Irish Fairy Tales
James Stephens retells ten stories from early Irish mythology, most of them drawn from the Fenian Cycle and centered on the hunter-hero Fionn mac Uail and his warrior band, the Fianna. Set in a green, wolf-haunted medieval Ireland, the tales are full of shape-shifting, wandering poets, and dealings between mortals and the fairy people of the hills. Stephens tells them in a warm, playful voice, mixing high adventure with sly comedy and real tenderness, and the book is often remembered alongside Arthur Rackham’s illustrations for its first edition. It remains one of the best-loved literary versions of these old legends. Free to download as a PDF and EPUB edition.
About the Author
James Stephens (1880-1950) was an Irish poet and novelist central to the Irish Literary Revival. Largely self-taught, he won fame with The Crock of Gold and Irish Fairy Tales, retelling old Gaelic myth in his own voice. A friend of James Joyce, he also wrote…
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