Irish Folk and Fairy Tale Omnibus

by Michael Scott

Here, in one volume, are the tales and legends of Ireland, from the misty dawn of Gaelic history through the triumph of St. Patrick, and up to the present day; tales and legends as beautiful, mystical and enchanting as the ancient land itself. In this marvellous book you will meet banshees, fairy midwives, Oisin, the doomed lovers Dermot and Grannia, Deirdre and the Sons of Unsach, and almost every folk hero and heroine of importance. There are forty-two stories in the Irish Folk and Fairy Tale Omnibus, all peopled by men and women of myth and legend, heroic figures who make Ireland's tradition of storytelling so fascinating and enduring.

Genres: Fantasy, Mythology, Folklore, Ireland, Fairy Tales, Reference, Short Stories

641 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Irish-born Michael Scott began writing over thirty years ago, and is one of Ireland's most successful and prolific authors, with over one hundred titles to his credit, spanning a
variety of genres, including Fantasy, Science Fiction and Folklore.

He writes for both adults and young adults and is published in thirty-seven countries, in over twenty languages.

Praised for his “unparalleled contribution to children’s literature,” by the Guide to Children’s
Books, Michael Scott was the Writer in Residence during Dublin’s tenure as European City of Culture in 1991, and was featured in the 2006 edition of Who’s Who in Ireland as one of the 1000
most “significant Irish.”

Reviews

[Kelly]

Dazzlingly good!!!
The action was 80's, lots of heroism.
Loved the sense of belonging from the Tuath de Danaan. Loved the old tales.
Chilling and intricate, the tales were linked.
Can't wait to reread this book.

[Christopher]

This summer I picked up a book called, Irish Folk and Fairy Tales Omnibus by Michael Scott, from Dublin Ireland. This book compiled 17 Irish folk tales into one. It caught my attention because the first three stories are about the sorrows of Irish storytelling. It takes upon various tales and roles them into one. The stories are like Homers, Odyssey in that it is a tale with many quests. They also pull from the traditional Irish Catholic theme of penance and doing good for others less fortunate. Finally, it is similar to most countries folk tales as it tells a story of the people and how they came to be. Folk tales and fairy tales are a great way to get to know a country and this book gave me insight into the people of Ireland. I highly recommend it as it is a book that takes the reader on multiple adventures to different lands.

[Mae]

Well written interesting effort to compile Irish Fairy tales. I found particularly good, how he organized the book chronologically, The reader travels through time and revisits Irish magic history. We have the opportunity to meet some of the characters. My favorite being Nano Hayes. She is the quintessential Irish grandmother/sorceress. After almost 900 pages, I wanted more and would have gladly read another 900 pages.
Ireland is a place that looks magic, and I can understand where all these stories come from. My trips around Ireland, have shown me areas of such mesmerizing beauty and you can feel the magic in this beauty. A decent Omnibus of Irish folk tales.

[Pausonious]

Many of the renditions of old mythology, stories of the Tuatha Dé Danann, were made good renditions of and written in engaging ways. Mythological stories like the Children of Lir, The Sons of Tureen, The Sons of Usnach, Midir and Etain, etc etc. were all told very well. However, the smaller stories seemingly constructed entirely by the author himself around cliché folklore like Leprechauns, Bean-Sí, that were more very short stories told for themselves without any depth to them, unlike old tales such as Oisín i dTír na nÓg, which will always be good when well rendered, as it was in this omnibus. I'd recommend you skip the smaller authorial stories in favour of the renditions.

[R.L.]

English review below the Greek one...

Μερικές φορές το πως δένεται κανείς με ένα βιβλίο είναι κάτι προσωπικό. Το συγκεκριμένο έχει θέση στην καρδιά μου, διότι το πρωτοδιάβασα όταν ήμουν στην Ιρλανδία και διότι μου άρεσε πάρα πολύ το συναίσθημα που βγάζουν οι περισσότερες ιστορίες.

Ο Micheal Scott γύρισε πολλές φορές προς τα τέλη της δεκαετίας του '70 κυρίως τις νοτιοδυτικές επαρχίες της Ιρλανδίας και συνέλεξε πολλές ιστορίες, οι οποίες αποτέλεσαν την βάση για να γράψει πολλά κεφάλαια αυτού του βιβλίου. Άλλα κεφάλαια είναι η αφήγηση πιο γνωστών, "κλασσικών" μύθων και άλλα αγγίζουν πιο πολύ την λαογραφία και τις προλήψεις/πεποιθήσεις τους Ιρλανδικού λαού, πρόσφατες και πιο παλιές. Γενικά το βιβλίο έχει μεγάλη ποικιλία και είναι γραμμένο πολύ παραστατικά και αφήνοντας ένα γλυκόπικρο συναίσθημα. Δεν είναι τυχαίο που ο συγγραφέας έχει γράψει και πολλές επιτυχημένες σειρές φαντασίας. Ένας ωραίος σύγχρονος παραμυθάς!


