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

Flame Tree Collector's Editions Mythology

by J.K. Jackson (Editor), Sarah Dunnigan (Introduction), Judith John (contributor)

Scottish tales collected here are rooted in the lochs and highlands of the landscape.

Scottish folk and fairy tales are full of mischief and malevolence, with spirits and goblins, bogles, witches, kelpies and mer-folk lurking in every corner of the land, behind every tree and craggy rock at midnight. In these pages lurk the Fairy queen, and the Sith, or silent folk, who mingle with animals that speak of prophesy and lore, and enchantments that rule the twilight.

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, Scotland, Fantasy, Fiction, Folklore, Fairy Tales, Adult

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

[Graeme · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the idea of the book was great, and (though I struggled) I appreciated that it was in an older tongue. However, it felt like little effort was out into creating it - mostly a cut and paste job. The Glossary was filled with names and creatures from Greek Myths & Legends, and many of the words in this book had minimal explanation, or simply did not appear.
Loved the concept, and the original stories being captured in all their randomness and tangents was great, and the design is beautiful, but overall a lack of effort from the publisher to expand upon the experience left me disappointed.

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would of rated 3 and a half if possible. As much as I understand, a lot of these stories were translated from older tongues and different languages, it was sort of in half old Scott's and half new English, making it a little difficult at times. It was also many folk and fairy tales from scottish past and so, of course, I liked some stories better than others. Did find it interesting that a couple are clearly loosely based on for some well-known modern fairytale :D

[liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't keep going with this as the writing was too clunky and the stories had random violence and names that were given no context. I was disappointed as the introduction was really good, but that writer did not actually retell any of the stories. Disappointing as this book is so beautifully presented, but it's substance over style.

[Sierra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not complete this book as it was very hard to read. It's written in older style, with thy and thou, which in itself wouldn't be too bad with context clues. But it makes reading tedious and difficult. I end up picking and choosing the stories I read in it, but I really wish there had been additions of explanations or descriptions from the editor to make it smoother (cliff notes, or mini introduction to each one, or even a mini summary after each story).

[Shauna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Like others I can only say that the language was unwieldy. The translation is maybe not modern enough. The language is stilted and difficult to follow. The tales that I could read through made little sense, seemed to have no point, and often ended abruptly leaving me confused.

[Astrid]

I loved the idea of this, but it seems like the language was not for me.

[Shelby Lau · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. The language was a bit difficult to read and I couldn't really appreciate the stories. This works seems to be a very literal translation.

[lucie · Rating 3 out of 5]

classic lucie bedtime book

[Cheryl Kaye · Rating 2 out of 5]

A strange collection, that I found quite difficult to read in places.
Loved some stories but others were just confusing.

[Deanna Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was entertaining to read the type of tales that are of Scottish lore. I did not read the final 60 pages that are a glossary of definitions. But I might someday.

[Abi Pellinor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is sectioned off into different types of tales and mythical creatures and I really enjoyed delving into these Scottish folk tales. There were so many interesting ones that I've heard over the years as well as so many that were new to me.

I did wish that the stories had been rewritten slightly, the writing could have flowed a little more within each story rather than being stilted, and, although this wasn't the premise of the book, I think it would have benefited from explanations or further context. Especially for those who aren't familiar with any of the tales or the style of British folk tales.

Despite that, I enjoyed this and I'm excited to read more from this collection based around the world.