Into the Forest discussion

Let's discuss The Celtic Twilight: Faerie and Folklore by W.B. Yeats.

I'm going to read this.

I plan to as well. I think I've read excerpts. I'm not sure when I'll get to it.

I randomly picked it up on Sunday and have read half. It's really short (about 140 pages I think) so a quick read.

Emily wrote: "I randomly picked it up on Sunday and have read half. It's really short (about 140 pages I think) so a quick read."

Good to know.

Is it available online? My library doesn't have it.

Free from Amazon Kindle and Gutenberg https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10459

I started this evening.

It is quite rambling and anecdotal, but I get a real sense of social history in Ireland in the early twentieth century, through the mix of folklore and Irish Catholicism.

These are the kind of people who inhabit Hannah Kent's The Good People.

I just got my copy in the mail. I’ll look at it this weekend.

Picked up my copy last night and it's not what I was expecting, but I'm enjoying it so far. I don't like my version so much, it's cheap and flimsy - nothing I'd be proud to showcase in my library, but the interior is what matters anyway.

Amanda wrote: "Free from Amazon Kindle and Gutenberg https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10459"

Thank you Amanda!

How beautifully he writes?

Hazelmaddie wrote: "The book is fine so far, i'm going to put down and try something else though. It's an interesting collection of myths, but it feels like he just jotted them down and published as is."

It is epidsodic and obviously doesn't have anything in the way of plot, but it wasn't just jotted down as is. I read somewhere (possibly the introduction to my version) that Yeats was unsatisfied with much of what he had written, having written it in a somewhat ornate, portentous style that was popular at the time, and that a friend of his recommended paring it down and trying to make the language as simple as possible. He did so, some years after the writing, and it saved the material for him (proof positive that it's harder to write something simple than something complex!)

I believe it was also a central text to what Yeats and his friends were trying to do... rebuild a notion of Irishness and Irish culture as distinct from the British who had ruled Ireland for hundreds of years. James Joyce, for example, was quite critical of this movement, thinking it misrepresented Ireland (as almost nobody spoke Gaelic any more at the time) but many intellectuals were relearning Gaelic and celebrating folklore sources, and Yeats was part of this movement (the Celtic Revival or Irish Literary Revival). It's likely that rather than just chatting to people and writing down what they said, he specifically went looking for the kind of people who would tell this kind of story.

Emily wrote: "I believe it was also a central text to what Yeats and his friends were trying to do... rebuild a notion of Irishness and Irish culture as distinct from the British who had ruled Ireland for hundreds of years. James Joyce, for example, was quite critical of this movement, thinking it misrepresented Ireland (as almost nobody spoke Gaelic any more at the time) but many intellectuals were relearning Gaelic and celebrating folklore sources, and Yeats was part of this movement (the Celtic Revival or Irish Literary Revival). It's likely that rather than just chatting to people and writing down what they said, he specifically went looking for the kind of people who would tell this kind of story."

Interesting history, Emily. So many fairytale collections were written for similar reasons--an attempt to preserve the folklore and culture of a society from oppressors.

I have read parts of this, but never the entire text. I have some articles due the 15th that require me to read some recent and upcoming releases, but after that, I'll check this out and join the discussion.

Emily wrote: "Hazelmaddie wrote: "The book is fine so far, i'm going to put down and try something else though. It's an interesting collection of myths, but it feels like he just jotted them down and published a..."

This is interesting to know Emily! Thanks for sharing this information!

I've been reading quite a bit about Yeats and Joyce in the last couple of years, so this was a great chance to finally read The Celtic Twilight!

Like Maddie though, I've taking breaks to read some more plotty fiction as I go. ;-)

This is generally called the "Celtic Revival" or "Gaelic Revival" if you want to look up books on the subject.

Just wanted to flag up a parallel discussion of 'Celticity' from a Welsh perspective. Dr. Gwilym Morris has a great series of video podcasts inlcuding this one on Pagan Celtic Revival and Cultural Appropriation. You will be relieved to know that it is not an angry rant but a considered, reflective, informed and sometimes funny discussion of stuff that might be of interest to you. Here's the link https://gwilmor.com/celtic-spirituali...

I also have something in a similar vein from the British Museum's big 'Celts' exhibition a while back https://www.michaelharvey.org/new-blo...

If you are after a discussion of Celtic identity from a Welsh perspective you could try The Taliesin Tradition by Emyr Humphreys

Thanks for those, Michael!

Emily, Michael, thank you for your informative comments :) . It's interesting to read that Welsh and Irish people attempted to reclaim their cultural and linguistic heritage in the past.

Asaria wrote: "Emily, Michael, thank you for your informative comments :) . It's interesting to read that Welsh and Irish people attempted to reclaim their cultural and linguistic heritage in the past."

Yes, thank you for the links and also the reminder that all cultures and languages can be subject to appropriation.

I just finished Celtic Twilight. While it took a number of tales to get into Yeats’ storytelling style, I enjoyed reading the collection. He was so wise to collect these tales of the people and from the people. So much is lost to never be regained from past generations.

Annette wrote: "I just finished Celtic Twilight. While it took a number of tales to get into Yeats’ storytelling style, I enjoyed reading the collection. He was so wise to collect these tales of the people and fro..."

I'm glad I wasn't alone, Annette. It took me more than I realized it would to get into this book. I had to stop and restart a number of times before I was able to adapt to his style of writing, but I still felt that the best of his stories were in the middle. Still, this has awakened my desire to go to Ireland and visit the mystical land =)