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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social institutions > Customs & folklore > Folklore
Who was Merlin? Is the famous wizard of Arthurian legend based on a
real person? In this book, Merlin's origins are traced back to the
story of Lailoken, a mysterious 'wild man' who is said to have
lived in the Scottish Lowlands in the sixth century AD. The book
considers the question of whether Lailoken belongs to myth or
reality. It looks at the historical background of his story and
discusses key characters such as Saint Kentigern of Glasgow and
King Rhydderch of Dumbarton, as well as important events such as
the Battle of Arfderydd. Lailoken's reappearance in medieval Welsh
literature as the fabled prophet Myrddin is also examined. Myrddin
himself was eventually transformed into Merlin the wizard, King
Arthur's friend and mentor. This is the Merlin we recognise today,
not only in art and literature but also on screen. His earlier
forms are less familiar, more remote, but can still be found among
the lore and legend of the Dark Ages. Behind them we catch fleeting
glimpses of an original figure who perhaps really did exist: a
solitary fugitive, tormented by his experience of war, who roamed
the hills and forests of southern Scotland long ago.
Pull up a chair or gather round the campfire and get ready for
thirty creepy tales of ghostly hauntings, eerie happenings, and
other strange occurrences in Pennsylvania. Set in the Keystone
State's big cites, rural communities, rugged mountains, and vast
woodlands, the stories in this entertaining and compelling
collection will have readers looking over their shoulders again and
again. Pennsylvania's folklore is kept alive in these expert
retellings by master storyteller S. E. Schlosser and in artist Paul
Hoffman's evocative illustrations. Readers will meet the phantom
drummer of Valley Forge, cheer on the ghost who haunts a bowling
alley in Allentown, search for the mysterious jail cell handprint
in Carbon County, and feel an icy wind on the back of their necks
on a warm Pennsylvania evening. Whether read around the campfire on
a dark and stormy night or from the backseat of the family van on
the way to grandma's, this is a collection to treasure.
Contents: Literary authors and works; Medieval characters and places; Themes, motifs, objects, key words; Sources: history, legend, archaeology, manuscript collections; Scholars and scholarship; Reception of the Nibelungen theme in German-speaking countries: literary authors and works; Reception of the Nibelungen theme outside German-speaking countries (including translations); Music and composers; Art, artists, films, filmmakers, sculpture, sculptors; Miscellaneous (education, historians, politics, psychology, military).
Carl Gustav Jung (1875- 1961) was never more insightful and intriguing than when he discussed mythology. The key to understanding the Jungian approach to mythology lies in the concept of the image, which provides the basis for his theory of the unconscious. By emphasizing the image over the word, Jungian psychology distinguishes itself dramatically from Freudian, Lacanian, and other psychologies that stress the task of interpreting the language - the words - of the unconscious. In Jung and the Jungians on Myth, Steven Walker carefully leads the reader through the essential lines of thought in Jungian psychology before developing his method for using Jungian ideas to approach mythological texts. Whether one is sympathetic toward Jung's ideas or critical of them, one will find in Walker's discussion a lucid introduction to Jungian perspectives on myth and psychology.
Series Information: Routledge Who's Who
Series Information: Routledge Who's Who
This delightful collection makes the rich but little-known Slovak
folk culture available for English-language readers. Most of the
fifty tales assembled here from the collections of folklorist Pavol
Dobsinsky are translated into English for the first time. The
poetic qualities of the originals have been carefully preserved.
The general reader will enjoy these tales immensely, and students
will find an insightful introduction to the genres of the folktale
and the specifics of Slovak tales. For expert readers, all of the
tales have been classified according to the Aarne-Thompson index,
and many include short commentaries that draw on the work of Viera
Gasparikova.
Popolvar may not be as well known as Rumpelstiltskin, or Brother
Birdie as well loved as the Ugly Duckling, but the folktales that
feature these characters are as rich in charm and piquancy as any
in the world.
