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Title: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia by Carol Rose ISBN: 0-393-31792-7 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: August, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.78 (9 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Just what the title indicates
Comment: This is an amazingly comprehensive volume cataloguing spirits--supernatural beings less powerful than deities--from cultures around the world.
A book like this is hard to summarize in a review, but it suffices to say that this is a wonderfully broad overview of the subject, covering every culture and every spirit you can think of, with only a little bit of oversimplification. (Durga, for example, is referred to as evil, which is somewhat less than accurate.) Spirits, demons, djinns, faeries, and their kin are all present and accounted for. Use this as a first reference, then make sure to look more deeply into whatever interests you most.
Rating: 4
Summary: Nearly everything you wanted to know about the Fairy Realm
Comment: While not as good as the Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, this is a very good resource on fairy lore from cultures around the world. The entries are well written and very comprehensive.
Rating: 5
Summary: Astonishingly Useful
Comment: This is one of the most superbly compiled works of encyclopedic knowledge that I have ever come across.
First, the scholarship is impeccable. This is no new-age rubbish dump of poorly researched ideas, bizarre inventions disguised as 'folklore,' and ridiculous insinuations. Carol Rose has given us an authoritative, dare I say definitive, treatment of the subject.
Many people will already own Katherine Briggs' admirable encyclopedia, which is now out of print apparently. I like Rose's better, to tell the truth: her collection is so much more expansive in terms of cultures and literatures. I am *amazed* at the breadth of her studies; Rose has brought together a truly global encyclopedia of the 'little people.'
Now, because it is so expansive, and because 'faeries' is such am ambiguous category, there's loads of things in here that you might not expect: Miltonic devils sit side by side with Hawaaian meneheunes on these pages. Rose's descriptions are crisp, detailed, and non-judgemental: she does not treat faeries as cold psychological tropes, nor does she sentimentalise them, nor does she invent religious or pagan significance to that which isn't there.
Her appendices demonstrate some of the tidiest and most practical skills at organising I have ever seen! Herein she categorises the all of the creatures in her book according to geography, cultural features, habitat, and habits. You can look up all the faeries associated with Iceland, or Mexico; you can see a list of all the creatures associated with trees. This is utterly invaluable for students of comparative mythology. I cannot praise enough how useful this feature is.
My one criticism, albeit small, is that there are few references given for her entries. So, for example, if you're interested in the Korrigan of Brittany, there's no citation to point you to legends, myths, or texts that might give you an example of Korrigan. I can appreciate how difficult it would be, in a work of such comprehension, to give references all the time; but for example under 'hamadryad' it might be nice to list certain Greek poets who write about hamadryads. 'Djinn' are listed, but now Qur'anic references are given. She says, "They're in the _Arabian Nights_," but doesn't tell you the tales you might find them in ("The City of Brass," for example).
Briggs possesses a finely detailed understanding of the lore surrounding Ireland and the U.K., so her work is highly informative in regards to local customs and local places of interest. Rose's work is simply too broad to offer such intimacies, unfortunately; but the benefit is that she has a much, much more broad list than Briggs, and includes studies of cultures that Briggs doesn't even acknowledge.
Students of folklore, faerie enthusiasts, dreamers, old wives, everyone will love this book . . . love reading it, and love learning from it. I think if you want specifics, you'll need to invest in books of lore defined by geographical region. As for an exhaustive encyclopedia, as a reference tool and a central piece of research, you're looking at the best book on the market right here.
Amazingly, this book is about the cost of a couple of pints. Never have a couple of pints, even of the most angelic of pulls, has given me as much pleasure as this book.
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Title: Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth by Carol Rose ISBN: 0393322114 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: November, 2001 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: The World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves & Other Little People by THOMAS KEIGHTLEY ISBN: 0517263130 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 05 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.99 |
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Title: The Writers Complete Fantasy Reference: An Indispensable Compendium of Myth and Magic by Writer's Digest Books, Writer's Digest, Terry Brooks ISBN: 1582970262 Publisher: Writers Digest Books Pub. Date: November, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.99 |
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Title: The Book of Faeries: A Guide to the World of Elves, Pixies, Goblins, and Other Magic Spirits by Francis Melville ISBN: 0764154575 Publisher: Barrons Educational Series Pub. Date: 31 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: A Field Guide to Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels and Other Subversive Spirits by Carol K. Mack, Dinah Mack ISBN: 080506270X Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Inc. Pub. Date: 15 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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