, "When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen". We're grateful that he never stopped "itching"! Later in life, Samuel moved to London and joined with Dickens in founding Bentley's Magazine. Dickens was the magazine's first editor, and Oliver Twist its first serial. Lover certainly kept illustrious company. The memorial in St Patrick's Cathedral summarises Lover's achievements thusly: Poet, painter, novelist and composer, who, in the exercise of a genius as distinguished in its versatility as in its power, by his pen and pencil illustrated so happily the characteristics of the peasantry of his country that his name will ever be honourably identified with Ireland. A percentage of the sale of this book will be donated towards the education of underprivileged youth in Ireland. ... Read more

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South Asian migration during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was largely comprised of indentured labourers sent to British colonies after the 1833 abolition of slavery. Mythologies of Migration, Vocabularies of Indenture uses the critical paradigm of 'indenture history' to examine the local literary and cultural histories that have influenced and shaped the development of novel-length fiction by writers of the South Asian diaspora in national contexts as diverse as Mauritius, South Africa, Guyana, and Fiji.

Mariam Pirbhai perceptively identifies common patterns, developments, and concerns in this cross-continental body of writing, including a 'vocabulary of indenture' that invokes the mythology and plight of the indentured labourer among a newly reconstituted community of colonial émigrés. Pirbhai's innovative study considers authors who fall outside the established canon of post-colonial writing, challenging readers to reconsider traditional peripheries as centres of literary and cultural production that have made significant contributions to the Anglophone novel.

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Welsh Fairy Tales. please visit www.valdebooks.com for a full list of titles ... Read more

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The author traces the development of Owain Glyndwr as a national redeemer in Welsh folklore, history and literature. Glyndwr, who led the last major armed rebellion of the Welsh against the English at the beginning of the 15th century, was viewed in his own time as redeemer-hero (the hero who will restore the nation to its former glory) and has since become a primary symbol of modern Welsh nationalism. This study examines the redeemer-heroes who preceded Glyndwr and provided the traditional role which he assumed, the ways in which Glyndwr and his followers used traditional expectations, and the variations and developments in the traditions which have arisen in the centuries since Glyndwr, leading to his invocation by politicians and nationalists. It is concerned with patterned expectations, with the ways in which tradition shapes people's understanding of history, their perception of the present, and thus the unfolding of the future, and conversely, it is concerned with the ways in which people shape their traditions to fit their ever changing needs and perceptions.Based on research carried out in both the library and the field, with materials ranging from 9th-century to 20th-century legends, it puts contemporary issues of nationalism in an historical and traditional context. ... Read more

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More than a hundred years ago, Freud made a new mythology by revising an old one: Oedipus, in Sophocles' tragedy the legendary perpetrator of shocking crimes, was an Everyman whose story of incest and parricide represented the fulfillment of universal and long forgotten childhood wishes. The Oedipus complex - child, mother, father - suited the nuclear families of the mid-twentieth century. But a century after the arrival of the psychoanalytic Oedipus, it might seem that modern lives are very much changed. Typical family formations and norms of sexual attachment are changing, while the conditions of sexual difference, both biologically and socially, have undergone far-reaching modifications. Today, it is possible to choose and live subjective stories that the first psychoanalytic patients could only dream of. Different troubles and enjoyments are speakable and unspeakable; different selves are rejected, discovered, or sought. Many kinds of hitherto unrepresented or unrepresentable identity have entered into the ordinary surrounding stories through which children and adults find their bearings in the world, while others have become obsolete. Biographical narratives that would previously have seemed unthinkable or incredible--'a likely story!'-have acquired the straightforward plausibility of a likely story.

This book takes two Freudian routes to think about some of the present entanglements of identity. First, it follows Freud in returning to Greek tragedies - Oedipus and others - which may now appear strikingly different in the light of today's issues of family and sexuality. And second, it re-examines Freud's own theories from these newer perspectives, drawing out different strands of his stories of how children develop and how people change (or don't). Both kinds of mythology, the classical and the theoretical, may now, in their difference, illuminate some of the forming stories of our contemporary world of serial families, multiple sexualities, and new reproductive technologies. ... Read more

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Book Description:

"A fairy (also fey or fae or faerie; collectively, wee folk, good folk, people of peace, and other euphemisms) is the name given to an alleged metaphysical spirit or supernatural being.

