Shetland Folk Tales

Folk Tales

by Lawrence Tulloch

Being separate from the Scottish mainland, the Shetland Isles have a rich and unique tradition of folklore, from selkies to invading giants and Vikings. This book brings together for the first time many tales of the Isles, including The Boy Who Came from the Ground, and Norway’s First Troll, among many others. This collection is sure to enthrall and entertain those from the region and anyone who picks up a copy.

Genres: Fiction, Mythology, Short Stories, Folklore, Folk Tales, Fantasy, Scotland

208 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2014

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting stories told badly.

[Maeva ( maevareadsbooks_ ) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5/5

It’s the first time I was reading this kind of book, I found it after I started watching the TV series Shetland a few years ago, but finally read it this year. I really liked it, of course I liked some tales more than others. They are short and easy to read. The drawings made by Alexa, a French woman who lives in Shetland, are also really nice and cute when it comes to animals.

[Sara]

I bought this on MV Hjaltland on my way to Up Helly Aa and read it in Shetland after being stranded there (first due to COVID and then due to bad weather).

Lawrence Tulloch has a great collection of stories at his disposal and the illustrations by French-born artist Alexa Fitzgibbon complement them well. My favourite tale was how the midges were created from the ashes of a bloodthirsty giant.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this after watching all six seasons of Shetland and after reading two of the books in the series. I probably never will have the chance to visit these remote islands, so it was great learning the folklore and maybe a little historythat was thrown in.

[Moth Hay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Excited to read folk tales of my own heritage only to find poorly written Wikipedia articles. A lot of the ‘tales’ are just repetitions of each other or make repetitive claims that Shetland had no trees.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A super entertaining read

Short stories and many fairytales in this little book. Great fun to read! Memorize a few to tell if you're ever with good folk around a peat fire.

[Liette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice folk’s tales but many that seemed too similar, it became tedious.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because I have been enjoying the Shetland mystery series / tv show.