Folklore category: 2054 books

A combination of therapy and expertise in literature, this book explains the six archetypes derived from 4,000 years of literature and how they may guide unhappy people seeking meaning in their lives. Holding up the great books as the best way to understand these timeless story elements, the discussion...

A lively, stimulating and engaging retelling of purakau - Maori myths - by contemporary Maori writers. Ka mua, ka muri . . . Ancient Maori creation myths, portrayals of larger-than-life heroes and tales of engrossing magical beings have endured through the ages. Some hail back to Hawaiki, some are...

Here is the stuff legends are made of in 25 of the most beloved tales from Greek mythology, complemented with gorgeous illustrations by artist Tinou Le Joly Senoville. These classic, timeless stories have been crafted into a concise, intriguing, and very readable romp through the human condition....

Can you recognize the stench of a troll’s lair? Where is the best place to find a two-headed giant? What is the safest way to observe a dragon? These fantastic creatures and others may not be real, but what if they were? This handy field guide gives you everything you need to study these dangerous monsters of the imagination.

Emerging from a people with an absolute belief in ‘the little folk’, the fairy tales of Ireland are part of one of the richest folk literatures in the world. In this wonderful collection of stories by some of Ireland’s finest writers, including Carleton, Yeats and Lady Wilde, a legion...

All the selections in Richard M. Dorson's Folktales Told around the World were recorded by expert collectors, and the majority of them are published here for the first time. The tales presented are told in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North and South America, and Oceania. Unlike other collections...

Baba Yaga is an ambiguous and fascinating figure. She appears in traditional Russian folktales as a monstrous and hungry cannibal, or as a canny inquisitor of the adolescent hero or heroine of the tale. In new translations and with an introduction by Sibelan Forrester, Baba Yaga: The Wild Witch of...

First written down in the eighth century AD, these early Irish stories depict a far older world - part myth, part legend and part history. Rich with magic and achingly beautiful, they speak of a land of heroic battles, intense love and warrior ideals, in which the otherworld is explored and men mingle...

While the title of this book is Ghost Hunting from A to Z, this book is in fact a detailed and complete guide to paranormal research from a scientific prospective. The Authors spent four years creating and refining a methodology that will guide new as well as experienced investigators alike in conducting...

Greedy giants, cruel emperors, and shape-shifting demons—the stuff a girl has to put up with! Explore girl power in all its glory with stories of heroines from around the world. Myths and legends from the United States to Japan and Venezuela celebrate the courage of women and girls who rise to the occasion. With heroines like these, who needs a handsome prince?

A look at the forgotten ancestors of the modern-day vampire, many of which have very different characteristics • Looks at the many ancestoral forms of the modern vampire, including shroud eaters, appesarts, and stafi • Presents evidence for the reality of this phenomenon from pre-19th-century...

Selkie, wee people, elves, fauns, mogwai -- no matter what you call them, virtually every cultural tradition has created a type of being that is analogous to the Western concept of the fairy. In this fascinating analysis, scholar Edwin Sidney Hartland delves into the inner workings of the ubiquitous fairy myth and traces its impact across many cultures.

‘Tales of Passed Times’ is a collection of Charles Perrault’s fairy tales, accompanied by the beautiful illustrations of John Austen. A French nobleman and writer, Perrault (1628 – 1703) was among the first writers to bring magical children’s stories into the literary mainstream, proving...

Venus of Khala-Kanti is a tale of life-altering loss and mystical recovery. Set in an imaginary West African village that becomes a charming cul-de-sac, the unintended consequence of a national roadwork project gone awry, the story follows characters drawn with humor, irony, and empathy. The heart...