Just to put in my two penny'orth. The themes of Thomas run through much of northern mythology and into our own times. Sometimes watered down ( or popularised,) such as in the Irish Tales of the good folk taking farmers into their Rades, threough to such modern(ish) masters of phantasie such as Dunsany ( The King of Elfland's Daughter) and C.S. Lewis ( The Silver Chair). Sometimes the Fairy protagenist is good, sometimes bad, sometimes indifferent. Thomas picks up on some of the many stories that were floating around at the time and used by singers, balladeers and such as they saw fit. this is a great thread, I'm off to look through my Bumper Book of Celtic Myths and Legends.