A collection of animal myths from thirty-six American Indian tribes.

How does sport shape society? This book seeks to answer this question by examining the meaning of sport in French society and the construction of local, national and, increasingly, global identities through sport. It begins by reassessing modern sport's emergence and consolidation in France in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and then traces developments from the Second World War to the present, reflecting on the current status and future role of French sport. Horse racing, cycling, tennis, adventure sports, rugby and football, as well as the role of the Olympic Games, are discussed. The author investigates the interaction of these mass and elite physical practices with a wide variety of sporting locations - spatial and temporal, concrete and imagined - and in a rich field of representations, including literature and the fine arts, the press, cinema, radio, television and digital media. Related concepts of sporting celebrity, stardom and heroism also inform the discussion, offering new contributions to this developing critical area.

Ireland's wild plants have been part of our culture and folklore from the earliest times, featuring in the Brehon Laws, early Irish poetry and herbal medicine. Plants are described in seasonal order and different aspects are examined: their roles in magical protection, charms and spells, emblems in children's games, Irish place names and folklore. This beautifully illustrated and comprehensive compilation of natural history, mythology and folklore will entertain and enlighten all interested in the wild plants of Ireland.

Myths are usually seen as stories from the depths of time-fun and fantastical, but no longer believed by anyone. Yet, as Philip Ball shows, we are still writing them-and still living them-today. From Robinson Crusoe and Frankenstein to Batman, many stories written in the past few centuries are commonly, perhaps glibly, called "modern myths." But Ball argues that we should take that idea seriously. Our stories of Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Sherlock Holmes are doing the kind of cultural work that the ancient myths once did. Through the medium of narratives that all of us know in their basic outline and which have no clear moral or resolution, these modern myths explore some of our deepest fears, dreams, and anxieties. We keep returning to these tales, reinventing them endlessly for new uses. But what are they really about, and why do we need them? What myths are still taking shape today? And what makes a story become a modern myth? In The Modern Myths, Ball takes us on a wide-ranging tour of our collective imagination, asking what some of its most popular stories reveal about the nature of being human in the modern age.

This book takes an engaging look at the significance of traditional proverbs and their variation in the modern world. From sales pitch to propagandistic tool, Wolfgang Mieder looks at how we adapt proverbs to rapidly changing social attitudes - the original wording of proverbs changes to fit modern advertising slogans or political rhetoric, misogynist sayings become feminist slogans, and late medieval woodcuts illustrating proverbs find their modern equivalents in political cartoons and comic strips. The book is richly illustrated and contains name, subject, and proverb indexes.

A potent pantheon of gods, heroes engaged in epic battles, fearsome mythical creatures and supernatural transformations - such fantastical elements infuse Greek myths with a wonder and excitement that's hard to beat. These tales of love, courage, conflict and intrigue, shared for thousands of years, still exercise a powerful influence on our modern lives. This comprehensive collection of mythic stories brings to life the origins of the Greek gods and their dominion over the world of humankind. Here you'll find Zeus and hades, Artemis and Aphrodite, with stories of demi-gods and humans alike. Jason and the Argonauts, Perseus the Gordon-Slayer and the heart-breaking tales of Troy sit alongside myths of crime and punishment, love and courage and the adventures of Heracles. Part of Flame Tree's epic collection of myths and legends, classic tales and modern short stories.

This book presents an original and engaging look at contemporary popular culture, opening with the provocative idea that this is a day and age of complete exhaustion of ideas, images, stories, and myths. Questioning the effects of content recycling in cinema and other media, the author further elaborates on the repurposing of cultural junk, the reassembling of narratives and myths. The thought-provoking hypothesis proposed in this research is that we have entered an age of cultural promiscuity. By analyzing the mutations of myth-making practices and connecting them with larger cultural manifestations, the author explains these transformations as integral to the development of a myth-illogical imagination. Cinematic and mythological representations in mainstream Hollywood films have reached a point of amalgamation with no return, which marks the beginning of a "fourth age of representations," where signs and meanings are manifested in illogical permutations. This is more explicit in films that commingle aliens, cowboys, undead American presidents, and zombie nazis, joining together in the same narrative ghosts, werewolves, and vampires, aggregating disjoined storylines and historical fake facts, all coalesced in an orgy of empty burlesque and infantile masquerades. This interdisciplinary research combines cultural studies, film criticism, art and myth interpretations, bringing into the debate multiple concepts from related fields such as critical theory and media criticism. The book also opens up to innovative approaches from a wide array of academic disciplines, offering researchers, students and those fascinated by the transformations happening in contemporary cinema an interpretative tool based on a revised dialectic approach. The conclusion is that we are now victims of a zombie semiotics. Meaning-making in contemporary culture, politics, and aesthetics is dominated by a process of incessant desecration of significations, specific to the total mishmash of representations analyzed here.

