Heroes Fools And Ghosts Folk Tales And Legends

Have you heard of Anansi, the mischief-making spider from Africa? Do you know about the Blackfoot woman who married a star? Or have you heard stories about Jack, the hero who always wins both the treasure and the princess's heart? Discover stories from North America's folklore, including tales about: • why the world is the way it is • heroes and fools • ghosts and horrors • death and the world to come. Stories have power. They share the wisdom of other generations. They stir our imagination. They give us hope and courage. And sometimes they just make us laugh!

This comprehensive collection of folk hero tales builds on the success of the first edition by providing readers with expanded contextual information on story characters from the Americas to Zanzibar. Despite the tremendous differences between cultures and ethnicities across the world, all of them have folk heroes and heroines—real and imagined—that have been represented in tales, legends, songs, and verse. These stories persist through time and space, over generations, even through migrations to new countries and languages. This encyclopedia is a one-stop source for broad coverage of the world's folk hero tales. Geared toward high school and early college readers, the book opens with an overview of folk heroes and heroines that provides invaluable context and then presents a chronology. The book is divided into two main sections: the first provides entries on the major types and themes; the second addresses specific folk tale characters organized by continent with folk hero entries organized alphabetically. Each entry provides cross references as well as a list of further readings. Continent sections include a bibliography for additional research. The book concludes with an alphabetical list of heroes and an index of hero types.

A wide-ranging and detailed investigation of folk heroes, both fictional and historical, from the earliest times to the present, taken from societies throughout the world as they exist in folktales, folksongs, customs, speech, and other folklore genres. From Paul Bunyan to Stagolee, from Queen Mab to the Tooth Fairy, every culture has created folk heroes. But as often as not, these "heroes of the people" accomplish their goals with methods that are anything but heroic—like the American liar hero Davy Crockett, or Galloping Jones, the Australian drinker and bank robber. Then there's the Irishman Finn Mac Cumhal, whose heroism, like that of Rip Van Winkle, was based on oversleeping. In this new collection, readers will enjoy a wildly colorful parade of nearly 400 thieves, tricksters, simpletons, and dragon slayers from around the world. Despite appearances, these "heroes" perform a crucial social function: they allow us to question what is right and what is wrong, to challenge what is legal and what is illegal, to deal with who has power and who does not, and to manage the contradictions and conflicts inherent in all cultures.

"Despite the tremendous differences between cultures and ethnicities across the world, all of them have folk heroes and heroines--real and imagined--that have been represented in tales, legends, songs, and verse. These stories persist through time and space, over generations, even through migrations to new countries and languages. This encyclopedia is a one-stop source for broad coverage of the world's folk hero tales. Features: Supplies entries on folk tale characters worldwide that identify related heroes and heroines and provide additional contextual information; Features a geographical organization that enables readers to research a specific region's folk characters; Provides an alphabetical index as well as an index of heroic character types to facilitate cross-cultural and historical comparisons; Includes sidebars with passages from the folk tales, popular culture, and other items of interest."--Publisher's website.

The first anthology to present the entire range of ancient Greek and Roman stories- from myths and fairy tales to jokes Captured centaurs and satyrs, talking animals, people who suddenly change sex, men who give birth, the temporarily insane and the permanently thick-witted, delicate sensualists, incompetent seers, a woman who remembers too much, a man who cannot laugh-these are just some of the colorful characters who feature in the unforgettable stories that ancient Greeks and Romans told in their daily lives. Together they created an incredibly rich body of popular oral stories that include, but range well beyond, mythology-from heroic legends, fairy tales, and fables to ghost stories, urban legends, and jokes.

Our worldwide storytelling heritage is vast and varied and yet contains common threads, themes and motifs running throughout the many legends, whether they hail from the dusty plains of Africa or the cherry-blossom-blanketed hills of Japan. This astonishing anthology, in Flame Tree’s covetable series of myths and tales, gathers together the most iconic and entertaining tales of adventure and daring from around the world. From Perseus the Gorgon-Slayer of Greek myhology, and the exploits of Frithiof the Bold of Norse saga fame, to the tragic tale of Irish heroine Deirdre, these exciting stories vibrate with the heart and soul of age-old narrative. An extended introduction is followed by four main sections, with mythic stories from Mexico, Egypt, India and more: Tales of Warriors, Travel & Adventure; Heroes & Heroines in Literature & Poetry; Legends of the Gods, Demigods & Culture Heroes; Leading Ladies & Affairs of the Heart.

Here is a treasury of favorite and little known tales from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas, Australia, and Oceania, gracefully retold and accompanied by fascinating, detailed information of their historic and cultural backgrounds. The introduction provides an informative overview of folklore, its purpose in world cultures and in contemporary society and popular culture. Following this, the main sections of the book are arranged by tale type, covering wonder tales, hero tales, tales of kindness repaid and hope and redemption, and finally tales of fools and wise people. Each section begins by comparing the tales cross-culturally, explaining similarities and differences in the folkloric narratives. Tales from diverse cultures are then presented, introduced, and retold in a highly readable fashion.