{"product_id":"9780773596177","title":"Children into Swans: Fairy Tales and the Pagan Imagination","description":"Fairy tales are alive with the supernatural - elves, dwarfs, fairies, giants, and trolls, as well as witches with magic wands and sorcerers who cast spells and enchantments. Children into Swans examines these motifs in a range of ancient stories. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMoving from the rich period of nineteenth-century fairy tales back as far as the earliest folk literature of northern Europe, Jan Beveridge shows how long these supernatural features have been a part of storytelling, with ancient tales, many from Celtic and Norse mythology, that offer glimpses into a remote era and a pre-Christian sensibility. The earliest stories often show significant differences from what we might expect. Elves mingle with Norse gods, dwarfs belong to a proud clan of magician-smiths, and fairies are shape-shifters emerging from the hills and the sea mist. In story traditions with roots in a pre-Christian imagination, an invisible other world exists alongside our own. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the lost cultures of a thousand years ago, Children into Swans opens the door on some of the most extraordinary worlds ever portrayed in literature - worlds that are both starkly beautiful and full of horrors.","brand":"MQUP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47127387832560,"sku":"9780773596177","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780773596177_p0.jpg?v=1763662923","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780773596177","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}