The Science of Fairy Tales: An Inquiry into Fairy Mythology

by Edwin Sidney Hartland

This early work is both expensive and hard to find in its first edition. The chief object of this volume is to exhibit, in a manner acceptable to readers who are not specialists, the application of the principles and methods which guide investigations into popular traditions to a few of the most remarkable stories embodying the Fairy superstitions of the Celtic and Teutonic peoples. This is a fascinating investigation by an industrious and scrupulous author that is thoroughly recommended reading for all those interested in the popular mythology and folklore of Europe. Contents: The Art of Story-telling; Savage Ideas; Fairy Births and Human Midwives; Changlings; Robberies from Fairyland; The Supernatural Laps of Time in Fairyland; Swan-Maidens; Conclusion. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mythology, Research, Fairy Tales, Writing, History, Fairies

380 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1891

Reviews

[Pamela Lloyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was hard to read for many reasons, most notably the lack of organization as the author compared multiple stories and analyzed the links between them and the Victorian attitudes expressed toward non-European cultures. Even so, I learned a lot from this book and will consider reading it again, this time with note-taking materials at hand, in order to better integrate the great breadth of the material covered. Definitely a worthwhile read.

[Brendan Shusterman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let’s pick up a Victorian-era book about the History of Faerie folk they said...

It will be fun they said...

OH GOD WHY WHY WHY IS THERE SO MUCH RACISM?

(And to clarify, it was the wee little Faerie folk who told me to pick it up...)

Honestly though, there are some interesting stories in here once you weed through all the racist bullshit, and there is a lot of that to weed through.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.50

Very interesting read about the common fairytales (märchen) and sagas types from around the world, especially Europe (but touches all continents) , their parallels across cultures, and how somehow that makes us all humans of the same calibre.

As it was published in 1891, there are some antiquated views in respect to cultures and different civilisations. It is very mild, but the author being so dry and very objective that it feels more the product its time rather than the author's personal opinion.

Borrowed from the Library.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed the discussion of the formula of what makes a fairy tale, the comparisons were a bit too disorganized to follow. I found “The Fairy Tellers” did a better job of explaining the origins and comparisons of various tales a little bit better.

[airy xie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sebagai pemula dalam mempelajari folktale, isi buku ini sangat mencerahkan. Banyak hal yang selama ini kupertanyakan tentang cerita rakyat, mendapatkan jawaban secara keilmuan (bukan logika secara isi cerita).

Bahasa Hartland juga mudah dimengerti, meskipun banyak istilah yang mana membutuhkan ditemani kamus ketika membacanya, tapi aliran kalimatnya menyenangkan.

Satu-satunya pengalaman buruk membaca buku ini adalah edisi yang kubeli adalah edisi ekonomis dimana 367 halaman dimampatkan menjadi 154 halaman. Benar-benar neraka bagi mata.

[Ali · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can't reasonably give this any higher than this because 1) I fully skipped some sections that were especially boring and 2) it was kind of hard to read between the meandering formatting and the, y'know, racism, but it got the job done for the research I needed in a pinch. Would've preferred to use a different text but this one is freely available in full on Wikisource, and it was nice to be able to search through it.

[Dan Zarfati · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like other classics, this book goes to great lengths with the characteristics of the fairies in all their important themes, such as challengings and apparitions, abductions, shape-shifting, punishments, and the whole attitudes.

[Shannon]

15.6 The Truth Is...