Audiobook Evans-Wentz, W. Y. (Walter Yeeling) The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries

This foundational work on Celtic folklore investigates the persistent belief in the fairy-faith across the six Celtic countries: Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany. The author approaches the subject not as mere superstition, but as a serious psychological and religious phenomenon deeply rooted in the physical environment and the racial memory of the Celtic peoples. Through extensive fieldwork, recording the testimonies of peasants, scholars, and seers, the text explores the nature of fairy-tribes, ancient mounds, changelings, and the spiritual world. A central argument develops around the idea that the fairy-faith is fundamentally a doctrine of souls, where fairyland represents an invisible realm of spirits and the dead that coexists with the material world. The work covers various local traditions, such as the Irish Sidhe, the Manx Mooinjer veggey, the Welsh Tylwyth Teg, and Cornish piskies, demonstrating how atmospheric changes, lonely landscapes, and ancestral mysticism sustain these beliefs. Ultimately, the investigation bridges anthropology and psychical research, suggesting that beneath ancient legends lies a valid, enduring human perception of a parallel unseen reality.