Reading Notes: Week 13 "More Celtic Fairy Tales" Part A

 


Dream of Owen O'Mulready. 1895. John D. Batten. (Source: More Celtic Fairy Tales)

    "Dream of Owen O'Mulready" was my favorite story from this unit. This was partly because it was one of two stories that weren't sad, but it was mostly because the story is just a trip! Owen's dream was wild from start to finish. I really liked how there wasn't a clear transition. At the beginning of his dream, I really didn't know what was a dream and what was reality. I mean, it became clear pretty soon, but when he's "woken up," the reader isn't clued in on the fact he's dreaming already.
    In all, I'm fascinated by dreams. Are they our brain working through our stresses and thoughts? Are they pure nonsense? Somewhere in between? It's interesting how the basis of the story is because Owen had never had a dream. Since it's a fairy tale, it makes me wonder if he was born that way or cursed? Either would be very fairy-tale-cliche though!
    I'm suspicious of James Taaf, Owen's master, though. How did he know sleeping in the fireplace would give Owen a dream? I like to think it was really James who gave Owen the dream, and every face and voice in the dream was his! I think it would make for a really fun story to see how Owen would interact with James the next morning. The story ends with Owen happy to never have another dream, was that James's intent? I suspect James isn't exactly what he presents himself as...

Bibliography

Dream of Owen O'Mulready from Celtic Folklore by Joseph Jacobs

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