Review: 'The Watkins Book of English Folktales' by Neil Philip

Folktales are a delight, in whatever shape they come, either as legends, scraps of tales, or full on fairy tales. Meanwhile England is known for its literary history, its Chaucer's, Shakespeare's, Milton's, and more. But how goes it with folktales in England? Well, Neil Philip is here with a new edition of this stunning collection! Thanks to Watkins Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My sincere apologies for the delay in reviewing.

Pub. Date: 10/11/2022
Publisher: Watkins Publishing

With a foreword by Neil Gaiman, this comprehensive, entertaining and authentic collection of English folktales is perfect for fans of Madeline Miller, Philip Pullman and the Brothers Grimm.

This is a golden treasury of over one hundred English folktales captured in the form they were first collected in past centuries. Read these classic tales as they would have been told when storytelling was a living art – when the audience believed in boggarts and hobgoblins, local witches and will-o’-the-wisps, ghosts and giants, cunning foxes and royal frogs. Find “Jack the Giantkiller”, “Tom Tit Tot” and other quintessentially English favourites, alongside interesting borrowings, such as an English version of the Grimms’ “Little Snow White” – as well as bedtime frighteners, including “Captain Murderer”, as told to Charles Dickens by his childhood nurse.

Neil Philip has provided a full introduction and source notes on each story that illustrate each tale’s journey from mouth to page, and what has happened to them on the way. These tales rank among the finest English short stories of all time in their richness of metaphor and plot and their great verbal dash and daring.

The Watkins Book of English Folktales is a delightful collection of folktales, but what attracted me most was the promise of source notes and a full introduction. I've been obsessed with how folk tales work for years, as it reminds me so much of how fluid and flexible medieval literature is. In his introduction, Neil Philip traces the history of folklorists, of how stories were noted down, and how the way they are approached now has changed. I also appreciated the "updated intro" for this edition, in which Philip revises some of his opinions or expands upon some points. I found a lot of very interesting things in this Introduction and it definitely set me up well for reading the stories themselves. The notes which accompany the stories are also interesting, either by offering other tellings, information on how it was noted down, and more. For me, the value of this collection truly lies in Philip's instrument around it and it is a definite resource for those interested in storytelling.

There are countless tales in this collection, some of which are familiar, some of which sounds like something you might have heard, and some completely new. 'The Witch Wife' is one of my favourite tales, dated to the 1920s, in which a man marries a witch without suspecting it. She takes him along on a midnight jaunt and he learns a lesson about listening to his wife. I also enjoyed 'The Green Lady', a story of the folktale-type to which 'Frau Holle' also belongs, I think.  A story I wish I could have understood was 'The Flyin' Childer', which sounds amazingly gory and gruesome. It has been transmitted in a Lincolnshire accent, however, and I struggled getting through it. However, that is part of the joy of The Watkins Book of English Folktales, that it truly reflects different regions of England. This is not the kind of collection you can sit down with and finish, in the sense that there is just too much there. It is much more fun to dip into it by seeing what strikes your fancy in the Index. The stories are a great mix between different kind of tales which either have a moral or are just short and dirty and fun. There is truly something for everyone in The Watkins Book and it is only made better by the supportive structure of the notes.

I give this collection...

4 Universes!

The Watkins Book of English Folktales does exactly what it says it'll do. It's a collection of delightful tales, supported by a strong Introduction and important notes which will allow readers to contextualise these tales.