Mythology and Folklore Books

This excellent book is a collection of essays from folklorists and academics regarding the persistence of fairy faith beliefs in the Celtic lands, their diaspora, and related cultures both ancient and modern. The contributions have been well and thoughtfully selected to present a diversity of views and studied regions, so there's likely to be something in there of interest to most people familiar with the genre. There's plenty of discussion of Celtic lore as carried across the ocean, both as cultural curiosity (Canadian Celts using fairy terminology to describe the tangles in their horses' manes, but no longer believing in actual beings) and as living practice (down to a discussion of why some Irish fey could cross the ocean with immigrant families, not being rooted in the soil, and others couldn't). Plenty of the studies are from the original Celtic nations, and there are also excellent comparisons of Celtic and Norse approaches to resident land-spirits; Asatru folks are likely to find that essay of interest. It's solid scholarship which still reads well to the layperson -- I'll be buying a lending copy as well as keeping a reference copy for myself.

Peter Narvez has written a book for those of us who are Celtic and for those of us who wish to see the Other, be it fairy or alien, in a different, perhaps more complete, way. The book is comprehensive to the date of its publication. It offers a number of points for consideration or additonal study. While some essays are stronger than others, and some are clearer than others, in the main, "The Good People" is a wonderful treatment of the Otherworld as it is known in the non-UFO community. Along with folkloric treatments of the Other, Vallee's "Passport to Magonia" and Thompson's "Angels and Aliens," it should be mandatory reading for all of us who are concerned that the debate on extraordinary experiences and alien encounters is too narrow, too full of heat with little light, and too parochial.

Little serious work on the fairy faith has been done in recent times, but this collection of scholarly essays makes up for the lack. As is often the case in this fascinating area of folklore, a few of the essays make you marvel at the enduring and oddly consistent character of the accounts. It gives me a wee chill to read recordings of interviews with Scottish schoolchildren done in the 1970s, and realize that they repeat notions noted among Welshmen by Sir John Rhys fully three-quarters of a century before. An excellent, entertaining and scholarly book that should be in the collection of any folklorist interested in the fairy faith.

Most books on fairylore are collections first published in the nineteenth century or draw primarily from the author's imagination. Those wishing to know more must fall back on scholarly journals that may not be readily available to most readers. This book makes such studies available in an affordable form that you will reread many times. The studies in this book reflect beliefs and attitudes among people of the late twentieth century in communities of maritime Canada as well as Celtic countries. What is most illuminating is the consistency between recent attitudes and those collected earlier.

I have other books on Appalachia folklore, and this is at the top of the list. It's fun, colorful, and gives you the creeps! Like the late Charles Edwin Price, Randy Russell and Janet Barnett have compiled a rich array of stories from East Tennessee; the perfect book to read -- whether to yourself or to others -- on those "dark, stormy nights."

This is a great book I love ghost stories and think they are really good I read this book about 5 times and was scared eveery time! (a REALLy good book will do that u know!!)

First of all, I like ghost stories rooted in history and place. All 25 stories in this collection are wonderful examples of folklore and of the people of the Cumberland and Blue Ridge mountains of Tennessee. You can almost touch the trees in the forest and hear the water moving over rocks. Did you know you can tell your future by counting the number of seeds in an apple? One story here tells you how. More importantly for me as professional storyteller, I found the authors had a very good ear for dialogue and *voice*. I havealready used two of the stories, Footprints in The Snow (Pigeon Forge)-- and the title story Granny Curse, and both met with very good success! Great for reading aloud -- but don't read them alone at night.

I enjoyed reading this book and I found the artwork to be most interesting. This book explains two of our strangest creatures, the flying squirrel and the bat, who can fly although they are not birds. The excitement builds up as the birds find a way to make wings for the little animals, no bigger than mice, to prepare for the ball game. The action of the game itself is quick and intense, as the animals and birds battle it out. Can you guess who wins? You'll find yourself cheering for Bat as he dips and dives for the ball, but watch out! Bluejay drops the ball just at the crucial moment. I give this one an A+ for enjoyment.

I am happy to find a book that describes the game of stickball the way it was originally played here in the southeast. We Cherokees called the game "the little brother of war" in the old days. Even now our villages near the Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina play against each other in the traditional was, by setting up goal posts at both ends of the ball field. You will hear the teams taunting each other just as described in this book. Thanks to the writer and the artist for helping to keep our culture alive.

