Briggs’s Dictionary of Fairies

Banshees, Boggarts and Other Folklore Creatures

First published 1978

Cover of Briggs’s Dictionary of Fairies

Reception

  1. 2026
    London Review of Books

    Reviewed by Nick Richardson, 10 September

About the book

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‘Katharine M. Briggs should have a statue in every town square in Britain.’ -Philip Pullman A new edition of Katharine Briggs’s seminal A-Z of Folklore, with beautiful new illustrations by Fee Greening. Katharine Mary Briggs (1898-1980) was a British folklorist, scholar and author, recognised today as the most important archivist of British folktales. Over the course of her life, she published fourteen books, lectured widely and was president of The Folklore Society. Her books were read and used by contemporaries including J.R.R. Tolkein. To reflect the monumental work Briggs did to collect, catalogue and publish folk stories from Britain and Ireland before the turn of the 21st century, The Folklore Society present an annual award in her honour.

This new edition of one of Briggs’ seminal works is a dictionary of folklore creatures and tales, illustrated in rich, vivid detail by artist Fee Greening. From brownies to Shetland selkies, Cornish spriggans to Nuckelavee (the most horrid of monsters in all of Britain) Briggs’s Dictionary of Fairies is a treasury of stories, songs and creatures passed down from one generation to the next.

Description from Hardcover

Catalogue record

Pantheon Books, 1978 · 480 pages

Publisher
Pantheon Books, 1978
Pages
480
ISBN
978-0-394-73467-5 +1
Full recordClose
Publisher
Pantheon Books, 1978
Pages
480
ISBNs
  • 978-0-394-73467-5
  • 978-1-80096-350-4
Editions
  • Pantheon Books, 1978, 480 pages 978-0-394-73467-5
  • Octopus Publishing Group, 2025, 192 pages 978-1-80096-350-4
Author
Briggs, Katharine Mary
Statement
Briggs’s Dictionary of Fairies : Banshees, Boggarts and Other Folklore Creatures / Katharine Mary Briggs.

Subjects

  • 1970s

Catalogue data checked 4 October 2026