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ANDY HEDGECOCK recommends a collection of folk tales, each of which is dazzling flash of human experience, natural or supernatural
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Welsh Folk Tales
Robin Gwyndaf, with illustrations by Magaret D Jones, Y Lolfa,
£9.99
THE folk tale is a “Marmite” genre — scorned by some as a frivolous, child-centred form with fading appeal, but admired by others for its accessibility and influence.
Novelist Lindsay Clarke, sees these stories as “an indispensable part of our birthright, freely available to everyone,” while writer and academic Alison Lurie focuses on their transformative power, saying: “We would do well to listen seriously to what they tell us about the real world we live in.”
This new edition of Robin Gwyndaf’s anthology confirms the assertions of Clarke and Lurie and celebrates the exuberance and variety of the Welsh folk tale tradition. It’s a gazetteer of 63 stories, representing every region of Wales and selecting just one piece from any district.
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