The fairy is based on the fae of medieval Western European (Old French) folklore and romance. Fairies are often identified with related beings of other mythologies (see list of beings referred to as fairies). Even in folklore that uses the term "fairy," there are many definitions of what constitutes a fairy. Sometimes the term is used to describe any magical creature, including goblins or gnomes: at other times, the term only describes a specific type of more ethereal creature.

Fairies are generally described as human in appearance and as having magical powers. Their origins are less clear in the folklore, being variously the dead, or some form of angel, or a species completely independent of humans or angels. Folklorists have suggested that their actual origin lies in a conquered race living in hiding, or in religious beliefs that lost currency with the advent of Christianity. These explanations are not always mutually incompatible, and they may be traceable to multiple sources.

Much of the folklore about fairies revolves about protection from their malice, by such means as cold iron (fairies don't like iron and will not go near it) or charms of rowan and herbs, or avoiding offense by shunning locations known to be theirs. In particular, folklore describes how to prevent the fairies from stealing babies and substituting changelings, and abducting older people as well. Many folktales are told of fairies, and they appear as characters in stories from medieval tales of chivalry, to Victorian fairy tales, and up to the present day in modern literature." (Quote from wikipedia.org)

Table of Contents:

Publisher's Preface; Preface; Notes On Welsh Pronunciation; The Lady Of The Lake; Arthur In The Cave; The Curse Of Pantannas; The Drowning Of The Bottom Hundred; Elidyr's Sojurn In Fairy-land; Rhys And Llywelyn; Lowri Dafydd Earns A Purse Of Gold; The Llanfabon Changeling; Why The Red Dragon Is The Emblem Of Wales; Llyn Cwm Llwch; The Adventures Of Three Farmers; Cadwaladr And His Goat; The Fairy Wife; Einion And The Lady Of The Greenwood; The Green Isles Of The Ocean; March's Ears; The Fairy Harp; Guto Bach And The Fairies; Ianto's Chase; The Stray Cow; Bala Lake; The Forbidden Mountain; Tudor Ap Einion; The Fairy Walking Stick; Dick The Fiddler's Money; A Strange Otter; Fairy Ointment; Pergrin And The Mermaiden; The Cave Of The Young Men Of Snowdonia; Einion And The Fair Family; St. Collen And The King Of Faery; Helig's Hollow; Owen Goes A-wooing; The Fairy Reward; Why Deunant Has The Front Door In The Back; Getting Rid Of The Fairies; The Mantle Of Kings' Beards; Pedws Ffowk And St Elian's Well; Magic Music; Sili Go Dwt; Another Changeling; A Fairy Borrowing; Treasure Seeking; The Richest Man; St. Beuno And The Curlew; The Cat Witches; The Swallowed Court; What Marged Rolant Saw; Ned Puw's Farewell; Pennard Castle; The Man With The Green Weeds; Goronwy Tudor And The Witches Of Llanddona; Robin's Return; The Harper's Gratuity; Six And Four Are Ten; Envy Burns Itself; The Bride From The Red Lake; A Fairy Dog; Grace's Well; The Fairy Password; St. Winifred's Well; The Ancients Of The World; Nansi Llwyd And The Dog Of Darkness; An Adventure In The Big Bog; The Pwca Of The Trwyn; Johnny Gethin And The Candle; Fetching A Halter; Dai Sion's Homecoming; Melangell's Lambs; Syfaddon Lake; The Power Of St. Tegla's Well; The Men Of Ardudwy; The Parti-coloured Cow; Striking A Corpse Candle; Hu Gadarn; The Devil's Bridge; The Martyred Hound; Twm Of The Fair Lies; Black Robin; Llyn Llech Owen; A Ghostly Rehersal; A Phantom Funeral; Why The Robin's Breast Is Red

About the Publisher:

Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Clas ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Making sense of Welsh fairy stories.
I started taking myths and legends more seriously when I realised that most cultures on this planet have a Noah's Flood story that is spookily similar to all the others. As those guys didn't have email or SMS then it could be that there was a world wide event in ancient times that was relayed to future ages through the art of the story teller.
The Welsh Fairy Book is a collection of ancient myths and legends and if you have the kind of open mind that accepts visitors from other worlds with unusual powers, flying vehicles and time warp then there is some fun reading here.

