Celtic/Irish fairy tales

OMG! The penny only dropped now that you are THE Teresa Edgerton... :eek: I suddenly feel a bit overawed... X_X

Ok, I need a mo to get over the shock... :eek: :eek: :cool: :cool:

Um, thanx Knivesout - I actually found Mabinogion marked down online and immediately ordered it...

Teresa, I had not read anything you'd written before, but I am going to ASAP...
Where would you suggest I start? (reading your work)

EDIT: The Grail and the Ring might not by any chance be Arthurian, would it? < _< : p

I'm struggling to get hold of that one and Goblin Moon and The Gnome's Engine both seem damnably expensive. I wonder if one could start with The Castle of the Silver Wheel ?
 
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The set of trilogies (TGATR was book five) started out undeniably influenced by the Arthurian legends, but it was always an indirect inspiration and I drew in other influences as I went along. (Lots of Mabinogion.) Many of the images in The Grail and the Ring were inspired by T. S. Eliot's poem "The Waste Land," which is said to be influenced by a book by Jessie Weston* about the Grail mythos.

So, um, yes, sort of.

Dragging the thread back on topic, there are fairies in it, too. I think I drew quite heavily on Fairies by Brian Froud and Alan Lee for most of them.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0810932741/?tag=brite-21

Not so much content in that one, but fabulous illustrations.


*From Ritual to Romance. A very interesting book, but not relevant to the discussion here.









Where would you suggest I start? (reading your work)
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Well, I'm currently being published under the pseudonym Madeline Howard, and those are the books still in print, so I would suggest you start there. (I have a sub-forum here under that name, where you can find out more.)

Which reminds me, I'm supposed to be writing, not posting here.
 
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That was fascinating, and a little sad. I'm glad Walton had at least one attentive listener, and I agree with your assessment of her influence on modern fantasy. I believe I'd read about Walton's blue-grey skin before; it must have made her seem ever so much like a denizen of one the magical tales she brought to life.

Teresa Edgerton said:
Many of the images in The Grail and the Ring were inspired by T. S. Eliot's poem "The Waste Land," which is said to be influenced by a book by Jessie Weston* about the Grail mythos.
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That's fascinating. I'm always interested to note the influence Eliot's work, particularly 'The Waste Land' (my wife's favourite poem) has had on other literary works, not necessarily poetry - such as the ghost stories of Russell Kirk - so this adds an interesting dimension to your work.

Dragging the thread back on topic, there are fairies in it, too. I think I drew quite heavily on Fairies by Brian Froud and Alan Lee for most of them.

Amazon.com: Faeries (25th Anniversary Edition) (9780810932746): Brian Froud, Alan Lee: Books

Not so much content in that one, but fabulous illustrations.
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I enjoy Froud's Faery books too. An earlier set had stories contributed by writers like Charles de Lint. Fairy art, from the Victorian era to the present is an interesting study in itself, ranging from thinly-veiled pinup art to some truly fascinating and unique visions, such as some of Richard Dadd's work.

Which reminds me, I'm supposed to be writing, not posting here.
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Indeed. Perhaps we should resolve to stonewall all your attempts to post here until you get more writing done!
 
Yes, work, Teresa.
All your input above is extremely interesting, but we do seem to be acting as a diversion for you here, so I'm going to shut up for a while.

All I'm still going to say is that T.S. Elliot's poetry, and especially his The Waste Land happens to be one of my favourites. So I guess I'll make a plan to get hold of The Grail and the Ring.
Not saying a word more until tomorrow. *x*
 
Sure?.....;)

Now aren't you all glad I asked for recollections of Evangeline Walton?..... :D I confess, I had always remembered Teresa's recollection of Evangeline Walton as a poignant and moving account; hence my request for it to revisited.

OK, time to let Teresa get back to her writing methinks....:)
 
knivesout said:
That's fascinating. I'm always interested to note the influence Eliot's work, particularly 'The Waste Land' (my wife's favourite poem) has had on other literary works, not necessarily poetry - such as the ghost stories of Russell Kirk - so this adds an interesting dimension to your work.
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Going a bit off-topic again: In a more general sense, you may then be interested to know that Elliott the poet including the seminal Wasteland had a remarkably profound effect on Jeannete Winterston during her formative years and then into her adult life as a writer. Perhaps you are already aware of this or have seen that influence in her writing but it's intersting to note no?
 
Wow, Sacred Texts has certainly expanded their collection of Celtic material since the last time I checked there a couple of years ago.

The Four Ancient Books of Wales looks especially intriguing, although I see other amazing things listed as well. Since I don't like to do much reading on a computer screen, I foresee that I will be buying much ink and paper, and purchasing many ring binders, in the not-so-distant future.

Some of the other books, like the one by Lady Wilde, might not be authoritative from a scholarly standpoint, but they could provide some interesting inspirations for fantasy writers.

What I would really like is an entire book devoted to the Welsh triads. There must be such a book somewhere (in English, I hope!), but I've never been able to find one.




