Week 12 Reading Diary B

This week I chose to read the Celtic Fairy Tales unit. The stories are taken from Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892). Here are a few of my favorite stories from the second half of the reading.

Beth Gellert

• The prince had a favorite greyhound named Gellert who was gentle, but VERY fast. One day, when he blew the horn for his dogs, Gellert never came. The prince hunted without the dog, but was incredibly angry. When he came home, the dog came bounding up with blood all over his face. The prince had a baby son, and he worried that the dog had hurt his son. As he made his way to the child's room, he saw more and more blood and disarray. When he came to the room, the cradle was overturned and there was blood everywhere. The prince was sure that the greyhound had killed his son and drew his sword. He pierced the pup in his side, straight through to his heart. The dog cried out and died. Just then, a little noise came from under the cradle. The prince went to check it out and lo and behold, there was his bouncing baby boy. Next to him, lay the body of a great wolf. It dawned on the prince that Gellert had stayed behind that morning to protect the baby and had done so greatly. The prince was immediately filled with pain and grief. He cried and cried, but nothing could bring Gellert back, so he buried him outside the castle and named his home Beth Gellert in the dog's honor. 

Gelert by Charles Burton Barber

Found on Wikipedia

Brewery of Eggshells

• Once upon a time, there was a man, his wife, and their twin sons. One day, she had to run to the neighbor's place and as she was returning, she saw two elves crossing her path. She panicked and ran into her sons' room, but everything seemed fine. However, after a while she noticed that her twins were not growing. Something was wrong! The man suggested that they were not their children. The wife asked whose they were and so began a long drawn-out argument. 
• The wife decides to go to the town wise-man who told her to clear out the shell of a hen's egg and boil some potage (a thick soup) in it. Then, he said, put it in front of the door as if it is dinner for the reapers of the harvest and wait to see if the twins say anything. If she hears them talking about things way beyond the usual understanding for their age, take them and throw them into Lake Ebyr. If they don't say anything remarkable, leave them alone.
• The wife did as she was told and the children began talking in a way most unlike babies of their age. The woman grabbed them and ran to the lake. She threw them in and they splashed, helplessly until the other goblins/elves came to save them. They gave the woman her children back, and everything went back to normal.