An encyclopedic A-to-Z guide, this beautifully illustrated volume offers hundreds of rich, fascinating definitions of 700 major and minor characters, creatures, and places of classical mythology. Classical Mythology A-to-Z is a comprehensive and engrossing guide to Greek and Roman mythology. Written by Annette Giesecke, PhD, Professor of Classics and Chair of Ancient Greek and Roman Studies at the University of Delaware, this brilliant reference offers clear explanations of every character and locale, and captures the essence of these timeless tales. From the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus and the heroes of the Trojan War to the nymphs, monsters, and other mythical creatures that populate these ancient stories, Giesecke recounts, with clarity and energy, the details of more than 700 characters and places. Each definition includes cross-references to related characters, locations, and myths, as well their equivalent in Roman mythology and cult. In addition to being an important standalone work, Classical Mythology A-to-Z is also written, designed, and illustrated to serve as an essential companion to the bestselling illustrated 75th-anniversary edition of Mythology by Edith Hamilton, including 10 full-color plates and 2-color illustrations throughout by artist Jim Tierney.

North Carolina Myths and Legends explores unusual phenomena, strange events, and mysteries in North Carolina's history. Each episode included in the book is a story unto itself, and the tone and style of the book is lively and easy to read for a general audience interested in North Carolina history. Read about the Cherokee legend of the Judaculla rock. Try to figure out if Tom Dula, subject of many a local myth and a popular folk song, really did murder his wife. Speculate as to what really caused the Carolina Bays indentations.

West Virginia University Press is pleased to bring back into print Witches, Ghosts, and Signs, the 1975 classic by the late Patrick W. Gainer, renowned West Virginia folklorist and West Virginia University English professor from 1946 through 1972. Based on material Gainer collected from over fifty years of field research in West Virginia and the region, Witches, Ghosts, and Signs presents the rich heritage of the southern Appalachians in a way that has never been equaled. Passed down from generation to generation from as far back as the earliest settlers in the region come tales of the strange and supernatural--ghosts, witches, hauntings, disappearances, and unexplained murders--stories that raise goose bumps and send chills down spines. Included in the collection are such Appalachian classics as The Black Cat Murders, The Witchery of Mary Leadum, The Bewitched Pigs, The Headless Rider of Spruce Lick, and The Poltergeist of Petersburg. According to Gainer, he himself heard ghostly music coming from an abandoned house at midnight, an incident which is described in Jim Barton's Fiddle. In addition to the many accounts of strange happenings, Gainer presents fascinating material about Appalachian superstitions, planting by moon signs, weather forecasting, and mountaineer doctoring. From his own experience and from the reminiscences of old-timers, the author offers historical background on mountaineers. His key to the pronunciation and vocabulary of indigenous populations makes audible the unique speech patterns of mountain people and provides a linguistic key to today's regional dialects. Gainer also relates social events of years gone by, such as molasses boiling, serenades fornewlyweds, and the busybody's favorite: telephone party lines. This carefully collected and preserved collection of folklore is a delight for readers of all ages and a wonderful teaching text for secondary and higher education classes in West Virginia and Appalachian folklore, and in the study of oral traditions. This new edition of Witches, Ghosts, and Signs includes an introduction and a folk motif index, by Dt. Judy Byers, founder and director of the West Virginia Folklife Center at Fairmont State University and a former student of Dr. Gainer.

Part of our new and growing Myths, Mysteries and Legends series, Myths, Mysteries and Legends of New Mexico explores unusual phenomena, strange events, and mysteries in the Land of Enchantment's history. Each episode included in the book is a story unto itself, and the tone and style of the book is lively and easy to read for a general audience interested in New Mexico history. Stories include the mysterious disappearance of lawyer and civic leader Albert J. Fountain-a man known both for defending Billy the Kid and for taking on cattle rustlers-and his little boy, Henry; the near discovery of when humans first came to America by George McJunkin, a black cowboy, born a slave; and the unsolved murders of an old mining town that lies at the depths of Bonito Lake.

This volume is based on the premise that artistic performance is epistemological, a way of knowing self, culture, and other. The nine essays in this book, based on a broad range of ethnic, racial, and gender groups, share a common interest in exploring how performance reveals, shapes, and sometimes transforms personal and cultural identity. Editors Fine and Speer begin by examining the interdisciplinary roots of performance studies and the role of performance studies in the field of communication. They also discuss the power of performance to shape personal and cultural identity.

