THE FAIRY MYTHOLOGY,
ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE
Romance and Superstition of Various Countries;
BY
THOMAS KEIGHTLEY,
Author of the Mythology of Ancient Greece and Italy; Histories of Greece, Rome,England, and India, The Crusaders, &c., &c.
Be talking of the Fairies still;
Nor never can they have their fill,
As they were wedded to them
Drayton.
A NEW EDITION, REVISED AND GREATLY ENLARGED
LONDON:
GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK ST., COVENT GARDEN,
AND NEW YORK.
1892.
LONDON:
REPRINTED FROM STEREOTYPE PLATES BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED.
STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.
TO
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
FRANCIS EARL OF ELLESMERE,
IN TESTIMONY OF
ESTEEM AND RESPECT FOR PUBLIC AND PRIVATE VIRTUE,
LITERARY TASTE, TALENT, AND ACQUIREMENTS,
AND PATRONAGE OF LITERATURE AND THE ARTS.
This Volume is Inscribed
BY
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
A preface is to a book what a prologue is to a play—ausual, often agreeable, but by no means necessary precursor.It may therefore be altered or omitted at pleasure. I haveat times exercised this right, and this is the third I havewritten for the present work.
In the first, after briefly stating what had given occasionto it, I gave the germs of the theory which I afterwards developedin the Tales and Popular Fictions. The secondcontained the following paragraph:—
"I never heard of any one who read it that was notpleased with it. It was translated into German as soon asit appeared, and was very favourably received. Goethethought well of it. Dr. Jacob Grimm—perhaps the firstauthority on these matters in Europe—wrote me a lettercommending it, and assuring me that even to him it offeredsomething new; and I was one Christmas most agreeablysurprised by the receipt of a letter from Vienna, from thecelebrated orientalist, Jos Von Hammer, informing me thatit had been the companion of a journey he had lately madeto his native province of Styria, and had afforded muchpleasure and information to himself and to some ladies ofhigh rank and cultivated minds in that country. Theinitials at the end of the preface, he said, led him to supposeit was a work of mine. So far for the Continent. In this[Pg iv]country, when I mention the name of Robert Southey asthat of one who has more than once expressed his decidedapprobation of this performance, I am sure I shall havesaid quite enough to satisfy any one that the work is notdevoid of merit."
I could now add many names of distinguished personswho have been pleased with this work and its pendent, theTales and Popular Fictions. I shall only mention thatof the late Mr. Douce, who, very shortly before his death,on the occasion of the publication of this last work, calledon me to assure me t