Faeries
A History in Art, Verse, and Lore
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
Discover the history and mythology of faeries—across time and cultures—as well as their significance in art, poetry, and more, in this lushly illustrated volume, featuring more than 100 reproductions of artistic masterpieces.
"A field guide to the fantastic." — Kirkus
Faeries have captured the collective imagination throughout time and across cultures. Unexplained occurrences, natural phenomena, and so much more have been attributed to these beautiful, mysterious, and often mischievous creatures. Sometimes these fairies can be helpful and kindly, like the brownies of Britain, the menehune of Hawai‘i, and the domovoi of Russia. But just as often, they are seen as a threat, as we characterize a natural phenomenon into an often capricious and frequently frightening creature. The wind becomes a sylph, trees house dryads, and thunderbirds call down storms. They are to be feared and respected, appeased and dreaded in turn.
In this striking book, author Nikki Van De Car introduces readers to faeries of all stripes—helpful and unhelpful, related to the four elements, animal and shape-shifting—as well as some of the most famous figures from history, lore, and literature (from Puck to Ariel). Arranged through wonderous paintings and illustrations by legendary artists including Ruben, Turner, Rodin, Blake, and Millais, this guide features the beautiful evidence of fairies’ influence on our world. Written folklore from Shakespeare and oral storytelling add context to more than 50 creatures accompanied with tips on finding, summoning, and gaining protection from sparklingly clever fairies.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"I like to live as if faeries are something I might encounter," explains ifestyle blogger and children's author Van De Car (The Invisible Wild) in this whimsical encyclopedia. From goblins to pixies, the author surveys the many varieties of mythical beings with "diminutive human forms and magic powers," sorting them into their traditional Scottish categories of Seelie and Unseelie, or well-meaning (if still mischievous) and nefarious. She draws extensively on literature and art history, including the works of Shakespeare, Tennyson, and Rodin, as well as more obscure figures like Victorian painter John Anster Fitzgerald, aka "Fairy Fitzgerald," a "recluse who was rarely seen outside his club in London or at an opium den" and whose depictions of fairies possess an unsettling "savagery." The volume delights with its lesser-known fairy factoids; for example, an entry on will-o'-the-wisps ("tiny flicker of light... appearing over graveyards, swamps, and bogs") notes that in Colombia these spectral lights are considered "the ghost of an abuela who raised her grandchildren to become thieves and murderers." While some readers might quibble that the typologizing is too new agey and not academic enough—fairies are also categorized based on their association with the elements—the collection nevertheless makes for a fascinating overview of fairy folklore. It's an enchanting and lavishly illustrated treat.