This volume makes the Slovak folk tradition available to English
-language readers with fifty tales culled from the collections of
master folklorist Pavol Dobsinsky.
For the reader's delight, the translations preserve the poetic
qualities of the original tales: Slovak rhymes have been replaced
by English ones, puns have been repunned, proverbs have been
rendered with proverbial concision, and the flexible Slovak folk
idiom has been captured in colloquial English.
All of which is to say, the reader will enjoy these tales
immensely. And for those who wish to know more about Slovak
folktales, the volume includes commentaries, tale classifications,
an introduction to the Slovak tale tradition, and a concluding
essay on tale collection.
"Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! have nothing on Rose, at home in a thicket of menacing creatures."—Choice
We have always conjured up creatures never seen in nature, from flying horses and two-headed birds to fire-breathing dragons and enormous killer skunks, as well as fantastic distortions of our own image, from giants to nubile maidens. In these pages you will meet extraordinary beings from Hindu and Navajo religions, Scandinavian tales, Russian folklore, Lithuanian stories, Irish oral history, American tall tales, and Aztec myth. Just some of the monstrous entourage: • Baku, a benevolent Japanese monster with the body of a horse, the head of a lion, and the legs of a tiger, who helps people by devouring their nightmares. • Kurma, the giant tortoise of Hindu myth, whose upper shell forms the heavens and lower part the earth. • Missipissy, the feared fish serpent of North America's Great Lakes region.
This illustrated encyclopedia not only identifies and describes individual beasts in their cultural context but also groups them together across cultures and discusses common mythological strands and conceits. 60 b/w illustrations.
Plato's legend of the famed lost continent of Atlantis has become notorious among scholars as the most absurd lie in literature. Exciting our imagination and our curiosity, Atlantis Destroyed explores the possibility that Plato's account is the historical truth. In this fascinating account, Rodney Castleden considers the widely-debated location of Atlantis and its destruction, the literary origins of utopian Atlantis and how this became confused with Plato's authentic account and also the remarkable parallels between Plato's narrative and the bronze age civilisation in the Aegean.
"Kwaidan" are what Lafcadio Hearn called "stories and studies of
strange things" -- eerie tales which convey the enduring mystery of
traditional Japanese culture and the world of the samurai. In this
volume, de Benneville's rendition of the "Yotsuya Kwaidan" of
Shunkintei Ryuo paints a picture of life in the capital city of Edo
among samurai of the highest class, jostling for power at the court
of the Shogun. At the heart of the story is the Lady of Tamiya, a
daughter of the samurai who is sold by her brutal husband into the
floating world of the brothels, from which she escapes only in
death. Thereafter, the Lady is avenged as misfortune relentlessly
overtakes all who betrayed her, and she is still remembered today
in a Tokyo shrine popular with women who seek her protection. More
than any history, "kwaidan" reveal the inner morality of the
samurai code.
The popular heroes of the Middle Ages were semi-mythical figures.
This text explores not only the famous Robin Hood and William
Wallace, but also some now forgotten rogues such as Gamelyn and
Fulke Fitzwarin. Apart from William Wallace, the heroes of the
outlaw legends were not men who played a leading role on the
historical stage. Nevertheless, this book reveals how they were
remembered in tradition for generations. This book explains the
popularity of these figures and looks at how the stories appealed
to the common people of the Middle Ages. The author also discusses
their origins, spirit and background. In this re-issue of "The
Outlaws of Medieval Legend", a new introduction is provided to set
the book in the context of recent work on these characters, The
titles of which are: "England in the Later Middle Ages" (Routledge,
1975); "Heraldry" (Yale UP, 1986) and "Nobles, Knights and Men at
Arms in the Middle Ages" (Hambleden Press, 1996).
A collection of proverbial sayings of the modern Egyptians, printed
first in Arabic, then translated into English, and followed by a
commentary or explanation of the sense or idiom.
