James Stephens

Irish Fairy Tales James Stephens

Finnian, the Abbott of Moville, travels to the home of Tuan mac Cairill and compels Tuan to admit him. The abbott convinces Tuan of the truth of the Gospel. Finnian asks Tuan to describe his past. Tuan reveals that he is centuries old and was one of the original settlers of Ireland. Tuan lost consciousness in a violent storm and woke to find himself transformed into a powerful stag. Tuan passes through a number of lives: as a stag, a boar, a hawk, and a salmon. As a salmon, Tuan is caught, roasted, and eaten by the queen of Ireland. He is reborn as her son. James Stephens was an Irish novelist and poet and produced many retellings of Irish myths and fairy tales, which are marked by a rare combination of humour and lyricism; Deirdre, and Irish Fairy Tales are often especially praised. He also wrote several original novels, The Crock of Gold, Etched in Moonlight, and Demi-Gods, which are based loosely on Irish fairy tales. The Crock of Gold in particular has achieved enduring popularity and has often been reprinted. Stephens's influential book on the 1916 Easter Rising, Insurrection in Dublin, describes the effect of the deaths by execution of his friend Thomas MacDonagh and others as being "like watching blood oozing from under a door".