Children into swans : fairy tales and the pagan imagination / Jan Beveridge.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Beveridge, Jan, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fairy tales--Europe--History and criticism.

Fairy tales.

Fairy tales--Europe--Classification.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (296 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Montreal, Quebec : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Fairy tales are alive with the supernatural - elves, dwarfs, fairies, giants, and trolls, as well as witches with magic wands and sorcerers who cast spells and enchantments. Children into Swans examines these motifs in a range of ancient stories. Moving from the rich period of nineteenth-century fairy tales back as far as the earliest folk literature of northern Europe, Jan Beveridge shows how long these supernatural features have been a part of storytelling, with ancient tales, many from Celtic and Norse mythology, that offer glimpses into a remote era and a pre-Christian sensibility. The earliest stories often show significant differences from what we might expect. Elves mingle with Norse gods, dwarfs belong to a proud clan of magician-smiths, and fairies are shape-shifters emerging from the hills and the sea mist. In story traditions with roots in a pre-Christian imagination, an invisible other world exists alongside our own. From the lost cultures of a thousand years ago, Children into Swans opens the door on some of the most extraordinary worlds ever portrayed in literature - worlds that are both starkly beautiful and full of horrors.

Contents:

""Cover""; ""Half-title""; ""Title""; ""Copyright""; ""Dedication""; ""Contents""; ""Acknowledgments""; ""Preface""; ""A Note on Spelling""; ""Pronunciation""; ""PART ONE: History""; ""1 Early Storytellers""; ""2 The Oldest “Fairy� Tale""; ""3 The Manuscript""; ""4 Folk Tales and Fairy Tales""; ""PART TWO: Characters""; ""5 Fairies""; ""6 Elves""; ""7 Dwarfs""; ""8 Household Spirits""; ""9 Water Dwellers""; ""10 Giants""; ""11 Souls and Spirits""; ""PART THREE: Stories from the Pagan Year""; ""12 Festival Days""; ""13 Beltaine""; ""14 Samain""; ""15 Midwinter and Midsummer""

""PART FOUR: Storytellers� Themes""""16 Wishing, or Dreams Come True""; ""17 The Triple Form""; ""18 Shape-Shifting""; ""19 Omens and Prophecies""; ""20 Between Two Worlds""; ""21 Spells""; ""22 Trees""; ""23 The Invisible World""; ""24 A Fairy Tale Almost Forgotten""; ""Notes""; ""Selected Bibliography""; ""Index""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed October 30, 2014).

ISBN:

9780773596177

0773596178

9780773596160

077359616X

OCLC:

881399333