Overview

An enchanting history of the otherworld of elves and fairies, from the nature spirits of Iceland and Ireland to Avalon and Middle Earth Originating in Norse and Celtic mythologies, elves and fairies are a firmly established part of Western popular culture. Since the days of the Vikings and Arthurian legend, these sprites have undergone huge transformations. From J. R. R. Tolkien's warlike elves, based on medieval legend, to little flower fairies whose charms even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle succumbed to, they permeate European art and culture. In this engaging cultural history, Matthias Egeler explores these mythical creatures of Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, and England, and their continental European cousins. Egeler goes on a journey through enchanted landscapes and literary worlds. He describes both their friendly and their dangerous, even deadly, sides. We encounter them in the legends of King Arthur's round table and in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, in the terrible era of the witch trials, in magic's peaceful conquest of Victorian bourgeois salons, in the child-friendly form of Peter Pan, and even as helpers in the contemporary fight against environmental destruction.

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9780300284409

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Reviews

“Clap if you believe in fairies? Certainly, and elves too, if they are like the ones so lovingly explained in Matthias Egeler's book.”—Alberto Manguel, author of Fabulous Monsters “A genuinely magical book, even though it is also hardheaded and profoundly scholarly. We begin in the magic of a meadow in Iceland full of flowers and warmth, and travel by way of Scotland and Germany to a wide range of fairy lands of the imagination. Gloriously attentive to the details of landscape and story, this book maps a rich landscape of the playful and the deadly. An outstanding contribution.”—Diane Purkiss, author of Fairies and Fairy Stories “The history of fairy belief would take thousands of pages to write. With a wizardry worthy of his subject, Matthias Egeler has somehow done fairylore justice in just over two hundred.”—Simon Young, author of The Boggart “Beginning in Iceland and Ireland, this is a splendid and masterful study of the different kinds of elves and fairies found in European culture – a model of clarity, absorbing and enriching.”—Séamus Mac Mathúna, Emeritus Professor of Irish and Celtic Studies, Ulster University

Author Information

Matthias Egeler is professor of Old Norse literature and culture at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, after years at Oxford, Cambridge, and Munich. His research focuses on Old Norse literary, cultural, and religious history; the literary and religious history of medieval Ireland; and the world of Icelandic folk tales.

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