Strange Terrain: The Fairy World in Newfoundland

R.G. Moyles is a professor of English at the University of Alberta.

What nearly always characterizes a book by a folklorist (or
ethnographer) is this: though it may be intended for “study” by
other folklorists, it is accessible to any who might be interested in
the subject or the stories. And this one is no exception. There is, of
course, some technical jargon to get by, and some interesting commentary
(of a learned but intelligible kind), but there are stories aplenty, and
what better subject than the “little people.” (It might be added
that, happily, one gets to know the storytellers as well.)

In an academic treatise one could wish for nothing better. Its thesis
is clearly defined and well argued; the methodology (though I am no
expert) seems entirely appropriate; the whole is amply documented; and
Rieti’s prose is unpretentious and engaging. Her chapter on “Fairy
Tradition as Discourse on Time and Change” is particularly
enlightening: “The idea that fairy narratives mostly concern the
‘old days’ makes them a natural medium for talking about change, and
almost paradoxically, about contemporary culture.” So, along with a
critical study of Newfoundland fairy lore, there is much about the
Newfoundland people themselves.

If this is not enough, one may simply read the stories
themselves—stories transcribed as they were told to Rieti by a variety
of Newfoundlanders ( most of whom seem to be Catholics, making it appear
that the fairy tradition is of an Irish-Catholic origin rather than
English-Protestant). It has been, claims Rieti, a long-standing
tradition, and one that even a growing belief in “extraterrestrial
aliens” will not likely drive underground.