June 6th, 2015

This morning, I read one of the books I bought with Destiny the other day.

Title: The Rune Poem
Translated and Annotated by: Jim Paul
©1996

Paul has a doctorate in medieval literature, and his ongoing translation and re-translation of this ancient poem into English makes for an interesting look at one of the oldest connections to the Futhark runes we have.

As Paul explains, this particular rune poem is from the Germanic tribes of pre-Christian Europe (similar poems also existed in Iceland and Nordic countries). The oldest written copies have all been lost; currently, the only historical record of the original poem comes from a transcription by a Christian monk, which had in turn been transcribed by a series of other monks before him, like a scholarly game of telephone. As a result, some of the original Pagan passages have more Christian overtones. If you have read Beowulf, you've probably encountered this same problem. That being said, thousands of years later (the poem is believed to have first been recorded circa 1000 CE, and had likely existed for centuries before that), the poem still retains both its simple, fluid verse and reference to the magic and daily life of the Anglo-Saxons.

The book begins with a brief introduction to the history and magic of the runes. Then, beautifully illuminated pages show both the rune and the accompanying three lines of verse with Paul's annotations to explain their significance. It's hard to see in my room's poor lighting, but all the colors are metallic, and the surrounding borders draw clear inspiration from art contemporary to the poem.

This is not probably not a book for those already well-versed in runic readings, origins, or meanings. It's really more of an introductory text, almost bearing resemblance to the alphabet books one might read to children. However, if, like me, you've never read the original rune poetry before and aren't necessarily looking for a more expansive book, then this could be one to add to the collection. Also, as I pointed out, it might not be bad for younger individuals interested in runes, either. The large illustrations are attractive, and the language is very straightforward throughout the text.

Overall, it's not a particularly academic text, but I knew it wouldn't be the first time I picked it up. I just wanted a nice translation of the rune poem to read, and Jim Paul's book certainly delivered.

June 5th, 2015

So I finally finished reading my fairy encyclopedia! I don't know why it took me so long to get through, but regardless, here are my thoughts on it.

Title: The Element Encyclopedia of Fairies 
Author: Lucy Cooper
©2014

Calling itself the "ultimate A-Z of fairies, pixies, and other fantastical creatures", I wasn't sure how I would feel about this particular encyclopedia of folklore when I picked it up at Barnes & Noble a couple of months ago; I'd read part of another mythology text in the Element Encyclopedia series and had not been impressed. However - this very quickly won me over.

It is clear from the get-go that the author has done her research. Cooper's writing is authoritative and in-depth. While this is not a how-to for someone interested in actively working with fairies, it also is not condescending in any way towards those who believe in them, either. When one considers writing style, the book is made both engaging and accessible while being very informative. The cross-referencing of different names for the same fairy(ies) is not perfect, but is very good on the whole, and her crediting of and reference to other compilers of folklore is one of the better ones I've run across outside of academic texts.

All that being said, it's really the information that the reader cares about, and this text has a lot of it. There are multiple inserts throughout the book (about one every 150 or 200 pages) which discuss topics not specific to one type of fairy. These include:

• What are fairies?
• Where is Fairyland?
• Connecting with fairies
• Elementals and flower fairies
• Fairies in literature and legend

Then, of course, there is the actual A-Z itself, which talks about fairies and similar spirits from around the world. All of this info is drawn from documented myths, and Cooper even goes on to tell the reader which books they can look to so as to read the original legends. In many cases, she provides abridged versions of the stories, which are interesting reads in and of themselves.

She also includes important people, particularly writers, relevant to the world of fairy tales in the encyclopedia. I found this useful because though I might read classics like Andrew Lang's The Blue Fairy Book and etcetera, I do not always know much about the authors, where they are coming from and what their biases are, or where they were getting the folktales that they then published in their collections. I appreciated Cooper providing that cursory bit of perspective.

The Cottingley fairies, which Cooper discusses at length

And yes, I did say "spirits from around the world". The book is probably Eurocentric, it's true. Many of the stories come from Ireland and the UK. This is not inherently a bad thing, of course. I myself have always loved English flower fairies, and the Celtic Tuatha de Danann. But, other cultures have fairies and fairy-like spirits as well, and they often get ignored in texts like this. Cooper's book, however, actually gave more information than in many of her peers' works.

Although there is very little coverage of South or Central American lore, she talks about spirits from many different North American native tribes (Navajo, Ojibwe, Algonquin, Sioux, Inuit, etc.), Aboriginal Australians, African peoples (primarily focusing on Nigerian Yoruba lore), and the Maori people. There is also discussion of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Siberian fairies.

Additionally, I feel I should point out that Cooper does not take deities and call them "fairies" for the sake of bulking up her content. Of the few that are in the book - Brighid comes to mind - she explains the reason for their inclusion; in Brighid's case, it is because she was a Tuatha de Danann before she was worshipped as a goddess.

Finally, Cooper makes note of where some of these spirits have appeared in pop culture, which I always find to be fun and interesting trivia. For instance, Harry Potter fans might like to know that Dobbys, Cornish pixies, and Padfoots all appeared in local English legends well before JK Rowling wrote them into her delightful series.

Tl;dr: If you are looking for a guide to working with fairies, skip this one. If you want to read about the stories and histories of fairies, this is a great place to start.

~Fairy folk are in old oaks~

June 3rd, 2015

It's been a fun couple of days! Destiny came over today after I got off work, and we got to sit and chill for a while. She wanted to see my book collection, so we pored over those, as well as my collection of Pagan and/or crystal jewelry. I need to organize that!

She also showed me a couple of the things her grandmother brought back with her from her recent trip to England. Apparently, Destiny had requested she bring back something for me as well, and today she gave me the cutest little pewter trilithon figure (on the right side, in the picture). Destiny also gave me a small stone (on the left), which she said was also from Stonehenge. That's so cool! I got a book from the library last summer about stones from sacred sites, so I'll have to see if I can find it again and check out its Stonehenge entry.