Folklore studies / Study of myth (mythology)

People have been fascinated by merpeople since ancient times. From the sirens of Homer's Odyssey to Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid to the 1984 film Splash, myths, stories and legends of half-human half-fish creatures...

21st-Century Yokel is not quite nature writing, not quite a family memoir, not quite a book about walking, not quite a collection of humorous essays, but a bit of all five.Thick with owls and badgers, oak trees and wood piles, scarecrows and ghosts, and...

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. To research this book on the...

INCLUDES HUNDREDS OF NEW AND EXPANDED ENTRIESFrom 'Aald Rock' to 'Zeenty-teenty', A Dictionary of Scottish Phrase and Fable is an unputdownable gallimaufry of curious items embracing sayings, put-downs, insults, mottos, traditions, legends, folklore,...

All over the world traditional tales were told at the fireside until their place came to be taken by books, newspapers, radio and television. A.J. Bruford and D.A. MacDonald present an entertaining collection of the oral tales that have been passed down...

Tolkien's wizard Gandalf, Wagner's Valkyrie Brnnhilde and Marvel's superhero the Mighty Thor: these are just a few examples of how Icelandic medieval literature has shaped the human imagination during the past 150 years.  Echoes of Valhalla...

Women, Magic, Wisdom: Explore a Japanese myth through the words and images of key scholars and artists.Alluring, nurturing, dangerous, and vulnerable the yamamba, or Japanese mountain witch, has intrigued audiences for centuries. What is it about the...

The Rosebud Tarot is a 78-card tarot deck based on the structure found in the classic Rider-Waite-Smith. Its exquisite images offer a dreamscape of pathways into the tarot and makes way for an inclusive experience that is more resonant for...

A deeply informed and practical guide to working with Santa Muerte, the 'Saint of Death'.The Secrets of Santa Muerte is a practical handbook on how to connect with the mysterious Mexican folk saint. Drawing from authentic Mexican...

Greek gods, Norse heroes, Polynesian tricksters, and Native American warriors--they all have lessons to teach us.Since the beginning of time, human beings have relied on myths, fairy tales, and fables to explain life's mysteries. Bringing a fresh...

Fact or fiction? Real or impossible? Movement through time explored, examined and explained!Albert Einstein's theory of relativity postulates, and scientists have proven, that the faster you travel, the slower time moves. Clocks on airplanes, satellites...

Stories centuries in the making, and many centuries worth of stories, are an integral part of modern society. Whether modern or ancient, every culture has its myths. Mythology forms our understanding of our origin, history and traditions. They tell of...

The stories in this book are drawn from the dozens that Douglas-Klotz has enjoyed telling in his seminars over the past 20 years. Most of them appear in works of the classical Sufis, such as Rumi, Attar, or S'adi. To preserve some of the in-person...

This book explores and explains stories about the mythic outlaw, who from the Middle Ages to the present day has stood up for the values of natural law and true justice. Analysing the whole sequence of Robin Hood adventures, it begins with the medieval...

A classic Russian tale retold for our time by an eminent folklorist."Many years ago in the great empire of Russia where wicked winds and cruel storms tormented the lives of poor peasants . . .\u201d So begins the magical story of a simple peasant boy who...

Thesestories, collected by the Danish artist and ethnographer Emilie Demant Hatt(18731958) during her travels in the early twentieth century among the nomadicSami in Swedish Spmi, grant entry to a fascinating world of wonder and peril,of nature imbued...

Brilliant, jubilant insights intothe glory and anguish oflife from one of the world's most treasured Indigenous creators.Trickster is zany, ridiculous. The ultimate, over-the-top, madcap fool. Here to remind us that the reason for existence is to have a...

The perfect gift for anyone interested in Irish folklore. These lrish tales are reprinted from nineteenth-century sources, but they date back to a centuries-old oral tradition of storytelling that had yet to be committed to the printed page. They were...

The small size means it will fit in a pocket or bag. This special pocket edition of features an elegant bonded-leather binding, distinctive gilt edging, and decorative endpapers. It's the perfect gift for anyone interested in Irish folklore.

Playing for time explores connections between theatre time, the historical moment and fictional time. Geraldine Cousin persuasively argues that a crucial characteristic of contemporary British theatre is its preoccupation with instability and danger, and...

Fascinating profiles of modern writers and artists who tapped the political potential of fairy talesJack Zipes has spent decades as a "scholarly scavenger," discovering forgotten fairy tales in libraries, flea markets, used bookstores, and internet...

Sicily and the strategies of empire in the poetic imagination of classical and medieval EuropeIn the first century BC, Cicero praised Sicily as Rome's first overseas province and confirmed it as the mythic location for the abduction of Proserpina, known...

Adrienne Mayor is renowned for exploring the borders of history, science, archaeology, anthropology, and popular knowledge to find historical realities and scientific insights-glimmering, long-buried nuggets of truth-embedded in myth, legends, and...

It has often been claimed that "monsters"--supernatural creatures with bodies composed from multiple species--play a significant part in the thought and imagery of all people from all times. The Origins of Monsters advances an alternative view. Composite...

Gripping tales that abound with fantastic characters and astonishing twists and turns, Greek myths confront what it means to be mortal in a world of powerful forces beyond human control. Little wonder that they continue to fascinate readers thousands of...

An international collection of the traditional tales that inspired some of Shakespeare's greatest playsShakespeare knew a good story when he heard one, and he wasn't afraid to borrow from what he heard or read, especially traditional folktales. The...

The fascinating untold story of how the ancients imagined robots and other forms of artificial life-and even invented real automated machines The first robot to walk the earth was a bronze giant called Talos. This wondrous machine was created not by MIT...

Andrea Carandini's archaeological discoveries and controversial theories about ancient Rome have made international headlines over the past few decades. In this book, he presents his most important findings and ideas, including the argument that there...

In Grimm Legacies, esteemed literary scholar Jack Zipes explores the legacy of the Brothers Grimm in Europe and North America, from the nineteenth century to the present. Zipes reveals how the Grimms came to play a pivotal and unusual role in the...

Amazons--fierce warrior women dwelling on the fringes of the known world--were the mythic archenemies of the ancient Greeks. Heracles and Achilles displayed their valor in duels with Amazon queens, and the Athenians reveled in their victory over a...

In Quest of the Hero makes available for a new generation of readers two key works on hero myths: Otto Rank's Myth of the Birth of the Hero and the central section of Lord Raglan's The Hero. Amplifying these is Alan Dundes's fascinating contemporary...

A revealing look at rural lives and lifestyles that have all but disappeared today.Tsuneichi Miyamoto (1907-1981), a leading Japanese folklore scholar and rural advocate, walked 160,000 kilometers to conduct interviews and capture a dying way of life...

There is a spiritual power in masks that transports one into realms unseen and gives voice to things unspoken. Within the context of ritual, putting on a mask places the wearer at the intersection between the present and the past, the living and the...

Jesse James and many other Old West outlaws were much more than just wild cowboys. As author Daniel Duke--the great-great-grandson of Jesse James--reveals, Jesse James and other infamous outlaws were part of a larger organization, centuries old, that has...

Mythic Creatures: And the Impossibly Real Animals Who Inspired Them

A beautifully illustrated gift book that explores the uses and symbolic meanings of flowers throughout history Discover the uses and symbolic meanings of flowers over the centuries and across the globe.  Flowers have been depicted as objects of beauty...