The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies

Author: Robert Kirk
Publisher: New York Review of Books
ISBN: 9781590171776
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 152

Book Description
"The Secret Commonwealth is a guide to fairies, doppelgängers, wraiths, and other beings that its author Robert Kirk, an unusually inquisitive seventeenth-century Scottish minister, identifies as being ?of a middle nature betwixt man and angel.? Circulated in manuscript by its author, whose religious and scientific interests drew him at some genuine personal risk to investigate the hidden realities of the spiritual world, this short work was first published by Sir Walter Scott and then again in the late nineteenth century in an edition prepared by the famous collector of fairy tales, Andrew Lang, and dedicated to Robert Louis Stevenson. Nonetheless, Kirk’s work, which is a fine example of English prose, an important document in the history of ideas, and an enchanting introduction to fairy lore has remained a rarity"--Publisher description.

The Secret Commonwealth

Author: Robert Kirk
Publisher: New York Review of Books
ISBN: 1681373564
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 145

Book Description
A classic, enchanting document of Scottish folklore about fairies, elves, and other supernatural creatures. Late in the seventeenth century, Robert Kirk, an Episcopalian minister in the Scottish Highlands, set out to collect his parishioners’ many striking stories about elves, fairies, fauns, doppelgängers, wraiths, and other beings of, in Kirk’s words, “a middle nature betwixt man and angel.” For Kirk these stories constituted strong evidence for the reality of a supernatural world, existing parallel to ours, which, he passionately believed, demanded exploration as much as the New World across the seas. Kirk defended these views in The Secret Commonwealth, an essay that was left in manuscript when he died in 1692. It is a rare and fascinating work, an extraordinary amalgam of science, religion, and folklore, suffused with the spirit of active curiosity and bemused wonder that fills Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy and the works of Sir Thomas Browne. The Secret Commonwealth is not only a remarkable document in the history of ideas but a study of enchantment that enchants in its own right. First published in 1815 by Sir Walter Scott, then reedited in 1893 by Andrew Lang, with a dedication to Robert Louis Stevenson, The Secret Commonwealth has long been difficult to obtain—available, if at all, only in scholarly editions. This new edition modernizes the spelling and punctuation of Kirk’s little book and features a wide-ranging and illuminating introduction by the critic and historian Marina Warner, who brings out the originality of Kirk’s contribution and reflects on the ongoing life of fairies in the modern mind.

The Secret Lives of Elves and Faeries

Author: Robert Kirk
Publisher: Godsfield Press
ISBN: 9781841812489
Category : Elves
Languages : en
Pages : 128

Book Description
Welcome to the magical world of Faery! This book takes readers along on the journeys of the Reverend Robert Kirk, a seventeenth-century vicar of the parish of Aberfoyle, Scotland, into the heart of the faery world.

The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns & Fairies

Author: Robert Kirk
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Clairvoyance
Languages : en
Pages : 182

Book Description

The Elves and the Shoemaker

Author: Jacob Grimm
Publisher: Sterling Publishing Company
ISBN: 9781402730672
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 36

Book Description
A poor shoemaker becomes successful with the help of two elves who finish his shoes during the night.

The Secret Commonwealth

Author: Robert Kirk
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781456355852
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 84

Book Description
This is the first comprehensive modern translation of the classic 1691 text; The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies by The Reverend Robert Kirk. For more than three centuries, The Secret Commonwealth has endured as the definitive textbook on fairies and their interaction with human beings. It was written by a protestant minister, Robert Kirk, who was surprisingly neutral in his treatment of the subject. In 1893 the acclaimed writer Andrew Lang reprinted The Secret Commonwealth adding his own introduction which far surpassed the length of Kirk's original. The present edition includes both. In this edition, Kenneth Brennan has modernized Kirk's archaic language without detracting from its original charm. His extensive notes illuminate both texts with respect to advancements in our understanding of history over the past century. Cover art has been provided by Selina Fenich

Robert Kirk

Author: R. J. Stewart
Publisher: R J Stewart Books
ISBN: 9780979140242
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 196

Book Description
This new edition in modern English includes a detailed commentary. Comparisons are made between the ancient rites and powers of fairy tradition and second sight, and those of shamanism, Native American tradition, Celtic myth and legend, and perennial magical arts.

The Fairies of Nutfolk Wood

Author: Barb Bentler Ullman
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061345636
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Book Description
Barb Bentler Ullman's delightful debut shares the special magic and hidden wisdom of a little world with young readers.

The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies

Author: Professor of Philosophy and Head of the Philosophy Department Robert Kirk
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781306957601
Category : Clairvoyance
Languages : en
Pages : 94

Book Description
"Kirk is a magnificent dish to set before any student of either folk-lore or folk-psychology."--"Times Literary Supplement "In the late seventeenth century, a Scottish minister went looking for supernatural creatures of "a middle nature betwixt man and angel." Robert Kirk roamed the Highlands, talking to his parishioners and other country folk about their encounters with fairies, wraiths, elves, doppelgangers, and other agents of the spirit world. Magic was a part of everyday life for Kirk and his fellow Highlanders, and this remarkable book offers rare glimpses into their enchanted realm. Left in manuscript form upon the author's death in 1692, this volume was first published in 1815 at the behest of Sir Walter Scott. In 1893, the distinguished folklorist Andrew Lang re-edited the work. Lang's introduction to Kirk's extraordinary blend of science, religion, and superstition is included in this edition. For many years, "The Secret Commonwealth" was hard to find--available, if at all, only in scholarly editions. Academicians as well as lovers of myths and legends will prize this authoritative but inexpensive edition.

The Fairy-faith in Celtic Countries

Author: Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 570

Book Description
In this study, which is first of all a folk-lore study, we pursue principally an anthropo-psychological method of interpreting the Celtic belief in fairies, though we do not hesitate now and then to call in the aid of philology; and we make good use of the evidence offered by mythologies, religions, metaphysics, and physical sciences.