The Lilac Fairy Book

Andrew Lang

Apr 2014 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

The Shifty Lad -- The False Prince and the True -- The Jogi's Punishment -- The Heart of a Monkey -- The Fairy Nurse -- A Lost Paradise -- How Brave Walter Hunted Wolves -- The Ring of the Waterfalls -- A French Puck -- The Three Crowns -- The Story of a Very Bad Boy -- The Brown Bear of Norway -- Little Lasse -- 'Moti' -- The Enchanted Deer -- A Fish Story -- The Wonderful Tune -- The Rich Brother and the Poor Brother -- The One-Handed Girl -- The Bones of Djulung -- The Sea Ring's Gift -- The Raspberry Worm -- The Stones of Plouhinec -- The Castle of Kerglas -- The Battle of the Birds -- The Lady of the Fountain -- The Four Gifts -- The Groac'h of the Isle of Lok -- The Escape of the Mouse -- The Believing Husbands -- The Hoodie-Crow -- The Brownie of the Lake -- The Winning of Olwen.

About the author

Andrew Lang was born at Selkirk in Scotland on March 31, 1844. He was a historian, poet, novelist, journalist, translator, and anthropologist, in connection with his work on literary texts. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy, St. Andrews University, and Balliol College, Oxford University, becoming a fellow at Merton College. His poetry includes Ballads and Lyrics of Old France (1872), Ballades in Blue China (1880--81), and Grass of Parnassus (1888--92). His anthropology and his defense of the value of folklore as the basis of religion is expressed in his works Custom and Myth (1884), Myth, Ritual and Religion (1887), and The Making of Religion (1898). He also translated Homer and critiqued James G. Frazer's views of mythology as expressed in The Golden Bough. He was considered a good historian, with a readable narrative style and knowledge of the original sources including his works A History of Scotland (1900-7), James VI and the Gowrie Mystery (1902), and Sir George Mackenzie (1909). He was one of the most important collectors of folk and fairy tales. His collections of Fairy books, including The Blue Fairy Book, preserved and handed down many of the better-known folk tales from the time. He died of angina pectoris on July 20, 1912.