Irish Folk & Fairy Tales: Fables, Folklore & Ancient Stories

Flame Tree Collector's Editions Mythology

by J.K. Jackson (Editor)

A joyful compilation of entertaining folklore and fairytales from Ireland

Fairy stories, especially from the fertile landscape of Ireland where the supernatural grew from the legends of the Celts, are the magic stories of everyday folk seeking solutions to the challenges of the day. This spritely new collection brings together the fables and stories of banshees, kings, trembling farmers, tricksters and beloved princesses. ‘Smallhead and the King's Sons’ (a Cinderella story) and ‘The Haughty Princess’ (recalling Grimm’s ‘Kings Thrushbeard’) are amongst the many delightful tales of hope and reckless determination.

Flame Tree Collector's Editions present the foundations of speculative fiction, authors, myths and tales without which the imaginative literature of the twentieth century would not exist, bringing the best, most influential and most fascinating works into a striking and collectable library. Each book features a new introduction and a Glossary of Terms.

Genres: Mythology, Ireland, Folklore, Fantasy, Fiction, Short Stories, Classics

416 pages, Hardcover

Published November 22, 2022

About the author

The fantasy and mythology anthology editor J.K. Jackson is on Goodreads as Jake Jackson.

Reviews

[Liam Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it but I also struggled to finish it. It’s a big collection of short stories and I struggled through quite a few because I found them very confusing. Some of them I really loved thought but the balance was probably half and half. The fairies and sea folk section was my favourite and the story of Conn-Eda

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

An attractive hardcover filled with many interesting and hilarious short stories. The collection was wide ranging in style of writing and storytelling and has ignited more interest in Irish folk stories and language. The glossary at the back is unhelpful and the stories, collected by theme, lacked a sense of flow and, for someone who has little knowledge of Irish mythology, was often left grasping for definitions and pronunciations. It would be nice if the stories had individual introductions and vocabulary explanations. Still, enjoyed the read and will dive into more!

[Katrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave up finishing this collection. It has some great stories, but I feel like I should've learned Gaelic before ever trying to pick it up. Some stories were so heavy with dialect and terms I didn't understand that by the time I finished them, I had no clue what the story was about. Finishing feels like it would be more of a chore than an enjoyable experience.

[Erin Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thinking Day Ireland 2024