Tales from Old Ireland

Tales from Old Ireland

Several years ago my parents lived in Ireland for a couple years.  My father’s job took him there and it ended up being an amazing adventure for our entire family.  At some point during their time there, every one of us children and our spouses were able to spend some time with our parents in Ireland.  What a beautiful place so rich in history!  My husband and I loved being there.  While touring castles, the Burrens, little towns and roaring cities like Dublin, we were made acutely aware of how little history our America had.  In fact, while winding down a narrow road in the middle of nowhere to see Ireland’s version of Stonehenge, we spoke of that very thing - how items in Ireland that were considered “newer” were still older than most buildings, monuments in America.  So the point, American folk tales are brought from other countries - we have folk tales from slaves and immigrants talking about the “old country”.  We also have American Indian folk tales which most European Americans read with little recognition of history.  Are there Euro pean folk tales?  If not, will there be some day?  America is just not that old/rich in history to have a plethora of folk tales - but Ireland is. 
As I was thinking about what type of Folk Tales I wanted to read, I asked my eldest daughter to bring me her book of stories and fairy tales (that includes the original “dark” versions of stories as they were before Disney got their hands on them).  WIth this book, she also brought Old Tales from Ireland because, This has a different Cinderella story too mom.”  AS soon as I saw the book, I recalled that my daughter often requested I read it to her.  I usually opted out of this book b/c I thought it was quite long for a bedtime story and read her a shorter one instead (obviously she read it without me).  Anyhow, I began looking for the Cinderella story she was referring to and became engrossed in all the stories.  Irish Folk Tales - stories that teach history and lessons and don’t always have happy endings - why hadn’t I read this sooner?!?!!  I read the stories from cover to cover in one night, in the morning I told my daughter how much I liked the tales and we had some good conversations about our favorites and the ones we didn’t like.  

One of my favorites is “Son of an Otter, Son of a Wolf.”  In this tale, a daughter of a king swims in forbidden waters and is “attacked” (impregnated) by an otter.  The king is angry at first but when the child is born and it is a boy, the king is thrilled (for he had only daughters - four of them)  He raises the boy like his own son and spoils him terribly.  When the king grows old and becomes quite sick, the boy asks for his crown.  THings get ugly and the King quickly realizes what a terrible character the boy has.  The boy flees to build an army.  The king quickly marries and is apparently quite sterile b/c the night of his wedding the battles begin but his new bride safely escapes and nine months later has a child - a boy.  This boy though, is stolen by a wolf (hence the title)  After much time passes, he miraculously ends up back with his grandfather and mother.  He confronts the king and reveals to the king that his father was an otter.  The Son of a wolf helps the Otter king by returning him to the sea.  The otter king becomes an otter, joins his true father, and the wolf boy become kings - rightfully so - and rules the kingdom with peace and harmony.  The end...  I think I enjoy this one because it ends with the “good guy” winning.  

Another I enjoyed was a Rumplestiltskin type tale only in the “Twelve Wild Geese” a mom has twelve sons and says she will give anything for a daughter so an old woman (witch) grants her wish and once her daughter is born her sons turn into geese.  The daughter is quite pleasant and once she discovers her birth is the cause for her brothers’ disappearance, she sets out to right her mothers wrongs.  Though she appears evil, selfish, and nearly loses her love and her life to save her brothers, she sticks to her guns and fulfills the requirements to end the curse.  It was great to see a female savior rather than a male.  And it was great to read a story of sacrifice no matter how great to make a wrong situation corrected.   

There are seven tales in this compilation - and I enjoyed them all (except one I thought was quite simple).  I hadn’t even thought of Ireland for folk tales but how foolish of me - and I am very glad now that I read this book (finally my daughter would say).  Ireland is very rich in history so it should be no surprise their tales are just as rich.

I believe a lot of conversations by students could be had regarding choices and morals.  These tales provided an interesting tale with sometimes surprising ends that would keep students and adults engaged.  

The People Could Fly

The People Could Fly

The Two Johns.  This tale to me was a very engaging and educational tale.  Near the end I thought - OK, Big JOhn has got to figure out by now that things don’t work the way he believes they will when dealing with Little JOhn - but he never did figure it out and it was the death of him.  

The idea of the wise John and the foolish John is played out in many stories and characters.  Even Wiley E Coyote comes to mind.  Anyhow, this tale really makes readers think about who truly has it better.  In this case, the person with more, Big John, truly had less.  And try as he may to have as much, if not more than Little John, he could never get there.  In the end it cost him dearly.  

The trickster tales though were by far my favorite.  Paybacks only work if you think things through.  It isn’t the fastest or the biggest that has the advantage but the calmest and most clever.  This tales seemed very fitting historically.  Slaves had no legal rights above their owners.  Slaves had no power over their owners.  Even if they were bigger and stronger they could not use that physical power against their owners.  The tool they needed the most was their wits.  Using their wits could keep them out of trouble, calm a situation, and possibly - as in the stories told here - offer them their much sought after freedom. 
THough slavery is not an issue today in the states, using wits is still something every person can learn about.  There is the quote, “Once you start swinging fists you are admitting you have run out of ideas”  Thinking, having patience, a plan, and using those things to your advantage can take you much farther than anything else (especially when you are in an otherwise powerless situation).

I also really enjoyed The People Could Fly until the end.  I wanted them to take all the slaves. I wondered why, if they know how to fly they didn’t leave sooner.  Partially I thought that they were not oppressed enough, and only when things were so bad would they recall how to fly - then I thought that was ridiculous - as a slave when were things tolerable?  Honestly I struggled with the end.  Who could leave others behind?  Were they OK with that?  Did they go back?  There were just more questions than anything else after reading this tale that I was left unsettled.  

The other thing I did appreciate about this book was the illustrations.  They were simple but strong.  I especially was drawn to the boy in “The Talking Cooter”  There seemed to be a fitting quality to the drawings.  Had another artist gotten too colorful or fanciful I believe I would have been a bit turned off to the illustrations.  The drawings in the book seemed perfectly suited.  It is interesting because I like the drawings because they are “simple” but do not believe the people or tales are simple.  Perhaps it seems fitting to me because folk tales usually appear simple but if you look beyond their surface meaning, they are usually quite deep and meaningful - in that way I enjoyed the illustrations.

Overall though, the stories in this book were fitting to the genre of Folk Tales.  The language was appropriate, the historical element was present, the lessons were clearly there, and many had repetition or rhythm to make them verbally easy to recall/retell.