I found these stories were less about "deep, mystical truths" and more about entertainment and fun. Even more than that, they seemed to specifically have the goal or preserving Celtic cultural figures, like leprechauns, fairies and Druid magic. For example, the first story of "Connla and the Fairy Maiden" gave everyone a name except for the fairy maiden, and gave details about the king's Druid's method of getting rid of the Fairy. It also had lots of details about Fairy Land itself. The same is true for the "Field of Boliauns," wherein Tom Fitzpatrick (again, full names) tells us what to do and what not to do if we ever find a leprechaun chugging beer in a field.
There were other stories that preserved history and cultural mysticism in a much creepier way. "The Horned Women" for one, was kind of weird. But now, I know what to do if a series of increasingly-horned witches enter my home and start weaving. "The Sprightly Tailor" gave us an actual location, as did the "Shepherd of Myddvai," which makes me feel like the point is to connect all generations of listeners/readers.
My favorite story of these so far is a tie between "Munachar and Manachar" and the "Silver-Tree and Gold-Tree" story. The former is one of those stories/songs that makes a list of things and you have to keep track of all the things listed until the funny twist at the end. Loved that story, it was highly entertaining. The Snow-White story--Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree--was interesting. It's got everything, from filicide to polygamy. Both were highly entertaining. I look forward to reading the second section.
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| "Munachar and Manachar" by John D. Batten via Wikimedia Commons |
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