Extra Reading Diary: Welsh Fairy Tales

For the extra reading this week, I decided to check out the Welsh Fairy Tales because it was one unit I knew absolutely nothing about. I really enjoyed these stories, and I liked how easy to read they were.

One of the stories that stood out to me as a favorite in this unit was March's Ears. I thought it was a really funny concept of the man to have horse ears. I really liked how that the story had multiple humorous parts to it, particularly the mere fact that "march" literally means "horse" in Welsh. I also thought the statement "March would undergo ridicule, which is certainly a serious thing: but the barber would undergo decapitation, which is much more serious" was hilarious and added a bit of humor to a rather dark idea of the story. Obviously having your head chopped off is going to rank on a MUCH higher scale of horror than being ridiculed for having horse ears. The only part I wish the story would have changed would be the ending. I feel like the ending was a tad bit undeveloped, and it would have been cool to see a little more of how the March changed his opinion about the ears.

(Bala Lake)

Another story I enjoyed was Bala Lake. I thought it had a very peaceful voice, and it was really easy to read. The idea of the bird leading the harper to the lake was really cool, and I think it tells a great story of how the lake was founded. The only part I was a tad bit confused on was the purpose of the bird whispering "vengeance". I'm sure I am probably just missing a minor point, but it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. However, despite that minor detail, I still really enjoyed reading the story.