Folklore

This book is a print on demand title. Orders of this title are expected to be fulfilled within 4 to 6 weeks upon purchase. Click here to find out more about when your print on demand title will ship. How have the fairy tales of different cultures changed over the centuries? What do they tell us about our fears and hopes? In a work that spans 2,500 years these ambitious questions are addressed by over 50 experts, each contributing their overview of a theme applied to a period in history. With ...

This was never the story of one woman, or two. It was the story of all of them... They have waited to have their story told, and I will make them wait no longer. In the early hours of the morning, Creusa wakes to find her beloved Troy engulfed in flames. Ten seemingly endless years of brutal conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans are over, and Troy has fallen. Over the next few hours, the only life she has ever known will turn to ash... The devastating consequences of the fall of Troy st...

These tales range from the earthy comedy of tricksters to stories explaining how the world was created and (fairly or unfairly) got to be the way it is to moral fables that tell of encounters between masters and slaves. They include stories set down in travelers' reports and plantation journals from the early nineteenth century, tales gathered by collectors such as Joel Chandler Harris and Zora Neale Hurston, and narratives tape-recorded by Roger Abrahams himself during extensive expeditions ...

The deep forest and broad savannah, the campsites, kraals, and villages--from this immense area south of the Sahara Desert the distinguished American folklorist Roger D. Abrahams has selected ninety-five tales that suggest both the diversity and the interconnectedness of the people who live there. The storytellers weave imaginative myths of creation and tales of epic deeds, chilling ghost stories, and ribald tales of mischief and magic in the animal and human realms. Abrahams renders these st...

The extraordinary road trip across America continues as our heroes gather reinforcements for the imminent god war. Shadow and Wednesday leave the House on the Rock and continue their journey across the country where they set up aliases, meet new gods and prepare for war. The Hugo, Bram Stoker, Locus, World Fantasy and Nebula award-winning epic novel and hit Amazon Prime Video TV series by international bestseller Neil Gaiman is now, for the first time, adapted in stunning graphic novel form. ...

Shadow Moon gets out of jail only to discover his wife is dead. Defeated, broke and uncertain where to go from here, he meets the mysterious Mr. Wednesday, who employs him to serve as his bodyguard - thrusting Shadow into a deadly world where ghosts of the past come back from the dead, and a god war is imminent. This is the first of three bind-up editions.Hardback: 272 PagesProduct Dimensions: 176 x 271 mmISBN: 9781472251367Published by Headline Book Publishing

The final confrontation between new and old gods, with humanity caught in the middle. The new and old gods agree to meet in the centre of America to exchange the body of the old gods' fallen leader - heading towards the inevitable god war in this final arc to the bestselling comic series. This volume collects the third nine issues of the seminal American Gods comic book series.Hardback: 224 PagesProduct Dimensions: 178 x 264 mmISBN: 9781472251381Published by Headline Book Publishing

More than 160 tales from eighty tribal groups gives us a rich and lively panorama of the Native American mythic heritage. From across the continent comes tales of creation and love; heroes and war; animals, tricksters, and the end of the world. In addition to mining the best folkloric sources of the nineteenth century, the editors have also included a broad selection of contemporary Native American voices.Paperback: 528 PagesProduct Dimensions: 152 x 234 mmISBN: 9780394740188Published by Pant...

Bright and carefree, Zitkála-Šá grows up on the Yankton Sioux reservation in South Dakota with her mother until Quaker missionaries arrive, offering the reservation’s children a free education. The catch: They must leave their parents behind and travel to Indiana. Curious about the world beyond the reservation, Zitkála-Šá begs her mother to let her go—and her mother, aware of the advantages that an education offers, reluctantly agrees. But the missionary school is not the adventure that Zitk...

Once upon a time fairy tales weren't meant just for children, and neither is Angela Carter's Book Of Fairy Tales. This stunning collection contains lyrical tales, bloody tales and hilariously funny and ripely bawdy stories from countries all around the world - from the Arctic to Asia - and no dippy princesses or soppy fairies. Instead, we have pretty maids and old crones; crafty women and bad girls; enchantresses and midwives; rascal aunts and odd sisters. This fabulous celebration of strong ...

