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Audiobook edition · 13 h 4 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the hills beyond the farmyard held fairy neighbours, restless spirits, and lights that warned of death?
In Welsh Folk-Lore, Elias Owen gathers the tales, beliefs, and customs of North Wales. Farmers, shepherds, and cottagers share accounts of the Tylwyth Teg, ghosts, omens, holy wells, and witches. Their stories bring you close to a country life where, in local belief, the unseen world sits beside the everyday.
Owen listens as schools, railways, and changing habits reach the hills and old ways begin to fade. He mostly lets his informants speak, adding few opinions of his own. This collection moves from fairy lore to haunted roads, from warnings of death to the charms people turn to when illness or fear enters the home.
What you’ll discover
- Fairies close to home Meet the Tylwyth Teg, beings believed to inhabit hills, lakes, and green hollows.
- Spirits on the road Explore accounts of ghosts and spirit dogs that make familiar paths feel strange.
- Lights that carry warnings Discover the corpse candle and the place of death omens in Welsh belief.
- Wells, charms, and witches See how people seek healing and protection through wells, offerings, and household charms.
- Country voices worth hearing Listen to traditions recorded from ordinary people as their ways of life change.
Who will love it
Readers who love fairy tales, local legends and old country beliefs will enjoy this book, as will anyone curious about Wales, ghost stories and witch lore.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Owen listens to living voices
- Fairies may preserve human history
- Fairy marriages depend on a rule
- Fairyland keeps its own time
- Fairy beliefs reach into family life
- Fairy gifts require kindness and silence
- Ghost stories mix fear and justice
- Charms give fear a practical answer
- Wonder carries lessons for everyday life
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Welsh Folk-Lore
by Elias Owen · 1896
A shepherd boy meets a fairy bride on a misty hill, and one careless touch of iron costs him everything.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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In short
A shepherd boy tends his father's flock on a misty Denbighshire hill and finds a lovely girl weeping beside a peat stack. They fall in love, and her old father agrees to the marriage with one rule.
Welsh Folk-Lore at a glance
- Reading time
- About 7 h 20 min5 h 50 min fast, 8 h 45 min slow
- Length
- 104,900 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1896by Elias Owen
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Owen collected these tales from living voices
The book began as an essay for the National Eisteddfod, held in London in 1887. It won first prize, and Owen later revised it into a book.
His method is the heart of the work. As a school inspector he visited every parish in the diocese each year for seventeen years. When the inspecting was done, he asked the local clergy to take him to the oldest people in the parish. On dark winter evenings they set out together with lanterns in their hands.
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Details
- First published
- 1896
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 8 h 30 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Owen, Elias. Welsh Folk-Lore. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/welsh-folk-lore.
Owen, E. (2026). Welsh folk-lore. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/welsh-folk-lore (Original work published 1896)
Owen, Elias. Welsh Folk-Lore. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/welsh-folk-lore.
@book{owen2026welsh,
author = {Owen, Elias},
title = {Welsh Folk-Lore},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/welsh-folk-lore},
note = {First published 1896}
}
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What is Welsh Folk-Lore by Elias Owen about?
It collects tales and beliefs from North Wales, including fairies, changelings, ghosts, the Devil, witches, conjurors, charms, omens and animal superstitions. Owen heard most of them from elderly people and clergy while working as a school inspector.
What does Tylwyth Teg mean?
Y Tylwyth Teg means the Fair Tribe or Fair Family, the most common Welsh name for the fairies. Owen notes that it speaks of them as a handsome people, not as mere goblins. Other names include Bendith y Mamau and Ellyll.
Are the stories in Welsh Folk-Lore true?
They are traditional tales and beliefs, written down from living tellers and older books. Owen says he gave each account as he heard it. He suggests some may echo real history, such as an older people, but he treats the supernatural parts as legend.
The author
Elias Owen
1833–1899 · Welsh priest and folklorist
Elias Owen was a Welsh priest and writer. He was born in 1833 and died in 1899. He lived and worked in Wales during the nineteenth century. He collected Welsh folklore and published Welsh Folk-Lore in 1896. His writing also dealt with Welsh antiquities.
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