Book Review

Fairy Gold: A Book of Classic English Fairy Tales
Chosen by Ernest Rhys
Hippocrene Books, Inc.
Reviewed by Olivia Kerr

Well, I must say, of all the Hippocrene Press books I have seen so far, this one is, without doubt, the best of the bunch.

Ernest Rhys has collected a wonderful array of folktales, legends, ballads, and what-not. The collection features many famous, near famous, and once famous stories. I found the story of the Lambton Worm, a classic English dragon tale in the book; a tale I've seen mentioned, but have never actually run across until now. King Arthur makes an appearance here (but not Dame Ragnell, I'm afraid) as does Tom Thumb and Dick Whittington and Robin Goodfellow and Queen Mab and many more besides, including, of course, Jack.

Some of the stories are from the great tales of long ago, such as "Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight." Rhys rewrites this masterpiece of Middle English poetry into modern prose, shortening it considerably, but keeping the flavor and richness intact. Indeed, he takes many of his tales from old ballads and poems. Delightfully, he lets the poetry come slipping in, with lines and verses from the originals sprinkled amply throughout.

Mixed in with all the tales are old scraps of folklore and memory - pieces that do not seem to have much of a plot or real story, but simply recount some old lore or event that has stuck in the memory of the countryside. "The Green Children" tells of a pair of children discovered in the countryside who were green in color, spoke some strange language and would eat only bean stalks. After the children had been adopted by a kind family and taught language, they told of being raised in a strange land that sounds like Fairy Land. Whatever happened to the Green Children, however, no one knows any more.

The most delightful discovery about this book, however, is the wondrous illustrations by Herbert Cole. The range from simple drawings to fill the margins, to elaborate capitals and big, full page illustrations. Most are line drawings, but a few look almost like black and white reproductions of water color paintings. All of them are gorgeous, filled with fine detail, and rich with a long ago, medieval world feel about them. The art alone is worth the price of the book.

All in all, you should get this book; it is absolutely wonderful.

—published in WIP Winter 2000.