Folklore Mythology category: 2054 books

Did you know that today's jolly Santa Claus was originally a Catholic bishop? Or that Santa Claus is connected to Saturn, an ancient Roman god? Or that in some places, Santa rides a camel? Christmas is a holiday of light and giving, and Santa Claus has become a traditional symbol for the season's...

Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall, (Volume 1) by William Bottrell Tales of Cornish Giants, Mermaids, Witches and Fairies; an essential source for the folklore of Cornwall. In the 19th century William Bottrell compiled three volumes of Cornish folklore, legends and historical...

The Magpie and the Wardrobe A Curiosity of Folklore, Magic and Spells, is a lovingly curated compendium of time-honoured traditions and curious customs that have bewitched us for generations. Discover simple magic, heirloom recipes and forgotten fairytales in this eclectic treasury. The twelve chapters,...

The Mythology of Venus is a collection of essays that summarizes the archaeoastronomy, calendar associations, religious and cultural icons, and myths identified with the planet Venus. The book concentrates on Western Europe, the Mediterranean, the Near East, and the East from the Paleolithic Age to...

This book is the Helen of Troy addition of the “Influential Women in History” series. An important figure in Greek mythology, Helen of Troy was the daughter of Zeus and Leda. She was the most beautiful woman in the entire world, and her abduction by Paris marked the beginning of the Trojan war....

The Ozark region of Missouri and Arkansas has long been an enclave of resistance to innovation and "newfangled" ideas. Many of the old-time superstitions and customs have been nurtured and kept alive through the area's relative isolation and the strong attachment of the hillfolk to these old attitudes....

Newslore is folklore that comments on and hinges on knowledge of current events. These expressions come in many forms: jokes, urban legends, digitally altered photographs, mock news stories, press releases or interoffice memoranda, parodies of songs, poems, political and commercial advertisements,...

Chukchee Mythology by Waldemar Bogoras The Chukchi occupy the extreme north-eastern tip of Asia, adjacent to the Arctic Ocean and the Behring Strait. They are Eskimos of Western Chukotka inhabiting the Chukchi Peninsula and the shores of the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Sea region of the Arctic...

Focusing on Cornwall county in southwest England, this book examines the folklore of the area, such as the seasonal customs, traditions, rituals, and taboos.

Warrior Ways is one of the first book-length explorations of military folklife, and focuses on the lore produced by modern American warriors, illuminating the ways in which members of the armed services creatively express the complex experience of military life. In short, lively essays, contributors...

A comprehensive A-to-Z reconstruction of the oral tradition of the Rom--gypsies--based on sources never before available in English • Presents the origin myths and magical traditions of the gypsies, including their legendary ties to Egypt, animal ancestors, and tree spirits • Examines...

Smart phones, tablets, Facebook, Twitter, and wireless Internet connections are the latest technologies to have become entrenched in our culture.  Although traditionalists have argued that computer-mediated communication and cyberspace are incongruent with the study of folklore, Trevor J. Blank sees...

 In Tradition in the Twenty-First Century, eight diverse contributors explore the role of tradition in contemporary folkloristics. For more than a century, folklorists have been interested in locating sources of tradition and accounting for the conceptual boundaries of tradition, but in the modern...

Part of a series on the county folklore and festivals of the United Kingdom, this remarkable and well researched book on the festival customs and feast day practices all drawn from the voices of the people who took part in them. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900's...