Moontravler, if you are going to read The Grail and the Ring, I don't think you need to read the first trilogy to keep from getting lost, but I believe that it would improve the experience immeasurably if you first became familiar with the characters by reading The Castle of the Silver Wheel. Otherwise, you might spend a lot of time wondering what they are doing and why.
 
Teresa Edgerton said:
What I would really like is an entire book devoted to the Welsh triads. There must be such a book somewhere (in English, I hope!), but I've never been able to find one.
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Well Teresa actually there is such a book. It's called [FONT=Verdana,Arial,sans-serif]Trioedd Ynys Prydein [/FONT]by historian Rachel Bromwich [FONT=Verdana,Arial,sans-serif]and has [/FONT]basically been the recognized authoritative text on the Welsh Triads and is now into its 3rd printing, the original publication dating back to the 1960s. The most recent edition was only 3 plus years ago. The catch is it's not exactly cheap weighing in at 65 British Pounds. Ouch! It is however, from what I gather, an exemplary reference book for anyone keen on Celtic history.

The website is that of the University Of Wales, which I've used myself in the past. As with several other universities around the world, they have their own publishing company.

Following is a general link to the site featuring their Arthurian & Celtic titles:

University of Wales Press Arthurian and Celtic titles I - Z

Then a link to the book I'm referring to...

University of Wales Press

And finally a blurb for other members who may be interested about this publication.

[FONT=Verdana,Arial,sans-serif]Rachel Bromwich’s magisterial edition of Trioedd Ynys Prydein has long won its place as a classic of Celtic studies. This substantially revised edition shows the author’s continued mastery of the subject, and will be essential reading for Celticists and for those interested in early British history and literature and in Arthurian studies.

[/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Arial,sans-serif]Early Welsh literature shows a predilection for classifying names, facts and precepts into triple groups, or triads. ‘The Triads of the Isle of Britain’ form a series of texts which commemorate the names of traditional heroes and heroines and which would have served as a catalogue of the names of these heroic figures. The names are grouped under various imprecise but complimentary epithets, which are often paralleled in the esoteric language of the medieval bards, who would have used the triads as an index of past history and legend.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial,sans-serif]This edition is based upon a full collation of the most important manuscripts, the earliest of which go back to the thirteenth century. The Welsh text is accompanied by English translations of each triad and extensive notes, and the volume includes four appendices which are also an important source of personal names. The Introduction discusses the significance of Trioedd Ynys Prydein in the history of Welsh literature and examines the traditional basis of the triads[/FONT].[FONT=Verdana,Arial,sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,sans-serif]Rachel Bromwich is a former Reader in Celtic Languages and Literatures at Cambridge University. She now lives in Aberystwyth. Her many publications include studies of Culhwch and Olwen and Dafydd ap Gwilym[/FONT].

[FONT=Verdana,Arial,sans-serif]I hope this is what you were referring to and if not I may be still able to assist you.....:)[/FONT]
 
Teresa Edgerton said:
Moontravler, if you are going to read The Grail and the Ring, I don't think you need to read the first trilogy to keep from getting lost, but I believe that it would improve the experience immeasurably if you first became familiar with the characters by reading The Castle of the Silver Wheel. Otherwise, you might spend a lot of time wondering what they are doing and why.
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Noted, thanks Teresa.

I have in the meantime also ordered the first of the Madeline Howard novels, The Hidden Stars, just like you had suggested, so I guess it's OK if I start with that one in the meantime, when it arrives. :)

Btw, did you see that I got this? I got it brand-new for about a third of the normal price!
celticmyth.jpg


Needless to say, I snatched it up! :cool:
 
I have to second KnivesOuts' recommendation of Tolkien's Smith of Wooton Major. Delightful story, describes the danger of the lure of faery beautifully.
 
Well, let's see; I have now ordered Tales From the Perilous Realm , which contains:

FARMER GILES OF HAM
LEAF BY NIGGLE
THE ADVENTURES OF TOM BOMBADIL
SMITH OF WOOTTON MAJOR

So, in addition to the LOTR trilogy, the Silmarillion, The Hobbit and Unfinished Tales, that I all have by now, what, Tolkienesque-wise speaking, am I still missing?
 
The Children of Hurin (a quite beautiful expansion of the Turin Turambar chapter of The Silmarillion), and then the twelve volume (at least in hardcover) The History of Middle Earth (this is for serious JRRT fans only, like Pyan, as it includes most of the writings of JRRT from the earliest incarnations of The Silmarillion dating from 1918. It has some dry moments, shall we say?) There is also The Road Goes Ever On, which is the collection of songs from The Hobbit and LOTR, that JRRT did with Donald Swann.
 
