The Red Book of Appin: Interpretation of Fairy Tales and Folklore

General Ethan Allen Hitchcock was one of the first Western thinkers to explore the abstract realm of archetypal symbolism. He realized intuitively that fairy tales and folklore, like Oriental mandalas, often had secret meanings and that they stimulated the thoughtful mind to explore the mysterious world of the subconscious. 

The key which Hitchcock provides unlocks a treasury of legendry and lore if it is applied to such epics as The Arthurian Cycle or The Song of Roland. These are transformed into Mystery Dramas. The fables of Aesop and La Fontaine take on new dimensions of meaning and the semi-mythological accounts in early scriptural writings take on a new significance. Each separate fairy tale reveals some aspect of the Ageless Wisdom and the veiled account of man’s perilous journey in search of eternal truth.

To the modern psychologist this little volume imparts a simple plan or method for interpreting archetypal dreams. The sleep phenomenon which everyone experiences, at least occasionally, are often similar to fairy tales. They include natural and unnatural factors and the dramatis personae are the personifications of pressures, constructive or destructive, which ultimately affect our daily living. Beneath the surface of every personality there is a continual striving toward integration.

In his approach to his subject matter, General Hitchcock was not only far in advance of his time, but also in advance of our time.

A facsimile reprint of the 1866 edition, the original title page of this work reads: "The Red Book of Appin; A story of the Middle Ages, with Other Hermetic Stories and Allegorical Tales. A New Edition, Enlarged by a Chapter of the Palmerin of England, with Interpretations and Remarks upon the Arabian Nights' Entertainments."

CONTENTS:
Prefatory Remarks
Story of the Red Book
Explanatory Notes
The Six Swans
Interpretation
The White Dove
Interpretation
Dummling and the Toad
Interpretation

Appendix (Preface)
The Flair from the Clouds
The Hedgehog and the Hare
Faithful John
Interpretation
The Goose-Girl at the Well, with Notes
A Chapter from the Palmerin of England
Interpretation
Remarks on the Arabian Nights' Entertainments

General Ethan Allen Hitchcock (1798-1870), was a career United States Army officer and author who had War Department assignments in Washington, D.C., during the American Civil War, in which he served as a major general.