I stumbled across this in Book Depository and decided to borrow it to see if I wanted to buy my own. Now that I’ve read it, I definitely want my own copy.

Victorian Fairy Tales is a collection of tales by Victorian authors. It starts with two traditional fairy tales – Rumpel-Stilts-kin and The Princess and the Peas – and then goes on into a selection of fairytales. Some are supposed to be fairly well-known, but they were all fairly new to me. The stories are:

1. The Story of the Three Bears by Robert Southey: Okay, this one I knew. I think every kid who had a fairytale book knows about Goldilocks and the three bears. This version was different though.
2. The King of the Golden River or The Black Brothers by John Ruskin: This was pretty cool! It’s got three brothers – two rich and stingy and one poor and generous. It’s a classic tale of how a good heart leads to a good end and I really enjoyed it.
3. The Rose and the Ring by William Makepeace Thackeray: I actually wasn’t too fond of this at first because it felt like it was trying too hard to be funny, but it slowly grew on me. It’s about a spoilt princess, a prince who had his birthright stolen, and the little maid who was raised by wolves. It is also much longer than the fairytales I’m used to reading.
4. The Golden Key by George MacDonald: I am definitely biased because I loved The Lost Princess: A Double Story, but I enjoyed this quite a lot! It starts with a boy being told a tale by his grandmother and then moves into lots of adventure.
5. The Little Lame Prince and His Travelling Cloak: This was a sweet little tale about how a good parental figure can make a difference. The poor little prince is dropped as a baby and crippled, and then his uncle pretends to kill him and takes the throne, but because his godmother is always there, he learns what it means to be a good king.
6. The Wanderings of Arasmon by Mary de Morgan: This actually reminded me a lot of the stories of Jorinde and Joringel and Orpheus and Eurydice. Arasmon plays the most divine music while Chrysea sings. When Chrysea ‘disappears’, Arasmon goes on a search for his beloved.
7. The First Wife’s Wedding-Ring by Juliana Horatia Ewing: This is another story that had traditional fairytale vibes. There’s a wicked stepmother (who thankfully does not kill anyone), a giant, and a princess. And of course, a wise old woman.
8. The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde: It’s not the first time I’ve read this, but it still brings me to tears.
9. Prince Prigio by Andrew Lang: Basically, the moral of the story is “don’t be too clever for your own good.” A queen doesn’t believe in fairy tales, despite being descended from fairy tale characters, and as a result, her son is cursed with too much knowledge, making him despised by everyone. Luckily, even stuck-up characters can be rehabilitated.
10. The Queen Who Flew by Ford Madox Ford: This was a pretty charming story, about a Queen who’s removed from the revolts constantly taking place. But when she learns to fly, she learns more about her world and what happiness is.
11. The Story of the Herons by Laurence Housman: This story has echoes of The Six Swans (to me, anyway). Due to a curse, the princess falls in love with a Heron. To stop her from dying of love, she changes into one. It’s a pretty touching tale about love and what it means to be human.
12. The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame: I didn’t really connect with this story, probably because of the framing device, which I didn’t really understand the need of. The actual story was pretty cute, although it felt like it was trying too hard to be amusing, so overall, this wasn’t a favourite.
13. Melisande by E. Nesbit: If you made one bad wish, how would you undo it? This starts with a bad mistake not to invite any fairies and carries on into a bad wish for more hair. It’s a charming tale that pokes gentle fun at fairytale tropes.
14. Dymchurch Flit by Rudyard Kipling: I’m so sorry to Kipling, but I didn’t understand this story.

While the stories were interesting and definitely a good way to explore how Victorian authors saw the genre, what really made this book stand out was the introduction and the appendixes. The introduction has a good discussion on fairy tales and the real world (I was reminded of Chesterton’s On Fairy Tales at certain points), while the appendix has a collection of introductions to other fairy tale books, talking about what a fairytale is (the one by George MacDonald was very good). There are also detailed notes on who the authors were and explanations about certain words and phrases in the text.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. The stories were pleasant, but the accompanying essays and note are what make me want a copy for my own.