Welcome to Professor Brownstone’s vault – containing ancient relics from around the world, all collected by his famous ancestors! Follow the epic journey of Brownstone’s earliest ancestor, Arthur, and travel back to the age of the Vikings where this bookish young adventurer must find the courage to save his village and defeat the mighty beast Fenrir… Paperback: 56 PagesProduct Dimensions: 215 x 295 mmISBN: 9781911171690 Published by Flying Eye Books

Nearly twenty years after Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf―and fifty years after the translation that continues to torment high-school students around the world―there is a radical new verse translation of the epic poem by Maria Dahvana Headley, which brings to light elements that have never before been translated into English, recontextualizing the binary narrative of monsters and heroes into a tale in which the two categories often entwine, justice is rarely served, and dragons live am...

Three generations of Taiwanese American women are haunted by the myths of their homeland in this spellbinding, visceral debut about one family's queer desires, violent impulses and buried secrets. One evening, Mother tells Daughter a story about a tiger spirit who lived in a woman's body. Her name was Hu Gu Po and she paid the price for her body in hunger. It's one of many stories Daughter absorbs from the women in her family, about gourd daughters, buried gold and rabbit moons. Soon afterwar...

This collection of tales opens up a magical world far from our customary haunts. Ghost stories, romances, fables, and heroic sagas: the forms are familiar, but the characters we meet surprise us at every turn. For those who know and love the tales of the Grimms and Andersen, the universal themes of fairy tale literature emerge in these classic stories, but with a sophistication that is uniquely Chinese and altogether entrancing. Paperback: 256 PagesProduct Dimensions: 152 x 234 mmISBN: 978039...

Woman. Witch. Myth. Mortal. Outcast. Lover. Destroyer. Survivor. CIRCE. In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. Circe is a strange child - not powerful and terrible, like her father, nor gorgeous and mercenary like her mother. Scorned and rejected, Circe grows up in the shadows, at home in neither the world of gods or mortals. But Circe has a dark power of her own: witchcraft. When her gift threatens the gods, she is banished to the island of Ai...

Classical Mythology A to Z is a comprehensive and engrossing guide to Greek and Roman mythology. Written by Annette Giesecke, PhD, Professor of Classics and Chair of Ancient Greek and Roman Studies at the University of Delaware, this brilliant reference offers clear explanations of every character and locale, and captures the essence of these timeless tales. From the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, to the heroes of the Trojan War, to the nymphs, monsters, and other mythical creatures tha...

Drawing from a vast array of creation myths-Babylonian, Greek, Aztec, Maya, Inca, Chinese, Hindu, Navajo, Polynesian, African, Norse, Inuit, and more-this concise illustrated book uncovers both the similarities and differences in our attempts to explain the universe. Anthony Aveni, an award-winning author and professor of astronomy and anthropology, examines the ways various cultures around the world have attempted to explain our origins, and what roles the natural environment plays in shapin...

Two centuries ago, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published their first volume of fairy tales. Since then, such stories as "Cinderella," "Snow White," "Rapunzel," and "Hansel and Gretel" have become deeply woven into the Western imagination. Now Philip Pullman, the New York Times bestselling author of the His Dark Materials trilogy, makes us fall in love all over again with the immortal tales of the Brothers Grimm. Here are Pullman's fifty favorites--a wide-ranging selection that includes the most p...

From Africa, Burma, and Czechoslovakia to Turkey, Vietnam, and Wales here are more than 150 of the world's best-loved folktales from more than forty countries and cultures. These tales of wonder and transformation, of heroes and heroines, of love lost and won, of ogres and trolls, stories both jocular and cautionary and legends of pure enchantment will delight readers and storytellers of all ages.Paperback: 498 PagesProduct Dimensions: 152 x 234 mmISBN: 9780394751887Published by Pantheon Books

Elsa Park is a physicist at the top of her game, stationed at an international observatory in Antarctica thousands of miles from ghosts that have haunted her family her entire life. But even the South Pole can't prevent her childhood imaginary friend from finding her. The reappearance of this ghostly apparition signals that the curse her mother told her afflicted the women of their line - who were doomed to repeat the narrative lives of their ancestors from Korean folklore, and whose story El...