The first two chapters explore the ritual nature of performance in two different cultural contexts: an African-American church service and an Appalachian storytelling event of the legendary Ray Hicks. In both arenas, the performers act as shamans, transporting the audience from their everyday, secular lives to the higher ground of the mythic spheres of heroic and fantastic events. The next three chapters discuss the notion of place and performance in various landscapes--the English countryside, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the farmland of the Midwest. Through analysis of the speech and songs of a modern Sussex yeoman, the ghost tales of Appalachian storytellers, and the narratives of Midwest farmers coping with hard times, the authors reveal a variety of ways in which narrative performances function to preserve people's relationship with the land. The last four chapters share a focus on women as storytellers. One chapter offers a feminist critique of personal narrative research and challenges normative assumptions about the storytelling behavior of women. Another chapter interprets a narration of a Galician woman's typical day to reveal how the performance expresses deeply held attitudes and beliefs of her cultural community. Words are not the only medium that women use to tell their stories. The next chapter examines the story cloths of Hmong women refugees from Laos as intercultural and dialogical performances. The last chapter explores self-discovery and identity in the storytelling of a woman in the last years of her life. This volume is particularly representative of the ways in which communication scholars approach performance studies, but will also interest researchers and students of folklore, anthropology, sociology, theatre, and related disciplines.

This book, first published in 1990, studies the oral fiction entertainments of Afghanistan by focusing on aspects of the oral narrative process which can be observed in individual performances.

Monstrous Tales is a collection of traditional folktales about bewitching and bloodthirsty creatures.

Translated and transcribed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, these tales celebrate the diversity of―and surprising resonances among―folklore traditions around the world.

Welcome to a world of magical adventure: a mysterious wolf pursues a bridegroom through a dark forest, a princess is trapped in a monster's body, and a dragon is coming with a storm in its wake.

• The tales come alive alongside spellbinding contemporary art by Chinese illustrator Sija Hong.
• Each story transports readers to a different enthralling world.
• Part of the popular Tales series, featuring Tales of Japan, Celtic Tales, and Tales of India

As readers roam from Japan to Nigeria and Ireland to Guyana, they'll witness deadly pacts, heroic feats, and otherworldly journeys.

Features tales from Australia, China, Estonia, Finland, France, Great Sioux Nation, Guyana, Iceland, India, Inuit Nunangat, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Nigeria, Philippines, Pueblo of Isleta, Scotland, South Africa, Syria, Turkey, and Ukraine.

• A special illustrated edition, complete with an embossed, textured case and a ribbon marker
• Perfect gift for fairy tale and folklore lovers, fans of monsters and creatures, collectors of illustrated classics, adults and teens alike, and bibliophiles
• A visually gorgeous book that will be at home on the shelf or on the coffee table
• Great for those who enjoyed books like Through the Woods by Emily Carroll; The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures by Aaron Mahnke; and Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth by Carol Rose

A delightful selection from one of Europe's richest folk literatures, "The Golden Apple "will appeal to a wide range of readers, including children. Admirers of Vasko Popa's poetry will find it rewarding for the insight it gives into his sources. Illustrated with traditional Serbian rug-motifs.

We live in an era of exploding scientific knowledge about the universe, and our place and future within it. Much of this new knowledge conflicts with earlier wisdom, and some has frightening implications. Cosmic evolution, space exploration, the search for extraterrestrial life, and concerns about humanity's future prompt us to seek new answers to old existential questions. Where did we come from? Why are we here? Are we alone? What will become of us? In our search for answers, we turn to science, religion, myth, and varying combinations thereof. Exploring an ambiguous region between recognized findings and unfettered imagination, Starstruck explores the multifaceted, far-reaching, and often contentious attempts of people with contrasting worldviews to develop convincing and satisfying interpretations of rapidly accumulating discoveries in physics, astronomy, and biology.

In the predecessor to this book, The Universal Vampire: Origins and Evolution of a Legend, Broadman and Doan presented discussions of the development of the vampire in the West from the early Norse draugr figure to the medieval European revenant and ultimately to Dracula, who first appears as a vampire in Anglo-Irish Bram Stoker s novel, Dracula, published in 1897. The essays in that collection also looked at the non-Western vampire in Native American and Mesoamerican traditions, Asian and Russian vampires in popular culture, and the vampire in contemporary novels, film and television. The essays in this collection continue that multi-cultural and multigeneric discussion by tracing the development of the post-modern vampire, in films ranging from Shadow of a Doubt to Blade, The Wisdom of Crocodiles and Interview with the Vampire; the male and female vampires in the Twilight films, Sookie Stackhouse novels and True Blood television series; the vampire in African American women s fiction, Anne Rice s novels and in the post-apocalyptic I Am Legend; vampires in Japanese anime; and finally, to bring the volumes full circle, the presentation of a new Irish Dracula play, adapted from the novel and set in 1888.

