One of my little background hobbies has been the compiling of a book on fairies for some years now. It’s a dictionary, perhaps a bit like K.M. Brigg’s dictionary but more etymological and I’m much more inclined to put in scarecrow and lubber and slovenly names like Bugahag and Slubber-de-Gullion and Trolly-Mog that are possibly lost fairy names preserved as insults or slang. At any rate, while hunting for information on Asrai I discovered an anonymous page of folklore over at mondrem.net.
First off, I wanted to link to it because it is extremely well written and well researched. If you like folklore, you should put some time aside to read it. Some really nice work. The second reason I wanted to link to it is that it strikes me as an example of a non-fiction book in web-page form, presented really elegantly. It is laid out and reads exactly like the sort of small press folklore books I used to buy in local tourist shops or book stores while driving around the British countryside. Barring perhaps a need for some more in the way of scenic local photography to be added, it could be published as a glossy tourist book as is.
It strikes me as really interesting that instead of this being a small publication tucked away in a bookstore somewhere, the author has made the choice to make it available online and to everyone globally. It also strikes me as interesting that the webpage so clearly feels like a non-fiction book, complete with introduction and chapters. It tangibly feels more like a book than a webpage.