An enchanting collection of 110 tales, translated from twenty-two different languages, that are by turns harrowing and comic, sardonic and allegorical, mysterious and romantic. Gods disguised as beggars and beasts, animals enacting Machiavellian intrigues, sagacious jesters and magical storytellers, wise counselors and foolish kings—all inhabit a fabular world, yet one that is also firmly grounded in everyday life. Here is an indispensable guide to India's ageless folklore tradition.Paperback...

From fire-stealing Prometheus to scene-stealing Helen of Troy, from Jason and his golden fleece to Oedipus and his mother, this collection of classic tales from Greek mythology demonstrates the inexhaustible vitality of a timeless cultural legacy. These stories of heroes and powerful gods and goddesses are set forth simply and movingly, in language that retains the power and drama of the original works by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Homer.Paperback: 768 PagesProduct Dimensions: 159 x...

Illustrated by Chris Ofili Charlotte Higgins' spellbinding new collection will include all the most famous Greek myths, as well as many less well known but equally intriguing ones. Here are stories of the creation, of Heracles and Theseus and Perseus, the Trojan war and its origins and aftermaths, tales of Thebes and Argos and Athens. There are stories of love and desire, adventure and magic, destructive gods, helpless humans, gender-shifting characters, resourceful witches, and the origins o...

Here are sisters fighting for the love of the same woman, a pregnant archaeologist unearthing impossible bones and lost children following you home. A panther runs through the forests of England and pixies prey upon violent men. From the islands of Scotland to the coast of Cornwall, the mountains of Galway to the depths of the Fens, these forgotten folktales howl, cackle and sing their way into the 21st century, wildly reimagined by some of the most exciting women writing in Britain and Irela...

Japanese folklore is abundant with tales of ghostly creatures and the supernatural. In Haunted Japan, author Catrien Ross reveals the legends that have been passed down for generations and continue to terrify us today. This book is an unparalleled insight into the dark corners of the Japanese psyche—a world filled with horrifying creatures including Oni (demons with fierce and ghastly appearances), Yurei (Japanese ghosts who inhabit the world of the living), and Yokai (supernatural monsters)...

Few mere mortals have ever embarked on such bold and heart-stirring adventures, overcome myriad monstrous perils, or outwitted scheming vengeful gods, quite as stylishly and triumphantly as Greek heroes. In this companion to his bestselling Mythos, Stephen Fry brilliantly retells these dramatic, funny, tragic and timeless tales. Join Jason aboard the Argo as he quests for the Golden Fleece. See Atalanta - who was raised by bears - outrun any man before being tricked with golden apples. Witnes...

"Think not that dreams appear to the dreamer only at night, the dream of this world of pain appears to us even by day." In this book, famed author Lafcadio Hearn presents 14 fascinating stories--including deathless ghosts and yokai, local folklore and haunted places, as well as Buddhist traditions. This edition includes a new foreword by Michael Dylan Foster which explains the book's importance as a Japanese cultural and literary classic. The Japanese have two kinds of ghosts in their folklor...

Translated by George Martin Meticulously selected and artfully recreated, the selection of stories in Italian is vast and ranges geographically from Corsica and Sicily to Venice and the Alps. Calvino is himself clearly captivated by the folkloric imagination and communicates this in what is a fascinating and rich addition to folk literature. Paperback: 800 PagesProduct Dimensions:129 x 198 mmISBN: 9780141181349 Published by Penguin Books

Japanese Legends and Folklore invites English speakers into the intriguing world of Japanese folktales, ghost stories and historical eyewitness accounts. With a fascinating selection of stories about Japanese culture and history, A.B. Mitford-who lived and worked in Japan as a British diplomat-presents a broad cross section of tales from many Japanese sources. Discover more about practically every aspect of Japanese life-from myths and legends to society and religion.Paperback: 320 PagesProdu...