For me though, it is also a handy guide to have around when I am trying to decipher the story in the original language for my Welsh homework.

The Welsh
I got this book, since I visited the British Isle (Britain & Scotland) in 1984. ... Read more

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the prince of annwn
this book really helped me in the understanding of welsh myth. i have been looking for a good series of books on this subject and these are the best that i have found. ... Read more

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Once upon Olympus is a re-telling of some of the most famous Greek myths, with an original twist - with Zeus as narrator the stories are direct and should particularly appeal to children . . . Come up closer and listen to the amazing tales I want to tell you about my family: terrifying tales about fierce Artemis and mighty Herakles, amusing stories about Apollo and Hermes, Hera and Hephaestus. But where to begin? With my own story of course!Once upon Olympus is one of eleven books that make up Extended Reading Level A, for children in Year 5/Primary 6. This phase of Cambridge Reading has an increased provision of extended narratives and aims to develop children's knowledge about language, its vocabulary, forms, structures and styles. ... Read more

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Psyche and Eros is a highly attractive way to introduce children to one of the great Greek myths: Aphrodite, the goddess of love, is deeply jealous of Psyche, a beautiful human girl. When Aphrodite's son, Eros, falls in love with Psyche, Aphrodite tries to get rid of her in various unusual ways. But Psyche isn't just a pretty face. Colourful cartoons and comic dialogue bring Psyche and her adventures with the God of Love and in the Underworld right up to date! The cartoon format will appeal to reluctant readersPsyche and Eros is one of eleven books that make up Extended Reading Level A, for children in Year 5/Primary 6. This phase of Cambridge Reading aims to develop children's knowledge about language, its vocabulary, forms, structures and styles. ... Read more

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When Peter Connolly's superb retelling of the stories of Homer first appeared in 1988, the critics raved. Publishers Weekly called it a "robust work...richly gratifying for one and all." The Philadelphia Inquirer said, "I started reading Odysseus and could not stop.... A wonderful book for older children."
Stunningly illustrated, the stories of The Iliad and The Odyssey are interspersed with accurate and fascinating historical information about the world at the time of the Trojan Wars. There are maps, photographs, and detailed reconstructions of places and buildings in the text, such as Old Nestor's palace at Pylos, and of course the city of Troy itself. And Connolly includes a wealth of archaeological evidence of the everyday life of the period: clothing, domestic life, religious rites, shipbuilding and armor-making.
The hardback edition of The Legend of Odysseus is the cornerstone of the entire Rebuilding the Past series. Now this acclaimed book is available in paperback, making its accessible and entertaining history even more appealing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fantastic historically and in simplifing the plots.
This book has very neatly drawn all the plot threads of the Iliad and Odyssey together in a succinct way.This should never be read instead of the Iliad and Odyssey by Homer, but as a historical enhancement.The illustrations are excellent and accurate for Mycenaean era culture in Greece.I am loving this addition to my library. ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fables, English/ History and criticism; Children/ Books and reading/ Great Britain/ History/ 19th century; English literature/ 19th century/ History and criticism; Fables, English; English literature; Children's literature, English; Didactic literature, English; Illustration of books; Parables; Children; Children's literature; Literary Criticism / General; Social Science / Folklore ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

American Precursor to Ogden Nash
Carryl's talent is in the same league as Ogden Nash's or Lewis Carroll's.He was an American, but his humor has more of a British (a la Monty Python) feel:macaronic, affectatiously aloof, and nonsensical.If you are serious about whimsy, you will love Guy Wetmore Carryl.

Funny!
This is absolutely hilarious. I found the funny and silly fables here to be masterfully crafted and great for a good chuckle. ... Read more

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These seventeen stories first published in book form stunningly present the Celtic legends and myths of the Arthurian quest for the Grail. ... Read more