British Goblins

British Goblins - Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions. British Goblins does a good job at its stated purpose - collecting and loosely categorizing Welsh Folklore of every category, ranging from the reasons behind certain customs and superstitions of daily life, to descriptions and associated stories of various faeries, goblins, and giants, to descriptions of apparitions and the view of the afterlife, to more fantastic things, like dragons, standing stones, and magic wells and stones. Although a somewhat anecdotal approach is taken, the author has in fact preserved a good deal of information that might have otherwise been lost.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

One of the most beautiful and complete collections of stories, legends, myths, folktales, and traditions to ever emerge from Wales. Compiled by an American-the United States consul for Wales in the late nineteenth century-this volume was the work of several years' labor. Scouring the hills and valleys of Wales after falling in love with the land, the author wrote down the oral traditions, stories, myths, and legends related to him by the people he met on his travels. The result was a spectacular work, divided up into four sections: "Faerie Realm," the "Spirit-World," "Quaint Old Customs," and "Bells, Wells, Stones, and Dragons." In this book, the reader will not only learn of the greatest Welsh legends (including King Arthur, Iolo ap Hugh, the Green Lady of Caerphilly), but also of the local fairy stories and even the superstitions of ancient-and not so ancient-Wales. Rarely has a nation's mythos and essence been so elegantly captured as in this work. The legacy of Welsh mythology and folklore has entered the vocabulary of modern English, and spread around the world, being some of the oldest tales in all Europe. As the author states in his introduction: "In a certain sense Wales may be spoken of as the cradle of fairy legend. It is not now disputed that from the Welsh were borrowed many of the first subjects of composition in the literature of all the cultivated peoples of Europe." This edition has been completely reset, contains the full text and all the wonderful-and hand restored-illustrations of the original work. It is a literary treasure of the first class.

A little princess is protected by her friend Curdie from the goblin miners who live beneath the castle. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Excerpt from British Goblins: Welsh Folk-Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions With the rich mass of legendary lore to which these figures belong, the present volume is not in tended to deal; nor do its pages treat, save in the most casual and passing manner, of the lineage and original significance of the lowly goblins which are its theme. The questions here involved, and the task of adequately treating them, belong to the comparative mythologist and the critical historian. Rather than to the mere literary workman. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1881 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER V. Baleful Spirits of Storm--The Shower at the Magic Fountain--Obstacles in the way of Treasure-Seekers--the Red Lady of Paviland --The Fall of Coychurch Tower--Thunder and Lightning evoked by Digging--The Treasure-Chest under Moel Arthur in the Vale of Clwyd--Modern Credulity--The Cavern of the Ravens--The Eagleguarded Coffer of Castell Coch--Sleeping Warriors as TreasurcGuarders--The Dragon which St. Samson drove out of Wales-- Dragons in the Mabinogion--Whence came the Red Dragon of Wales?--The Original Dragon of Mythology--Prototypes of the Welsh Caverns and Treasure-Hills--The Goblins of Electricity. I. In the prominent part played by storm--torrents of rain, blinding lightning, deafening thunder -- in legends of disturbed cromlechs, and other awful stones, is involved the ancient belief that these elements were themselves baleful spirits, which could be evoked by certain acts. They were in the service of fiends and fairies, and came at their bidding to avenge the intrusion of venturesome mortals, daring to meddle with sacred things. This fascinating superstition is preserved in numberless Welsh legends relating to hidden treasures, buried under cromlechs or rocky mounds, or in caverns. In the 'Mabinogion' it appears in the enchanted barrier to the Castle of the Lady of the Fountain. Under a certain tall tree in the midst of a wide valley there was a fountain, 'and by the side of the fountain a marble slab, and on the marble slab a silver bowl, attached by a chain of silver, so that it may not be carried away. Take the bowl and throw a bowlful of water on the slab, ' says the black giant of the wood to Sir Kai, 'and thou wilt hear a mighty peal of thunder, so that thou wilt think that heaven and earth are trembling with its..