Two hundred and twenty tales from medieval Japan--tales that welcome us into a fabulous faraway world populated by saints, scoundrels, ghosts, magical healers, and a vast assortment of deities and demons. Stories of miracles, visions of hell, jokes, fables, and legends, these tales reflect the Japanese civilization. They ably balance the lyrical and the dramatic, the ribald and the profound, offering a window into a long-vanished culture.Paperback: 400 PagesProduct Dimensions: 152 x 234 mmISB...

This collection of translated tales is from the most famous work in all of Japanese classical literature--the Konjaku Monogatari Shu. This collection of traditional Japanese folklore is akin to the Canterbury Tales of Chaucer or Dante's Inferno--powerfully entertaining tales that reveal striking aspects of the cultural psychology, fantasy, and creativity of medieval Japan--tales that still resonate with modern Japanese readers today. The ninety stories in this book are filled with keen psycho...

When Kai grows tired of her bookish mum not being adventurous enough for a Brownstone, she decides to seek out the mischievous and rebellious Monkey King. Will he bring her the adventure she craves, or will he cause her more trouble than he’s worth? Read the latest story from the mythical Brownstone’s family vault where we venture to China and learn about the story of the Monkey King, fight dangerous beasts, taste powerful peaches and see that maybe… our heroes aren’t always what they’re crac...

From Davy Crockett, Wild Bill Hickok, and Calamity Jane to Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, and Frank and Jesse James, here are more than 130 colorful stories of the pioneers, cowboys, outlaws, gamblers, prospectors, and lawmen who settled the wild west, creating a uniquely American hero and an enduringly fascinating folk mythology. In this wonderfully boisterous treasury of tall tales, everyone and everything is larger than life and bragging is elevated into an art form. Many of these stories are of...

Buried amongst the treasures in Professor Brownstone's vaults lies a humble collection of books. Filled with legendary stories from his ancestors, they tell of fearless fighters and unlikely heroes. Venturing into Greek mythology, this is the fourth title in the Brownstone's Mythical Collection. Full of dangerous challenges, cunning monsters and godly heroes, this title is sure to be a hit with fans of the series and anyone interested in the fascinating tales of Greek mythology. Paperback: 64...

Buried amongst the treasures in Professor Brownstone’s vault, lie his most prized possessions – a humble collection of books. Filled with stories from his ancestors, they contain tales of fearless fighters, unlikely heroes and legends from years gone by. Many years have passed since the tale of Arthur and the Golden Rope and Arthur is now a world-famous adventurer. If only his daughter Marcy shared his enthusiasm for exploration… Determined to bring out Marcy’s adventurous side, Arthur sets o...

Dorothy is a grieving housewife in the Californian suburbs; her husband is unfaithful, but they are too unhappy to get a divorce. One day, she is doing chores when she hears strange voices on the radio announcing that a green-skinned sea monster has escaped from the Institute for Oceanographic Research - but little does she expect him to arrive in her kitchen. Muscular, vegetarian, sexually magnetic, Larry the frogman is a revelation - and their passionate affair takes them on a journey beyon...

From the West African fable of Anansi the Spider, to Michabo, the magical hare who rebuilt the world and Tanuki, the sweet but troublesome racoon-dog of Japanese folklore, Mythopedia is an encyclopedia of mythical creatures that covers legends, tales and myths from around the world. Lovingly created by the illustration duo behind popular flipbook Myth Match, Good Wives and Warriors, this book contains pages upon pages of cultural folklore from around the world. Let these weird and wonderful c...

No one loves and quarrels, desires and deceives as boldly or brilliantly as Greek gods and goddesses. In Stephen Fry's vivid retelling, we gaze in wonder as wise Athena is born from the cracking open of the great head of Zeus and follow doomed Persephone into the dark and lonely realm of the Underworld. We shiver in fear when Pandora opens her jar of evil torments and watch with joy as the legendary love affair between Eros and Psyche unfolds. Mythos captures these extraordinary myths for our...

