The Dictionary of Fairies was written by Katherine Briggs in February of 2003.
There are over a thousand fairies in the book that has 513 pages. Don’t be upset about the number of pages because you don’t have to read it all at once and it doesn’t have to be in order.
I saw the book in WHSmith Bookstore and it cost over $203.00 so I went to the library and got it there. It was so heavy my husband had to carry it for me.
This book focus on fairies, bogies, brownies and other little people from the British Isles.
In the preface of the book she wrote, ’’When I speak of true fairy beliefs I mean those who actually believe these tales as opposed to the fantasies of storytellers. Briggs has said that she is an agnostic on the subject of fairy lore, ’’Some of the fairy anecdotes have a curiously convincing air of truth, but at the same time we must make allowance for the constructive power of the imagination in recalling old memories and for the likelihood that people see what they expect to see.’’
The entries are arranged alphabetical in the normal dictionary form. Some are a few paragraphs long while others go on for a few pages.
For example you’ll read about the Fairy Kings, Queens, Gwydion, Ferrishy, Tam Lin, Herne the Hunter, the Lady of the Lake, Morgan Le Fey, Titania, Rumpelstiltskin, Oberon, Robin Goodfellow, Henkies, Robert Herric, Hinky-Punk, Oberon & Odin, (who are Oakmen), Woden, Ogme, (Ogres) and Wirt Skie, (a Goblin),
You’ll find some of them naughty, others are nice, some are sexy and others are mean.
What I Thought
Until I read this book I didn’t know about the Manx Fairies went hunting on their horses and with their dogs!
Briggs’ research is fabulous and I’m sure she didn’t for get any folklore missing. She created this magic world with a toughness that I’ve never read before.
Her writing is scholarly but the book is not tedious on dry like a normal dictionary. You see her love for her subject shimmering through each page.
By the time you finish reading it you know more about fairy lore than you ever imagined you would.
My father was born in Bristol and I felt I learned a lot about his culture and the folktales he believed in.
I’m sorry she didn’t include the fairies from Hawaii, (the Menehunes), who came there on a boat from Ireland and liked it so much they stayed there or the tooth fairy, because we all knew there was one!
If you would like to put a little magic into your life you’ll enjoy this book.
If you would like to know more about Katherine Briggs
https://kathleenbriggs.com/
ISBN# 0415291577
Other Books On Faries That I Liked
The Coming Of The Faries written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The Bibliograpy of Faerie and Illustrated book by Ronan Cogland.
The Book Of Faries by Beatrice Phillpotts.
Thanks for reading my review.
©LL2005