Beveridge, Jan,  1945- <br/><br/>
Children into swans :  fairy tales and the pagan imagination / 
Jan Beveridge. 
 - Montreal :  McGill-Queen's University Press,  (c)2014. 
 - 1 online resource (300 pages) :  illustrations 
<br/><br/>Includes bibliographies and index. 
<br/><br/>Part one History. Early Storytellers --  The Oldest "Fairy" Tale --  The Manuscript --  Folk Tales and Fairy Tales. Part two Characters. Fairies --  Elves --  Dwarfs --  Household Spirits --  Water Dwellers --  Giants --  Souls and Spirits. Part three Stories from the Pagan Year. Festival Days --  Beltaine --  Samain --  Midwinter and Midsummer. Part four Storytellers' Themes. Wishing, or Dreams Come True --  The Triple Form --  Shape-Shifting --  Omens and Prophecies --  Between Two Worlds --  Spells --  Trees --  The Invisible World --  A Fairy Tale Almost Forgotten. 
<br/><br/> Annotation  Fairy tales are alive with the supernatural - elves, dwarfs, fairies, giants, and trolls, as well as witches with magic wands and sorcerers who cast spells and enchantments. Children into Swans examines these motifs in a range of ancient stories. Moving from the rich period of nineteenth-century fairy tales back as far as the earliest folk literature of northern Europe, Jan Beveridge shows how long these supernatural features have been a part of storytelling, with ancient tales, many from Celtic and Norse mythology, that offer glimpses into a remote era and a pre-Christian sensibility. The earliest stories often show significant differences from what we might expect. Elves mingle with Norse gods, dwarfs belong to a proud clan of magician-smiths, and fairies are shape-shifters emerging from the hills and the sea mist. In story traditions with roots in a pre-Christian imagination, an invisible other world exists alongside our own. From the lost cultures of a thousand years ago, Children into Swans opens the door on some of the most extraordinary worlds ever portrayed in literature - worlds that are both starkly beautiful and full of horrors. 
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<br/><br/><label>ISBN: </label>9780773543942 9780773596160 9780773596177 
<br/><br/><label>Standard Tech. Report. No.: </label>JSTOR purchased 
<br/><br/><label>Nat. Bib. No.: </label>GBB4C2708  bnb 20149036469  can 
<br/><br/><label>Nat. Bib. Agency Control No.: </label>(AMICUS)000042761510 20149036469 016931579  Uk 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>Fairy tales--History and criticism.--Europe<br/>Fairy tales--Europe--Classification.<br/>Fairy tales--Themes, motives.--Europe<br/>Fairy Tales--History And Criticism.<br/>Europe--History.<br/>Literary Criticism--Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology.<br/>History--General.--Europe
<br/><br/><label>Index Terms--Genre/Form: </label><br/>Electronic Books.
<br/><br/><label>LC Class. No.: </label>GR135  / .C455 2014