Well, sometimes our “relations” with books is something very personal. My “relationship” with this book and two others of Michael Scott (they serve as an informal trilogy on Irish Mythology, Folklore and Legends) is a very special one, because I first read them once upon a time, while been in Ireland my shelf.

I've read them all many times during the year and it was a pleasure to delve into this book once again!

The way the author narrates and reforms well-known old myths and stories and unites older with more recent times and beliefs, is on my opinion amazing. He creates a bittersweet ambience and provokes lots of feelings, even if the reader is the most realistic and romantic-less person. Michael Scott has written many other fantasy books and series (which I haven’t read) and successfully manages to draw the reader inside the world he builds every time. He has make research and collected many stories on the spot, yet he doesn’t constrict his writing on a dry transcribing, like unfortunately many other folklorists do. On the contrary, he brings to life his stories, continuing the long tradition of story tellers/bards of his country.

There is one story that doesn't fit in this book, but all the rest vary from very ancient, heroic-time myths to elf-ish folklore and from the coming of Christianity to the Emerald Isle to modern times' witty tales.
Originally there were three different volumes that are now printed together at this omnibus edition, so maybe one could find the book hard to read in one go(?) but personally I read it in a few days' time and enjoyed it a lot!

My review/rating is a very personal one I guess, but in general I think that this is an interesting and easy book.

[Rosemary]

Collected in three distinct volumes, this is a massive and wondrous book, telling tales both known and unknown of the magic and legendary history of Ireland. With old Tuatha De Danann god-people, human druids, Christian priests, Fae creatures of the Otherworld, nigh-Immortal wise women, real historical events in Ireland’s history daubed with myth, this is an outstanding volume — especially as it is told by Michael Scott’s narrative, turning legend into the sumptuously rich fantasy of a 1980s Sword and Sorcery Blockbuster movie.

Volume I: The Legendary Mythos of the God-People, all the larger than life stories, weaving an outstanding and terribly tragic narrative of the valiant heroes, the betrayed, and the whittled and lonely race before humanity.

Volume II: The War of Humanity Against the Mystical, all the half-historical tall-tales of the great past, with ancestors fighting monstrous beings, encountering otherworldly lovers, using awe-inspiring magics, and the rise of the Christian God against the Witch-cults.

Volume III: The End and Continuation of the Magic World, where from the dawn of time through present day the great and old Power has dwindled down and down, and the encounters with the fantastic become wane and weak but no less dangerous, and the wise old witch-woman and the last of the great God-People deal with the modern world in the calm understanding that time will soon sweep them away to nothing more than legend—but they will survive on in belief and faith.

A bittersweet, poignant masterpiece.

[MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm]

A beautiful collection of Irish lore. If you love fairytales and myths, you will love this book! Definitely written for a mature audience, as all the best folklore is a bit racy. Michael Scott has done a magnificent job collecting some of the best and most obscure lore from the people from the land itself. He heard the stories from the storytellers themselves, and I think it shows in the way their voice shines through.

These aren’t corporate America’s fairies and leprechauns. These elven and fey Folk will fuck you up...and laugh whilst doing it!

[ï]

As some have already said: The best part of this book are the long stories while the short ones could have been left out. Still, I enjoyed learning about the Tuathe De Danann

[Karl Goerz]

Epic! Although a collection of stories, they really come together as one. Unfortunate for the author to have his name stained by TV series "The Office".

[Sarah Main]

It’s no surprise, these are perfect tell-around-the-fire stories. They’re spooky, and funny, and sweet. You could tell some of them to a little kid, and some of them are more mature. Irish folklore is so rich. I’m glad I found this book, wherever it was I found it.

[Winterdragon]

It was a pleasure to dive headlong into the Irish folklore. Interesting, too, to see that basically all tropes of modern fantasy have their roots in Irish myth. Diverse and accessible, I thoroughly recommend this 600+ pages collection of fairytales to anyone with a taste for storytelling tradition or the fantastic.

[Christine]

I love love love this book, the stories are so interesting and the charaters so attention grabbing that you wont want to put it down, belive me. The stories with Nano Hayes are my personal favorite but I also love the were-creature stories and the stories about the farie host.

[Erren Wolf]

I am of Irish ancestry and I really love the fairy tales of old Ireland. They are simple, but captivating and makes you wonder what true tale they came from and how their stories ended up as they are today, or were they totally stories of someone else's imagination of long ago?

[Alanna]

For a while now I've been inching my way through anything I could find on the Tuatha De Danann, so this book appeared at the perfect time. There was enough stories that I could read them all in bits and pieces, but it was also the glimpse into mythology and history that I needed.

[Яна Хараланова]

Измъчи ме и я зарязах накрая. :(

[Minette Visser]

<3<3<3

[Anne]

good

[Maggie]

One of the books that travels with me wherever i move

[Ecskchia]

It's a great book for short stories. Love the Irish folklores. A must read if you can get a hold of it. And more importantly if you enjoy folklores and fairy tales.