Product Description

Whether on top of the Christmas Tree, at the bottom of the garden or in school pantomimes, today we think of fairies as sweet, dainty creatures with wands and butterly wings. But, as Diane Purkiss shows, they have a far darker and more menacing history - as troublemakers, child-snatchers, seducers and changelings, representing our deepest fears and desires regarding birth, sex and death. From these dangerous beings of ancient myths and medieval folklore, to the sanitized 'wingy thingies' of Shakespeare and the Victorians, and even modern myths of alien abduction, this is an enthralling history of our need to believe in fairies.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #225121 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 236 pages

About the Author
Diane Purkiss graduated from the University of Queensland before taking her D.Phil at Merton College, Oxford. She worked as professor of English at Exeter Universiry before becoming senior tutor in English at Keble College, Oxford. She specialises in the supernatural, women's writing and folklore, and has written several books on women's history and witchcraft, notably 'The Witch in History'. She lives in Oxford.

Customer Reviews

Troublesome Thing
This book was originally published as 'Troublesome Things' by Penquin. Tempus picked it up a few years later and changed the title, which is confusing and, in my opinion, ought to be prohibited. Nevertheless, the book itself does what it says on the tin: it is a review - mostly literary - of fairies through time in a competent if uninspiring way. Purkiss comes at the subject from the perspective of an Oxford academic and, understandably perhaps, doesn't try to hide her contempt for those who view fairies as anything other than imaginary, so followers of earth religions beware. For an equally academic but more engaging study of the subject try Katerine Briggs 'The Fairies in Tradition and Literature'.