What more could you ask from a picture book? The Great Ball Game of the Birds and Animals is a wonderful tale that explains how the bat and the flying squirrel came to be. Duvall's version of this story sticks closely to the original Cherokee legend with expanded imagery and character development. Like all great stories, this one teaches a lesson for human beings. Jacob's beautifully detailed drawings will hold the imagination spellbound as the story unfolds in crisp black and white. This book won the 2003 Oklahoma Book Award for Design and Illustration. I am proud to own a signed first edition that I obtained while visiting Tahlequah, Oklahoma during the Cherokee National Holiday. I highly recommend this book to art collectors and readers alike.

An hilarious folk tale told in the vernacular. "Oh law!" Must be read it out loud for maximum hilarity and it'll "witch ye sure." My 4 year old loves it so much she has learned to read it, hillbilly slang and all. There aren't many children's books this delightful. I just wonder why it was allowed to go out of print, and why it hasn't won any awards.

The Green Gourd is hilarious. I enjoyed reading it because the dialect was fun to do. The kids adored the silliness of a "witchy green gourd" chasing the old lady and "fumping" everything on the way. We both loved the illustrations. I love this book so much that I'm going to see if I can locate a used copy (it's out of print). Someday I'd like to read it to my grandchildren.

This children's book is so funny, that it is hard to read out loud. My children loved the story, of an old country woman who needs a gourd and picks one before it's ripe. It is bewitched and proceeds to "fump" her and anyone & everything else in its path.Each time the fumping episode occurred, I laughed out loud and my kids asked me to read it to them each night ("one more time, one more time!!!" Expect to be delighted as the illustrations are beautiful, too.

I thought this book was an enjoyable one. Well written and only a little bit off on some of the American information, which I guess can be forgiven. The stuff attributed to the Aztecs, were really Maya, but I guess that's a common misconception. Other than that very interesting and a different outlook on plants and our shared history with them. I would definitely recommend it and will keep it in my library.

The most beautifully written and illustrated book of it's type that I have ever come across. Don't miss this one!

Ever since I researched my book "Tales of the Trees" I've been fascinated by the uses humans have made of plants throughout history. It's not just the practical uses - wood to build our houses, wheat, cabbages and apples to eat, oak for our ships - plants have had strong spiritual value too. Our religions have given us the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden, the Ceiba tree of the Mayans, the Bodhi tree (fig) or Tree of Enlightenment of the Buddhist religion and "Yggdrasil' (ash) the Norse world tree whose roots reached the Underworld and whose branches reached the heavens. Then there were the sacred oaks of the Druids - don't get me started.
Michael Jordan (no, not the athlete) has put together a masterly piece of research into the uses, practical and spiritual, of trees, plants and herbs of all kinds, in civilizations around the world. The book is well illustrated, using many of Jordan's own photographs.
In his overview of great writings about herbs Jordan quotes Charlemagne's definition of a herb "The friend of physicians and the praise of cooks." The oldest existing record of the use of herbs in medicine comes from Babylonian times, some 1700 years before Christ. The Chinese, however, were probably the first people to write "herbals" or documents about the uses of herbs.
A Greek philosopher, Theophrastus, was the first European to take a stab at classifying plants in 372 BC. His work strongly influenced other botanists for almost 2000 years. As recently as the 18th century the use of herbs in medicine was very hit or miss. Some pain killers, such as salicin, from the willow, were well-known and effective. Other nostrums relied on superstition - haemorrhoids were treated with a plant called Lesser Celandine because its roots were the shape of haemorrhoids.
It wasn't till the early 19th century that pure drugs such as morphine and quinine were extracted from plants. Meanwhile from time immemorial housewives had been growing herbs in their gardens and treating their family's illnesses with lore learned from their mothers and grandmothers. The church and paid physicians were not happy about this so they resorted to burning a few "wise women" as witches.
But Jordan does not restrict himself to actual real plants, he has a whole chapter on "Plants of the Imagination" which looks at plants featured in legend and mythology. In the Middle Ages it was said that a Barnacle Tree existed whose fruits matured into birds. In England it was said to grow at the edge of the sea and its fruits were barnacle shellfish. When these matured and fell off they split open, grew feathers and became Barnacle geese.
In his conclusion Jordan looks at gardening throughout the ages and ponders the possible effects of global warming and climate change on our "Green Mantle". He is hopeful that a new respect for our land and our environment is emerging and that the plunder of the Green Mantle is becoming less acceptable. Yet we are still losing plant species throughout the world. The Sahara desert is encroaching on vast areas that once were green; the forests of South America are being slashed and burned at an insane pace.
Jordan is hopeful, as I am, that our headlong race to destroy our Green Mantle may have been checked slightly. We have more knowledge now and even a little more understanding. We have made some small steps towards preserving our plant heritage. Will it be enough to counter the forces of ignorance and greed?