America's oldest city, St. Augustine, has its fair share of things that go bump in the night. With such a long and varied history, it's no surprise that a few restless souls have stayed on long after their lives ended.

This book is among the very few publications offering to the English-speaking readership significant insights into contemporary Lithuanian folklore research. Dealing with broad variety of materials-from archived manuscripts to audio-recorded life stories to internet folklore, it comprises such topics as history and identity, traditional worldview influencing modern people's actions, construction of the mental landscape, types and modes of storytelling, the modern uses of proverbs, anecdotes, and internet lore. In a balanced way reflecting upon past and present, tradition and modernity, individual and collective, and employing modern research methodologies to dissect and analyze popular subjects and themes, the eight separate essays comprising the book present a condensed view of the popular Lithuanian culture and mentality.

The Slender Man entered the general popular consciousness in May 2014, when two young girls led a third girl into a wooded area and stabbed her. Examining the growth of the online horror phenomenon, this book introduces unique attributes of digital culture and establishes a needed framework for studies of other Internet memes and mythologies.

Through a mixture of original stories and traditional tales, Adventures in Nature offers an abundance of ways for families to connect with the earth. As our ancestors did before us, the book follows the seasons contained in the 'Wheel Of The Year', with each entry focusing on a story that brings us closer to the natural world, accompanied by simple craft projects, activities and mindful moments. In our busy, modern lives we have become increasingly disconnected from the world around us, and stories are an age-old way of re-establishing that link, nurturing a love for the environment and embedding awareness and respect for the planet within our culture. This book allows you to discover your very own adventures in nature through story.

Proverbs in African Orature examines how preliterate Africans handle oral literacy criticism of their proverbs. The study demonstrates that Africans employ literary styles and strategies in speaking their proverbs. It also shows that the notion and practice of literary aesthetics are indigenous to African peoples. In studying these proverbs, the author goes beyond mere translation or contextual analysis and employs a new empirical approach. The approach involves the researcher recording live scenes of proverb use, appreciation, and criticism by the people of Aniocha in Delta State, Nigeria. By examining the literary background and the present study, the author demonstrates that scholars have indeed recognized the need for this new approach but have not yet tried it. Monye is the first. The author also situates proverbs in the context of other African oral forms, drawing copious examples from the Anoicha Igbo people. This study and analysis reveals that Anoicha proverbs have literary value and that the people apply their folk critical canons in the appreciation and criticism of these proverbs. Proverbs in African Orature is a highly appropriate work for African Studies scholars, especially those focusing on oral literature.

The Indian Subcontinent has been at the centre of folklore inquiry since the 19th century, yet, while much attention was paid to India by early scholars, folkloristic interest in the region waned over time until it virtually disappeared from the research agendas of scholars working in the discipline of folklore and folklife. This fortunately changed in the 1980s when a newly energized group of younger scholars, who were interested in a variety of new approaches that went beyond the textual interface, returned to folklore as an untapped resource in South Asian Studies. This comprehensive volume further reinvigorates the field by providing fresh studies and new models both for studying the "lore" and the "life" of everyday people in the region, as well as their engagement with the world at large. By bringing Muslims, material culture, diasporic horizons, global interventions and politics to bear on South Asian folklore studies, the authors hope to stimulate more dialogue across theoretical and geographical borders to infuse the study of the Indian Subcontinent's cultural traditions with a new sense of relevance that will be of interest not only to areal specialists but also to folklorists and anthropologists in general. This book was originally published as a special issue of South Asian History and Culture.

This book was awarded a Special Mention Citation in the 2010 competition for the 'de la Torre Bueno Prize' by The Society of Dance History Scholars. In the region of Salento in Southern Italy, the music and dance of the pizzica has been used in the ritual of tarantism for many centuries as a means to cure someone bitten by the taranta spider. This book, a historical and ethnographic study of tarantism and pizzica, draws upon seven hundred years of writings about the ritual contributed by medical practitioners, scientists, travel writers and others. It also investigates the contemporary revival of interest in pizzica music and dance as part of the 'neo-tarantism' movement, where pizzica and the history of tarantism form a complex web of place, culture and identity for Salentines today. This is one of the first books in English to explore this fascinating ritual practice and its contemporary resurgence. It uses an interdisciplinary framework based in performance studies to ask wider questions about the experience of the body in performance, and the potential of music and dance to create a sense of personal and collective transformation and efficacy.