Folklore

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...

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...

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...

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

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...

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...

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...

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:...

The stories of magic and myth gathered by the Brothers Grimm have become part of the way children--and adults--learn about the vagaries of the real world. Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow-White, Hänsel and Gretel, Little Red-Cap (Little Red Riding Hood), and Briar-Rose (Sleeping Beauty) are only a few of the more than two hundred enchanting characters included in this volume. The tales are presented just as Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm originally set them down: bold, primal, just frightening enough, and...

Here are thirty-two classic myths that bring the pre-Christian Scandinavian world vividly to life. Gods, humans, and monstrous beasts engage in prodigious drinking bouts, contests of strength, greedy schemes for gold, and lusty encounters. Included are tales of Odin, the wisest and most fearsome of all the gods; Thor, the thundering powerhouse; and the exquisite magic-wielding Freyja. Their stories bear witness to the courage, passion, and boundless spirit that were hallmarks of the Norse wor...

Filled with princesses and witches, dybbuks and wonder-working rebbes, the two hundred marvelous tales that make up this compendium were gathered during the 1920s and 1930s by ethnographers in the small towns and villages of Eastern Europe. Collected from people of all walks of life, they include parables and allegories about life, luck and wisdom; tales of magic and wonder; stories about rebbes and their disciples; and tales whose only purpose is to entertain.Paperback: 410 PagesProduct Dime...