A Dictionary Of Fairies

This volume is a comprehensive collection of critical essays on The Taming of the Shrew, and includes extensive discussions of the play's various printed versions and its theatrical productions. Aspinall has included only those essays that offer the most influential and controversial arguments surrounding the play. The issues discussed include gender, authority, female autonomy and unruliness, courtship and marriage, language and speech, and performance and theatricality.

First ed. published under title: A dictionary of fairies. Lists entries on fairies and other supernatural creatures, and terms and phrases associated with them.

The fairy tradition in the British Isles is a fantastically rich and varied one. This book celebrates this diversity with essays, poems and a wonderful selection of reported sightings and country tales, ranging from medieval chronicles to stories handed down almost within living memory.

A "Who's Who" of fairyland, with entries by fairy name and additional legends, songs, and anecdotes within each entry.

Are there any legends about cats? Is Cinderella an English story? What is (or was) a Mumming Play? The subject of folklore covers an extremely wide field, with connections to virtually every aspect of life. It ranges from the bizarre to the seemingly mundane. Similarly, folklore is as much afeature of the modern technological age as the ancient world, of every part of the country, both urban and rural, and of every age group and occupation. Containing 2,000 entries, from dragons to Mother Goose, May Day to Michaelmas, this new reference work is an absorbing and entertaining guide to English folklore. Aimed at a broad general readership, the dictionary provides an authoritative reference source on such legendary characters as the Babesin the Wood, Jack the Giant Killer, and Robin Hood, and gives entertaining and informative explanations of a wide range of subjects in folklore, from nosebleeds and wishbones to cats and hot cross buns.

Fairies are a challenging subject, intertwining culture, folklore, and anecdotal accounts across centuries and millennia. Focusing primarily on the Celtic speaking cultures, with some material from adjacent cultures including Anglo-Saxon and Norse, A New Dictionary of Fairies has in-depth entries on a variety of fairies as well as subjects related to them, such as why we picture elves with pointed ears or where the idea of fairies being invisible comes from. It also tackles more complicated topics like the nature and physicality of the fairy people. Anyone with an interest in the Good Neighbours will find this book a solid resource to draw from.