The Brown Fairy Book

Andrew Lang

Apr 2014 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

What the Rose did to the Cypress -- Ball-Carrier and the Bad One -- How Ball-Carrier finished his Task -- The Bunyip -- Father Grumbler -- The Story of the Yara -- The Cunning Hare -- The Turtle and his Bride -- How Geirald the Coward was Punished -- Habogi -- How the Little Brother set Free his Big Brothers -- The Sacred Milk of Koumongoe -- The Wicked Wolverine -- The Husband of the Rat's Daughter -- The Mermaid and the Boy -- Pivi and Kabo -- The Elf Maiden -- How Some Wild Animals became Tame Ones -- Fortune and the Wood-Cutter -- The Enchanted Head -- The Sister of the Sun -- The Prince and the Three Fates -- The Fox and the Lapp -- Kisa the Cat -- The Lion and the Cat -- Which was the Foolishest? -- Asmund and Signy -- Rubezahl -- Story of the King who would be Stronger then Fate -- Story of Wali Dad the Simple-hearted -- Tale of a Tortoise and of a Mischievous Monkey -- The Knights of the Fish.

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.