Fantastic! I pick up a book and scan through it to see if I want to "get involved". Not only did I purchase and read this one, but I bought the next two in the series and read them also. Cyn Mobley writes mysteries in refreshingly entertaining style while departing deep affection and knowledge of the retired greyhound. In Greyhound Dancing, pack behavior and territorial lines are explored through the eyes of greyhounds. Tweeter, the grey queen, is introduced to a new pack and must establish herself and enforce rules of behavior. It is a greyt read. I am sure you will enjoy this book completely.

LOVE this book! Tweeter's adventures are just GREYT!!!!!!! You will not be disappointed by the book or Cyn's wonderful way of writing!!! My 13 yr old son LOVES them too!!!!

Are you all nuts? It sells for far less than that new on the website dogbooks.org.
A hundred BUCKS???
Cyn Mobley

The book is truly a dream come true for many children. I myself found the book to be soothing to a rejected child who is always to slow and never wins. This just goes to show that good sportsmanship and willingness makes the grade. I know that someday when I children that I will read this book to them rather they are the fastest most athletic kid in the class or the slowest and last picked kid in the class

I cannot believe this is not an award winning book. I have read many children's books lately, and to me this ranks right up there with the Caldecotts and other award winners. The illustrations are wonderful, depicting the animals realistically yet with very expressive almost human faces. The story has some nice humorous twists to it, and I found it very entertaining. There is even an educational aspect to it, as it includes an index of sorts to the animals depicted and a little information about them. I think any child would be delighted with this book, and might even be inspired to further reading about animals.

Helen Ward's illustrations are fabulous and she has retold this classic charmingly and engagingly. I am more and more impressed by Australian illustrators and writers. This is a must have.

Wow- this book is fantastic. I have a lot of ghost books- and this one is definitely one of my favorites.

Included are TONS OF PICTURES of EVERY haunted inn listed!
It seems these days that it is hard to find a good ghost book with photos included!
The pictures are black and white- and there are MANY of them!!

Also included are the websites of the inns.

The ghost stories in this book are fascinating. The Pink Lady ghost of the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC was excellent!

(www.groveparkinn.com).

Sheila Turnage actually stayed at the inn- in the Pink Lady's room~~~and had a few strange experiences herself.

I really enjoyed this book- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!

It is obvious the author put a lot of time and effort into this book. The ghost stories are well-researched and there are photographs of each haunted location. Ms. Turnage also provides a lot of additional useful information such as telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and rates. I can't wait to visit some of the haunted inns and plan to do so within the next few months. I am particularly interested in the St. James Hotel in Selma, Ala., said to be haunted by Jesse James, a lady named Lucinda, and a phantom dog.

If you like to travel and are interested in the subject of ghosts/spirits, you will enjoy this book highly. This book not only gives you a short history/story behind the various Haunted Inns, but also gives contact information to inquire further and/or make reservations - including webpage addresses when available. Shelia Turnage has put a lot of work and research into this book. She does a great job getting directly to the point describing the hauntings.

The book's introduction is a quick overview on "Things To Know Before You Go", which is informative especially for first time ghost/paranormal researchers.

If you are a fellow admirer of mythical legends and heroic dramas,then you will be captivated by this book.One of the literary questions,i ask from time to time,is whether Merlin or Jesus Christ,was the first true magician.Both performed miracles and feats that amazed watchers.Their accounts rippled outward through bardic narratives and recorded in countless legendary tales.But,this study glosses over the Jesus topic.Whether because of moral sensitivity or whether expurgated due to the mores of the day.This myth theory deals with the major classical epics from the European perspective.However,there are no tales from Afrika,India,the Americas or Asia.All heroic myths may have started from the first campfire rituals of Eastern Afrika.And as human migration spread,so did the retelling of the proto-myths.The myths evolved and the characters evolved.Yet,the root basis of our modern fictional legends derive from a wandering sole folk-teller's tongue on ancient ritual dramas.I think one of the greatest achievements of this complex exposition,is to convey, that all of mythical tales are patterned upon a single basic human desire to idealize the deeds of our heroic figures. I'm surprised that this book is not well-known today.I'm glad to have discovered this work on myth traditions.And would recommend it to anyone else interested in literary pursuits and drama studies.

