AN Aberystwyth storyteller has released a book of 150 Welsh folk tales, following on from the success of his Ceredigion Folk Tales volume.

Peter Stevenson, an illustrator, writer, artist, folklorist, film-maker, and lecturer, released Welsh Folk Tales this month.

“I wanted to produce a book of Welsh folk tales that goes beyond a collection of old stories,” Peter said.

“In Welsh, the old colloquial word ‘chwedlau’ is now used to mean ‘legends’, but it also means ‘myths, fairy tales, folk tales, anecdotes, speech and gossip’.

“Stories in Wales are a part of conversation, and when read or heard in the context of the landscape and people, they become a cauldron of wisdom that can travel anywhere in the world. This book not only tells 150 stories, it also tells the tales of the storytellers, folklorists, collectors, crafts folk, preachers, dyn hysbys, gwiddanes, and most of all the characters who told these tales. When we hear these lost voices, we are looking backwards towards tomorrow.”

See this week’s south editions for the full story, in shops and online tomorrow