In this, the first modern study of the ancient fairytale, Graham Anderson asks whether the familiar children's fairytale of today existed in the ancient world. He examines texts from the classical period and finds many stories which resemble those we know today, including: * a Jewish Egyptian Cinderella * a Snow White whose enemy is the goddess Artemis * a Pied Piper at Troy. He puts forward many previously unsuspected candidates as classical variants of the modern fairytale and argues that the degree of violence and cruelty in the ancient tales means they must have been meant for adults.
In this, the first modern study of the ancient fairytale, Graham Anderson asks whether the familiar children's fairytale of today existed in the ancient world. He examines texts from the classical period and finds many stories which resemble those we know today, including: * a Jewish Egyptian Cinderella * a Snow White whose enemy is the goddess Artemis * a Pied Piper at Troy. He puts forward many previously unsuspected candidates as classical variants of the modern fairytale and argues that the degree of violence and cruelty in the ancient tales means they must have been meant for adults.
From Scythia to Camelot boldly challenges current scholarly wisdom concerning the origins of the legends of King Arthur and the Holy Grail. The authors assert that the Arthurian and Holy Grail traditions did not derive from Celtic folklore and mythology, but rather from the folklore and mythology of the peoples of ancient Scythia (modern South Russia and Ukrainian Steppes). The authors argue that this folklore was carried to Britain and Gaul from the Steppes by Alan and Sarmatian tribes during the final days of the Roman Empire. They also demonstrate that several key figures in the legends, including the Fisher King and the Maimed Kings are based on historical individuals who lived during the early years of the fifth century. From Scythia to Camelot presents an erudite, stimulating and provocative analysis of the origins and developments of the Athurian legends.
King Arthur: The Truth Behind the legend offers a more complete picture of Arthur's Britain and his place in it than ever before. This exciting new investigation argues not only that Arthur did exist, as a Dark Age chieftain, but that many of the romantic tales - Merlin, Camelot, and Excalibur - are rooted in truth. In his quest for the real King Arthur, Rodney Castleden uses up-to-date archaeological and documentary evidence to recreate the history and society of Dark Age Britain and its kings. He revives the possibility that Tintagel was an Arthurian residence, and proposes a radical new theory - that Arthur escaped alive from his final battle. A location is even suggested for perhaps the greatest mystery: the whereabouts of Arthur's grave. eBook available with sample pages: 0203022165
Contents: Introduction. Dhira B. Mahoney. The quest of origins, Glenys Witchard Goetinck. The central symbol of the legend: the Grail as vessel, Emma Jung and Marie-Louise von Franz. Perceval or Le Conte du Graal, Jean Frappier. Punishment in the perlesvaus: the theme of the waste land, A. J. Kennedy. Seeing the Grail: prologomena to a study of the Grail in the Queste and Estoire , Alison Stones. A story of interpretations: the Quest del Saint Graal as metaliterature, Lawrence N. de Looze. Dying to get to Sarras: Perceval's sister and the Grail quest, Janina Traxler. The symbolism of the Grail in Wolfram von Eschenbach, Friedrich Ranke. The truest and holiest tale: Malory's transformation of La Quest del Saint Graal, Dhira B. Mahoney. Chivalric nationalism and the Holy Grail in John Hardyng's chronicle, Felicity Riddy. Scandals of faith and gender in Tennyson's Grail poems, Linda Hughes. Pure hearts and clean hands: the Victorians and the Grail, Debra N. Mancoff. From Logres to Carbonek: the Arthuriad of Charles Williams, Karl Heinz Goller, Walker Percy's Grail, J. Donald Crowley and Sue Mitchell Crowley. The Grail in modern fiction: sacred symbol in a secular age, Raymond H. Thompson. Hollywood's new Weston: the Grail myth in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now and John Boorman's Excalibur, Martin Shichtman.
