Celtic Tales is a collection of sixteen fairy tales, broadly categorized under the headings 'tricksters,' 'the sea,' 'quests,' and 'romance.' They were all adapted from one of four sources: The Scottish Fairy Book (Elizabeth Grierson, 1910), Wonder Tales of Ancient Wales (Bernard Henderson et. al., 1922), Folk Tales of Brittany (Elsie Masson, 1929), and Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (W.B. Yeats, 1888).
The stories are straightforward and enjoyable enough- familiar in moral and similar in story to your typical tale in the genre. People get tricked and have to be saved, undertake great feats for love or fortune, live happily ever after, learn a lesson, etc. I enjoyed the tales of fantastic beasts especially- a stoorworm, selkies, brownie, wyvern, etc. That said, I'm consistently taken in by books like this, and consistently disappointed. I think what I really seek are short stories similar in fantastic/supernatural content but written for adults and featuring marginally more suspense, character, or plot development. Something in the vein of M.R. James (ghost story writer) but with a Celtic theme and not necessarily spooky. Or maybe spooky is what I desire . . . perhaps I'm thinking back to those thrillingly scary tales in the Time-Life "Mysteries of the Unknown" book series I skimmed portions of as a child. (I wonder where those books went?) Banshees- I wanted to read more about Celtic banshee tales! I digress and apologize: the book doesn't have a problem, but it didn't quite scratch the itch.
Rating: A-
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