The Personnel of Fairyland

The Personnel of Fairyland presents a classification of the fairy people found in British and Irish tradition, arranged for those who tell stories to children. Katharine Briggs distinguishes groups such as Trooping Fairies and Homely Fairies, while bringing together beings with very different reputations and roles.

Its entries and discussions include brownies, boggarts, banshees, kelpies, leprechauns, pookas and the Welsh Tylwyth Teg, alongside giants, hags, fairy beasts and water spirits. English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish traditions appear together, showing the range of names, traits and stories attached to fairy beings across the islands. The book closes with a bibliography for further study.