The Fireside Stories of Ireland #252825

Beings of superhuman power, both in human and bestial forms, abound, some good and others evil in their nature, thus testifying to the worship of inferior divinities and of animals. Morality was not an essential feature of the original narratives, but it is as curious as agreeable to mark the trifling extent of the evil element throughout. Perhaps some improvement was effected in the tales as they passed from the pagan to the christian story tellers. Some indeed of an unedifying character have remained even to our own times, but such as these will not be found in our collection.