The Greek myths are among the world's most important cultural building blocks and they have been retold many times, but rarely do they focus on the remarkable women at the heart of these ancient stories. Stories of gods and monsters are the mainstay of epic poetry and Greek tragedy, from Homer to Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, from the Trojan War to Jason and the Argonauts. And still, today, a wealth of novels, plays and films draw their inspiration from stories first told almost three t...

translated by C. H. Brewitt-Taylor This epic saga of brotherhood and rivalry, of loyalty and treachery, of victory and death forms part of the indelible core of classical Chinese culture and continues to fascinate modern-day readers. In 220 EC, the 400-year-old rule of the mighty Han dynasty came to an end and three kingdoms contested for control of China. Liu Pei, the legitimate heir to the Han throne, elects to fight for his birthright and enlists the aid of his sworn brothers, the impulsiv...

translated by C. H. Brewitt-Taylor This epic saga of brotherhood and rivalry, of loyalty and treachery, of victory and death forms part of the indelible core of classical Chinese culture and continues to fascinate modern-day readers. In 220 EC, the 400-year-old rule of the mighty Han dynasty came to an end and three kingdoms contested for control of China. Liu Pei, the legitimate heir to the Han throne, elects to fight for his birthright and enlists the aid of his sworn brothers, the impulsiv...

translated by N. Guterman The most comprehensive collection of classic Russian tales available in English introduces readers to universal fairy-tale figures and to such uniquely Russian characters such as Koshchey the Deathless, Baba Yaga, the Swan Maiden, and the glorious Firebird. Beautifully illustrated, the more than 175 tales culled from a landmark multi-volume collection by the outstanding Russian ethnographer Aleksandr Afanas'ev reveal a rich, robust world of the imagination.Paperback:...

For fans of fairy tales and the literary supernatural: a unique collection of Russian short stories from the last 200 years In these folk tales, young women go on long and perilous quests, wicked stepmothers turn children into geese, and tsars ask dangerous riddles, with help or hindrance from magical dolls, cannibal witches, talking skulls, stolen wives, and brothers disguised as wise birds. Some of the stories here were collected by folklorists during the last two centuries, while the other...

There is something about a shapeshifter - a person who can transform into an animal - that captures our imagination; that causes us to want to howl at the moon, or flit through the night like a bat. Werewolves, vampires, demons, and other weird creatures appeal to our animal nature, our 'dark side,' our desire to break free of the bonds of society and proper behaviour. Real or imaginary, shapeshifters lurk deep in our psyches and remain formidable cultural icons. The myths, magic, and meaning...

One of Neil Gaiman's most beautiful and enchanting tales, Stardust is the story of Tristran Thorn, a young man who promises the woman he loves that he will bring her back a fallen star. But there are others who seek the star, for their own reasons. And then there's the star herself... A beloved fairy tale infused with humor, magic, adventure, and romance, Stardust is a timeless work that demonstrates the writer's bold, elegant and infinitely wondrous imagination. Paperback: 256 PagesProduct D...

illustrated by Malthe Hasselriis This illustrated multicultural children's book presents classic Chinese fairy tales and other folklore—providing a delightful look into a rich literary culture. Chinese folktale tradition is as colorful and captivating as any, but the stories themselves still are not as well-known to Western readers as those from The Brothers Grimm, Mother Goose, or Hans Christian Andersen. Tales of a Chinese Grandmother presents a collection of 30 authentic Chinese tales. T...

This multicultural children's book presents classic Korean fairy tales and other folk stories—providing a delightful look into a rich literary culture. The Korean people possess a folklore tradition as colorful and captivating as any in the world, and yet the stories themselves are not as widely-known to Western readers as those from The Brothers Grimm, Mother Goose, or Hans Christian Andersen. In her bestselling book for young readers, Frances Carpenter has collected thirty-two classic Korea...

This rich, fascinating anthology of the western magical tradition stretches from its roots in the wizardry of the Old Testament and the rituals of the ancient world, through writers such as Thomas Aquinas, John Milton, John Dee and Matthew Hopkins, and up to the tangled, arcane beginnings of the scientific revolution. Arranged historically, with commentary, this book includes incantations, charms, curses, Golems, demons and witches, as well as astrology, divination and alchemy, with some anci...