Folk Tales and Fables of Europe by Barbara Hayes

Folk Tales and Fables of Europe Reviews

• 
  Vivian

  I enjoy folk and hero tales, especially those which spring from ancient cultures of other lands. This volume offered glimpses of Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Greece, Romania, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, Scotland, but predominantly England.
  
  I love Scandinavian mythology -- the Aesir gods, the land of Midgard, and in the story of "The Apples of Youth" about the trouble Loki made when he allowed Iduna (the keeper of the secret of the everlasting youth of the Aesir) be kidnapped by the frost giant Thiassi.
  
  Contrary to the "Percy Jackson" stories wherein he is the son of Poseidon, I learned in "Perseus the Hero" that he is actually a son of Zeuss and a mortal woman named Danae.
  
  I met "Beowulf" the hero in a retelling of that early hero tale.
  
  I read some lesser known Aesop's Fables -- "Mercury and the Woodman", "The Oak and the Reeds" and I hadn't realized that "The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs" was from Aesop.
  
  I learned "How Finn Found Bran" -- an Irish tale much like the Anansi the Spider story from Africa or the more familiar "The Seven Chinese Brothers" story.
  
  I enjoyed the silly "Jack" story about a son who learns why "Necessity is the best teacher".
  
  In addition to a short re-telling of "The Sword in the Stone" I read an account of "The Green Children" taken from two memoirs from the Middle Ages.
  
  "The Fisherman and the Rich Moor" is a story with the theme that good is returned with good, such as in the fable of "The Lion and the Mouse".
  
  One of my favorites is "The Pedlar of Swaffham" where a man repeatedly has a dream telling him to go to London Bridge to hear some joyful news.
  
  "The Lost Lands" tells how a man was able to visit the land of fairy and "The Lambton Worm" tells of a ravaging dragon and how it was vanquished.
• 
  Cws

  JE398.2-Ing