Thanks, Clansman. I wonder how I could have forgotten about The History of Middle Earth... I don't have it actually, so I will be on the lookout for it, dry or not, as well as the other two works you had mentioned, just so that I might hopefully eventually have a complete collection. Just to be a Tolkien packrat.. :p
 
There's also Roverandom, a rather sweet story for children, and his translations of Sir Gawain, Pearl and Orfeo - these last three used to be available in a single volume, as I recall. If you're interested, there is also a collection of his letters, which does repay reading, whether for the light several letters cast on his work, or to learn more about Tolkien the man.

The cover of that Curran book is really cool.
 
I may need to list my collection of Tolkien's published works excluding Christopher Tolkien's scholarly History Of Middle Earth given the amount of chat going on around here......:rolleyes:

To my knowledge I have all of his fiction that is currently available plus the Humphrey Carpenter and collected letters as already mentioned.
 
Moontravler said:
Well, let's see; I have now ordered Tales From the Perilous Realm , which contains:

FARMER GILES OF HAM
LEAF BY NIGGLE
THE ADVENTURES OF TOM BOMBADIL
SMITH OF WOOTTON MAJOR

So, in addition to the LOTR trilogy, the Silmarillion, The Hobbit and Unfinished Tales, that I all have by now, what, Tolkienesque-wise speaking, am I still missing?
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Well my previous post was a little tongue in cheek but as I've now seen your specific request, the following combination will give you all of Tolkien's published fiction that I have excluding History of Middle Earth. There is some inevitable overlap but not a lot.

Rummages around inventory...and this is more from memory as I'm not currently in my library room, so if I've left something out I apologise.

Starting with the ones you mention...

The Hobbit *70th Anniversary edn.
LOTR *Sepcial 50th Anniversay edn.
Silmarillion
Unfinished Tales
Tolkien on Fairy stories *HB expanded edition 2008, could have gone under ancillary
Tree and Leaf
Smith of Wooton Major
Mr. Bliss
Letters From Father Christmas
Tales From The Perilous Realm
Roverandom
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Children Of Hurin
The Legend Of Sigurd and Gudrun
History Of The Hobbit Vols I-II Ed. Rateliff*

*Included here because for the first time it contains the complete text of the original Hobbit manuscript as penned by Tolkien and currently located at the Special Collections archive of Marquette University.

Ancillaries I have collected:
Collected Letters of JRR Tolkien
JRR Tolkien -*25th anniversary biography edn. - Humphrey Carpenter
LOTR Reader's Companion *Definitive annotated companion.
World Of Tolkien (Mythological source of LOTR) - David Day
Monsters and Critics

Hope that helps and if you want to quiz me on specific publications to get send me a PM....:)
 
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GOLLUM said:
Well my previous post was a little tongue in cheek but as I've now seen your specific request, the following combination will give you all of Tolkien's published fiction that I have excluding History of Middle Earth. There is some inevitable overlap but not a lot.

Rummages around inventory...and this is more from memory as I'm not currently in my library room, so if I've left something out I apologise.

Starting with the ones you mention...

The Hobbit *70th Anniversary edn.
LOTR *Sepcial 50th Anniversay edn.
Silmarillion
Unfinished Tales
Tolkien on Fairy stories *HB expanded edition 2008, could have gone under ancillary
Tree and Leaf
Smith of Wooton Major
Mr. Bliss
Letters From Father Christmas
Tales From The Perilous Realm
Roverandom
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Children Of Hurin
The Legend Of Sigurd and Gudrun
History Of The Hobbit Vols I-II Ed. Rateliff*

*Included here because for the first time it contains the complete text of the original Hobbit manuscript as penned by Tolkien and currently located at the Special Collections archive of Marquette University.

Ancillaries I have collected:
Collected Letters of JRR Tolkien
JRR Tolkien -*25th anniversary biography edn. - Humphrey Carpenter
LOTR Reader's Companion *Definitive annotated companion.
World Of Tolkien (Mythological source of LOTR) - David Day

Hope that helps and if you want to quiz me on specific publications to get send me a PM....:)
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I would highly recommend The History of Middle-earth (yes, all twelve volumes) to anyone interested in Tolkien's work in detail, Moontravler. Not only do they provide a great deal of fascinating background on his creation of Middle-earth and the thought which lies behind it, but (even with the "dry" areas mentioned by Clansman) there are large amounts of some of Tolkien's most beautiful prose as well. And you might want to pick up a copy of The Tolkien Reader, which has a verse play ("The Homecoming of Beortnoth, Beorthelm's Son"), based on the Old English poem "The Battle of Malden", as well as an essay about same. As Knivesout has mentioned there is also his translation of "Pearl", "Sir Orfeo", and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. You may also find of interest his collection of essays, The Monster and the Critics, which provides some interesting insights into the aesthetic behind his fictional work.

I realize that most of these are either not fictional or are more scholarly-inclined works surrounding older fictional pieces, but Tolkien is one of those writers all of whose work is quite intensely linked (as are Moorcock and Lovecraft), whether it be fiction, verse, essays, or what-have-you; and thus the interest grows the more widely one reads.
 
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