Treasury of Irish Myth, Legend & Folklore

by Lady Augusta Gregory

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 051748904X
• ISBN13: 9780517489048
• Release Date: August 1986
• Publisher: Gramercy Books
• Length: 768 Pages
• Weight: 2.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.2" x 6.2" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

great service.

love this book came to me like new. has great poems and songs in the book.

Great collection

This collection is in two parts. The first part is a collection of Irish folktales concerning fairy folk, witchcraft, ghosts, devils, saints, and so forth. It is an important collection for any amateur folklorist. Many of the tales are well told and are sources for other collections (including Kevin Crossley Holland's "Folktales of the British Isles") but unlike most anthologies with a wider focus, this contains a very large amount of specifically Irish material. The second component is that of Lady Gregory's retelling of the Ulster Cycle. This too is quite well done, though there have been many translations since (and I personally am fond of the Kinsella translation). I would highly recommend this book.

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.