'A mere metaphor', 'only symbolic', 'just a myth' - these tell tale phrases reveal how figurative language has been cheapened and devalued in our modern and postmodern culture. In God and the Creative Imagination, Paul Avis argues the contrary: we see that actually, metaphor, symbol and myth, are the key to a real knowledge of God and the sacred. Avis examines what he calls an alternative tradition, stemming from the Romantic poets Blake, Wordsworth and Keats and drawing on the thought of Cleridge and Newman, and experience in both modern philosophy and science. God and the Creative Imagination intriguingly draws on a number of non-theological disciplines, from literature to philosophy of science, to show us that God is appropriately likened to an artist or poet and that the greatest truths are expressed in an imaginative form. Anyone wishing to further their understanding of God, belief and the imagination will find this an inspiring work.
'A mere metaphor', 'only symbolic', 'just a myth' - these tell tale
phrases reveal how figurative language has been cheapened and
devalued in our modern and postmodern culture. In God and the
Creative Imagination, Paul Avis argues the contrary: we see that
actually, metaphor, symbol and myth, are the key to a real
knowledge of God and the sacred. Avis examines what he calls an
alternative tradition, stemming from the Romantic poets Blake,
Wordsworth and Keats and drawing on the thought of Cleridge and
Newman, and experience in both modern philosophy and science.
God and the Creative Imagination intriguingly draws on a number of
non-theological disciplines, from literature to philosophy of
science, to show us that God is appropriately likened to an artist
or poet and that the greatest truths are expressed in an
imaginative form.
Anyone wishing to further their understanding of God, belief and
the imagination will find this an inspiring work.
Contents: Preface Part One 1. The Myth Kitty 2. A Rough Guide to the Gods 3. A Mythical History of the World in One Chapter Part Two 4. Orpheus 5. Venus and Adonis 6. Pygmalion Bibliography Index of Mythological Names Index of Authors.
A comprehensive reference source for Arthurian studies, "The
Arthurian Name Dictionary" is a comprehensive encyclopedia of
characters, places, objects, and themes found in the legends of
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The volume makes
available, for the first time, a complete catalogue of these names,
drawn from all significant Arthurian sources between Gildas's "De
Excidio Britanniae "(the first "Arthurian" source, written c. 540)
and Tennyson's nineteenth-century "Idylls of the Kin" (which began
the modern era of Arthurian literature)
Covers all of Arthurian-informative, detailed, and extensive, The
enormous number of characters and places in the vast body of
literature called Arthuriana confounds even the most learned
Arthurian scholars. "The Arthurian Name Dictionary "contains names
extracted from over 250 original Arthurian texts. Its pages include
information on characters such as Lancelot and Gawain; places such
as Camelot and Camlann; objects such as Excalibur and the Holy
Grail; and themes such as the Sword-in-the-Stone and the Beheading
Game. Each entry provides a complete, accurate description of the
name, including, when possible, the origins or historical basis of
the name, and any counterparts with different names in other
sources. Major characters and themes are discussed extensively, and
their evolution through the series of texts is carefully
traced
Offers more coverage than previous encyclopedias and dictionaries
on Arthurian, "The Arthurian Name Dictionary" outdoes previous
encyclopedias and dictionaries concerned with Arthurian subjects by
including a far greater number of sources, by including a far
greater number of names from those sources, and by discussing each
name in far greater detail.
Contents: The lion, bloodline and kinship. Misericord owls and medieval anti-semitism. Bestiary lessons on pride and lust. Sex in the bestiaries. The phoenix and the resurrection. Did imaginary animals exist? Classical ideology in the medieval bestiary. Taboos and the holy in Bodley 764. Silence's beasts.
The Concept of the Goddess explores the function and nature of goddesses and their cults in many cultures, including: * Celtic * Roman * Norse * Caucasian * Japanese traditions. The contributors explore the reasons for the existence of so many goddesses in the mythology of patriarchal societies and show that goddesses have also assumed more masculine roles, with war, hunting and sovereignty being equally important aspects of their cults. eBook available with sample pages: HB:0415144213 EB:0203456386
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