Sacrilege, I know, but I found this book to be the most inciteful explanation of the hero mono-myth, at least in regards to western civilization, that I have ever read.

The basic premise is that the hero journey, which forms the basis for all western stories, myths and legends, is a remnant of an ancient ritual drama enacted at the coronation of a priest-king (probably in ancient Mesopotamia).

A definition: A ritual, according to Raglan, is an specific act performed for a magical purpose. A dramatic ritual is a ritual performed for an audience, and a ritual drama is a dramatic ritual where the participants play specific roles. In order to play roles a story/plot was needed and this story forms the myth. The myth of the priest-king outlived the ritual and became the many myths and folktales we are familiar with, from Hercules to Robin Hood to Luke Skywalker and Harry Potter (my additions).

Raglan argues that at one time kings were more than kings, they were priests, even gods, and replaced on a regular basis. The ritual surrounding this replacement involved sacrificing the old king (in reality or ritually) and raising up a suitable substitute. Raglan says there are at least twenty-two aspects to this mono-myth and the closer the legend fits these aspects the less likely the hero was a historical personage at all.

His argument is that all historical persons that we know of from actual evidence have differed greatly from these twenty-two points. However all purely legendary heros curiously share most of them.

(1)Born of a royal virgin.
(2)His father a King and
(3)Often a near relative of mother, but
(4)The circumsatnces of his conception are unusual and
(5)He is reputed to be the son of a god.
(6)An attempt is made to kill him at birth(often by father or father-figure) but
(7)He is spirited away and
(8)Raised by foster parents in a far country.
(9)We are told nothing of his childhood.
(10)On reaching manhood he journeys to his future kingdom.
(11)Faces trials and tests.
(12)Marries a princess and
(13)Becomes king.
(14)Rules uneventfully
(15)Prescribes laws
(16)Loses favor with the Gods or his subjects and
(17)Is driven away where
(18)He meets with a mysterious death
(19)Often at the top of a hill.
(20)His children, if any, do not succeed him.
(21)His body is not buried, however
(22)He has one or more holy resting places.

Curiously Raglan neglected, while covering several legendary figures who fit this prototype, to mention Jesus Christ. Perhaps it was the time he wrote in (the 1930s).

Lord Raglan makes an excellent argument for his thesis.

I can't believe I am the first to review this amazing book.

Highly reccomended.

For Jimbo and others who may have wondered why Lord Raglan did not cover Jesus, a natural "top scorer," the answer is simple. The original publisher, Methuen, was a publisher mainly of religious books. Fortunately, generations of readers who have read this book have readily reached their own conclusions.

Lord Raglan's style is blunt and some of his conventions pedantic (such as the use of quotes at the beginning of each line to indicate continuous quotations). More recent scholarship has challenged some of his conclusions, such as the historical veracity (or lack thereof) of the Icelandic sagas. However, his simple and straightforward presentation of this revolutionary idea remains powerful, and a welcome antidote to Campbell's self-dramatizing quasi-psychobabble about "The Hero's Journey." This small volume will be eye-opening for anyone interested in mythology and its evolution from ritual drama. It will also serve as an antidote to the common perception that "all legends are based on truth." They are, but it is not the truth of historical facts, but of human development and our love of a good story.

people should be reading this stuff, not the same old boring Plato/Homer stuff. This is the interesting stuff, the trickster who gets tricked and then tricks others. It's so valuable. And beautiful. And underrated.

Just like Beck's "Shamans & Kushtakas" this book is a great reference on Tlingit & Haida mythology. She does an excellent job in both books passing on the legends of old into the 21st century. I am a Haida indian and I think she did a wonderful job

Having grown up in Alaska, I've had much exposure to Native Alaskan culture and have always loved reading or hearing their folklore. This particular book is a great collection of Tlingit-Haida legends, each of which is a sort of "how things came to be this way" story. They explain why a certain clan took a particular crest, or how a legendary hero came to fame, etc. What I found especially interesting is the comparison with folklore from other cultures. Each story is accompanied by a short introduction in which the author shows us the parallels between these tales and similar ones in Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology. The stories are set down in clear, simple language, but are still vivid and engrossing. My one criticism of the book would be that it's too short. There are only nine legends included, and this makes for only a small sampling of Tlingit-Haida lore. I would have loved to see more. However, I will not knock any point off my rating for this. The fact that I wish it had gone on longer only attests to its overall quality. This is a terrific book, easy to read, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in native folklore.