Skip to main content

Irish Fairy Tales by James Stephens

Irish Fairy Tales is a collection of ten stories mostly about the Fenian Cycle. The tales which feature Finn primarily, begins with the story of the settlement of different races in Ireland.



The rest of the stories are about the people related to Finn or about Finn himself. The following are the stories contained in this book:

The Story of Tuan Mac Cairill
The Boyhood of Fionn
The Birth of Bran
Oisin's Mother
The Wooing of Becfola
The Little Brawl at Allen
The Carl of the Drab Coat
The Enchanted Cave of Cesh Corran
Becuma of the White Skin
Morgan's Frenzy

Although most of the stories are related to the Fenian cycle, there was no mention of Oisin other than the story of his birth. There was no mention of Grania and Dermot too.

The stories are easy to understand even if the reader is not familiar with Celtic mythology in general. When Stephens used an unfamiliar term, he explained its meaning. Readers who are well-versed with the Fenian cycle however, will find that this book is not a chronological re-telling of Finn's story.

Stephens did a good job adding features to the the characters without having to sacrifice how they were typically portrayed in the myths. The messages of the stories are not lost. And although the stories are not necessarily interconnected, it was easy to follow the transition from one story to the next because he takes his time to introduce the characters and develop the tension in the story.

My favorite would have to be The Birth of Bran because dogs took the spotlight in this story. Fergus Fionnliath's conversion was very touching.

I'm giving this book a 10 out of 10 rating.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Comments are always welcome! Please keep it clean.

Popular Posts

Deities and Mythical Beings of the Davao Tribes

Note: I don't claim to be an expert in the mythology and religion of the six tribes featured here. My source for this information is Fay-Cooper Cole's The Wild Tribes of Davao District, Mindanao. This entry is solely a list for future references. The deities and mythological creatures here are from Fay-Cooper Cole's The Wild Tribes of Davao District, Mindanao . This is a list of the gods, goddesses, and spirits/spirit classes of the Bagobo, Bila-an, Kulaman, Tagakaolo, Ata, and Mandaya. I retained the spelling of the names found in the book. For full accounts of the myths and customs of the tribes, I recommend reading the book. BAGOBO Eugpamolak Manobo/Manama/Kalayagan  - first and greatest creator whose home is in the sky. Offerings for him should be white. Tolus ka balakat - name means "dweller in the balakat"; loves blood but not the flesh of humans and is one of the three deities for whom the yearly sacrifice is made. Mandarangan and Darago - husba...
Read more entries»

An Analysis of the Enuma Elish (The Epic of Creation) or The Seven Tablets of Creation, A Babylonian Creation Myth

*Note: This was a term paper for a class. Since I don't know what grade the professor gave me (or of she even read the paper at all), I decided to post it here. The Enuma Elish is also called The Seven Tablets of Creation. It documents the Babylonian creation epic. It was recorded in seven clay tablets found at various locations including the infamous library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh, discovered by Austen Henry Layard. The name of the hero of the epic varies depending on where the tablet is found. The most common version tells of Marduk as the hero. In other versions, the god of the city is considered the hero. Introduction The title of the epic is taken from its opening line “When in the height, heaven was not named...” The epic chronicles Marduk’s war against Tiamat. He leads the other gods against the old divinity who had turned against her children. Besides Marduk’s exploits, the epic also tells about the birth of the gods and goddesses and the creation of the universe....
Post a Comment
Read more entries»

The Ghost of Sparta: A Review of the God of War Series

Several adaptations of Greek Mythology in media have appeared over the years. Some were successful while the others have failed to represent the ancient Greeks. Among the most memorable I've encountered is this series. Not only was it able to illustrate the heroes, monsters and gods in myths, but also brought to the fore the often ignored question - what happens to the Greek pantheon after they defeated the Titans? It is unique because the hero in this game is not a hercules-achilles-jason clone. The protagonist is a minor figure in Greek mythology. Kratos (Cratos) is a servant of the gods and one of Zeus' children, which is close enough to the real version (Cratos is not a child of Zeus, but one of his servants along with Nike). And unlike most heroes, he does not carry weapons to save humanity. He seeks revenge to cleanse his past. The series began when he sought to kill Ares, the God of War.  He was finally able to kill Ares with the help of the other gods. The portrayal...
Post a Comment
Read more entries»

Literary Theory and Criticism

Note: This is my final paper for Adv. Literary Theory and Criticism, one of my classes in MA in Literature.  October 2015. I'm posting this here as a backup in case I lose my copy and I need a guide in the future. Literature is the soul of a civilization. It is the collection of dreams, ideas and experiences of a people. It is what separates us from animals. It is an examination of our aspirations, happiness, fears and sadness, ideas and opinions. As a student of literature, I have learned that to get the most out of a poem, short story, novel, play or film, I must go beyond simple reading and observation. To do this however, I have to answer first the question "how do we fully appreciate a literary piece?" This essay is divided into four sections, namely; what is literature for me; the literary theories and criticism; Heneral Luna: a film review using the poststructuralist approach; and what makes a good literature? In the first part, I will recall my experiences a...
Post a Comment
Read more entries»