English Fairy Tales and Legends

 Standing at the top of Conwy Mountain, beside a herd of wild ponies it is easy to believe in fairy tales. The castle in the distance could be taken from the pages of a book.  Rolling hills set against beautiful waters are ripe with magic and history.  

So when I went into the little national trust shop with a  low beamed ceiling and hidden corners I couldn't help but buy English Fairy Tales and Legends by Rosalind Kervern. Why a Welsh shop sold English Fairy Tales I don't know but I'm glad I did. 

I've been reading it almost obsessively, getting too easily sucked into the classic narratives. The pages are thick and peppered with beautiful illustrations. 

My favourite tales so far have been The Dead Moon and The Forbidden Forest. I've learned that when facing bogles and spooks to always have a stone in my mouth and an elder tree branch in my hand. I know to bow before the ancient oak tree and to never trust a willow tree in the dark of night. 

Here's an Extract from The Dead Moon; I do not recommend these tales before bedtime: 

 Keep away from the Bog.

It's riddled with unspeakable things, It stinks of death. There are bogles and rotting corpses; dark, nauseous shapes that weave in and out of the mud like worms. There are fleshless, grasping hands out there, and disembodied mouths that gape open and suck everything into them. There are ghosts and creeping goblins, witches on cat-back, and treacherous, flickering will-o-the-wisps. 

Rosalind Kerven has remastered these tales expertly and I hope to fill my overflowing bookshelf with more of her works. The Fairy Spotters Handbook might be particularly illuminating on my next trip up Conwy Mountain.