The Science of Fairy Tales is a collection of essays from 1891 on fairy mythology. Edwin Sidney Hartland applies folklore methods to Celtic and Teutonic tales about fairies and popular traditions. It is worth listening to for its accessible inquiry into how such stories were studied.
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Cover illustration generated by AI.
Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
The Science of Fairy Tales AN INQUIRY INTO FAIRY MYTHOLOGY. BY EDWIN SIDNEY HARTLAND, FELLOW OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES. LONDON: WALTER SCOTT, 24, WARWICK LANE, PATERNOSTER ROW. 1891. PREFACE. The chief object of this volume is to exhibit, in a manner acceptable to readers who are not specialists, the application of the principles and methods which guide investigations into popular traditions to a few of the most remarkable stories embodying the Fairy superstitions of the Celtic and Teutonic peoples. Some of the subjects discussed have already been dealt with by more competent inquirers. But even in these cases I have sometimes been able to supply additional illustrations of the conclusions previously arrived at, and occasionally, I hope, to carry the argument a step or two further than had been done before. I have thus tried to render the following pages not wholly valueless to students. A portion of the book incorporates the substance of some articles which I contributed to “The Archæological Review”
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