Product Description

Nearly 3000 separate entries in alphabetical order, ranging from the South African fairies Abtawa to the German dwarves Zwerge, make this book ten times as comprehensive as any other dictionary or encyclopedia of fairy names available. Unlike, say, British Goblins (Wirt Skie) and Fairies in Lore & Literature (Katherine Briggs) this book is fully international and covers all mythologies and folklore of the worlds cultural groups. The wealth of illustration adds to its justifiable claims of being The book on the subject. A full bibliographical section also aids the reader to search and discover more on selected areas of interest within the subject.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #398799 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-21
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

About the Author
Anna Franklin trained initially as a photographer and artist, gaining an honours degree in fine art in 1980, then working as a photographer, illustrator and community artist, exhibiting and teaching both subjects. She also edits and publishers her own magazine, called Silver Wheel, and is author of nearly a dozen books, including Fairy Lore (Capall Bann) and The Fairy Ring (Llewellyn). She lives in a village in the English Midlands. Paul Mason is a talented British artist based in Leicester who has often worked with the author in the past. Like Anna, he trained at the Lanchester Polytechnic in fine art, and then worked as a zoo artist, and later as senior graphic designer at De Montfort University. Helen Field is a London-born artist who now lives on the Channel Islands. She has drawn since early childhood and is particularly attracted to mythological and magical subjects. She has illustrated several books.

Customer Reviews

A book that will be an heirloom
I love this book.

I really can't understand why anyone would buy an encyclopedia and then expect all the pictures to just be pretty pretty. These are MUCH more fun. Some are pretty and dainty, others are so funny I just burst out laughing. Davy Jones [the one with the locker at the bottom of the sea] was one. And then there are little drawings on just about every page. Before reading [some] of this very full book I hadn't realised just how many fairies there are in the world. Now I can understand why folks in bygone ages seemed scared of fairies. Some of them are just not very nice - but then there are others that bring so much goodness along with them.

My problem is that I love looking at all the pictures and yet I'd like to be able to hand it down to my children when the time comes. Maybe I need ot buy two.

Everything you could want!
There is so much fairy stuff out there these days it is hard to know what to buy. Some of it is so twee and fluffy it must be for children, and some of it is aimed at academics. This is full of reliable information and is fully referenced, but it is well written in a very readable and entertaining way. I have never seen so complete a fairy dictionary or anything like. I love Paul and Helen's pictures, both very diffeerent in style, but they show fairies good and bad, beautiful and ugly, sublime and comical.

Brilliant!
I have been looking for a book like this for years: scholarly, readable, exhaustive and fun. Ms Franklin gives us details and histories of fairies from around the world, from the well known to creatures I have certainly never heard of. But beware, if you are looking for fairy-tale bowdlerised Victorian versions of fairies, for these are the real thing. In the past people were in awe of fairies and often feared them. It was well known that some were beautiful and seductive, while others were ugly and frightening (very few had wings and none looked like Tinkerbell), and they are all portrayed here. The illustrations by Helen Field are cute and for the most part pretty, while Paul Mason explores both sides of the appearance of fairies, from the gorgeous to the monstrous. This book is not for those who simply want fluffy bunny children's fairy-tales, but for the real student of real fairies and real fairy lore. It is simply the most comprehensive and most accurate book on the market for anyone who has a genuine interest in fairies, rather than Victorian 'fairy' tales.