Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing many of these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Pregnant Fictions explores the complex role of pregnancy in early modern tale-telling and considers how stories of childbirth were used to rethink gendered "truths" at a key moment in the history of ideas. How male medical authorities and female literary authors struggled to describe the inner workings of the unseen--and competed to shape public understanding of it--is the focus of this engaging work by Holly Tucker. In illuminating the gender politics underlying dramatic changes in reproductive theory and practice, Tucker shows just how tenuous the boundaries of scientific "fact" and marvelous fictions were in early modern France. On the literary front, Tucker argues, women used the fairy tale to rethink the biology of childbirth and the sociopolitical uses to which it had been put. She shows that in references to midwives, infertility, sex selection, and embryological theories, fairy-tale writers experimented with alternative ways of understanding pregnancy. In so doing they suggested new ways in which to envision women, knowledge, and power in both the public and the private spheres.

This books explores varying conceptions of the Nightmare hag, mara, in Scandinavian folk belief. What began as observations of some startling narratives preserved in folklore archives where sex, violence and curses are recurring themes gradually led to questions as to how rural people envisaged good and evil, illness and health, and cause and effect. At closer reading, narratives about the mara character involve existential themes, as well as comments on gender and social hierarchy. This monograph analyses how this female creature was conceived of in oral literature and everyday ritual practice in pre-industrial Scandinavia, and what role she played in a larger pattern of belief in witchcraft and magic.

The divisive and malleable nature of history is at its most palpable in situations of intractable conflict between nations or peoples. In these circumstances, how each party interprets or appropriates historical accounts informs their understanding of the roots of the conflict as well as how they relate to and interact with their adversaries. This book aims to advance our understanding of the significance of history in informing the relationship between parties involved in intractable conflicts through the concept of thick recognition and by exploring its relevance specifically in relation to Israel. It suggests that the recognition of crucial identity elements, such as widely shared understandings of history, might increase the potential for relationship transformation in intractable conflicts. More widely, the book discusses how the Israeli debates over New History can be understood as related to processes of conflict transformation as well as seeking answers to what can be seen as facilitating and inhibiting circumstances for the introduction of new understandings of history in the debates on Israeli New History.

William Blake and the Myths of Britain is the first full-length study of Blake's use of British mythology and history. From Atlantis to the Deists of the Napoleonic Wars, this book addresses why the eighteenth century saw a revival of interest in the legends of the British Isles and how Blake applied these in his extraordinary prophetic histories of the giant Albion, revitalising myths of the Druids and Joseph of Arimathea bringing Christ to Albion.

This cutting-edge volume demonstrates both the literary quality and the socio-economic importance of works on "the matter of the greenwood" over a long chronological period. These include drama texts, prose literature and novels (among them, children's literature), and poetry. Whilst some of these are anonymous, others are by acknowledged canonical writers such as William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and John Keats. The editors and the contributors argue that it is vitally important to include Robin Hood texts in the canon of English literary works, because of the high quality of many of these texts, and because of their significance in the development of English literature.

The essays in this volume examine elements of the fantastic in a variety of media. From the fiction of Toni Morrison, Stephen King, and Chinua Achebe, to the rock songs of David Bowie, the fantastic is seen as adaptable to any art form. In an accessible manner, the contributors present fresh approaches to examining the elements of the fantastic in literature, film, music, and popular culture. The collection features an essay by Ursula K. Le Guin.

This text is an introduction to the enigma of the Baltic origins and self-identification of the Baltic people. It is divided into three parts. The first part recounts the history of the Baltic people relying on archaeological sources. The second part provides an objective linguistic history and a description of the Baltic languages. The third part offers an insight into mythology in the ancient history of the Baltic peoples.

Now available in 23 languages! The Big Bad Wolf is late AGAIN and is ruining stories as he rushes through the forest to Grandma's house. When the Three Little Pigs get seriously grumpy AGAIN, Wolf tells them he's had ENOUGH. There will be no more HUFFING and PUFFING from this Big Bad Wolf. The fairytale characters aren't worried - they can totally manage without him! But Big Bad Wolfing is harder than it looks ... And what happens when they realise that they really need a Big Bad Wolf in this story? From the pairing behind the fabulously funny and internationally bestselling There Is No Dragon In This Story comes another hilarious story featuring your favourite fairytale characters as you've never seen them before!

Meet mythology's fifty fiercest females in this modern retelling of the world's greatest legends. From feminist fairies to bloodsucking temptresses, half-human harpies and protective Vodou goddesses, these are women who go beyond long-haired, smiling stereotypes. Their stories are so powerful, so entrancing, that they have survived for millennia. Lovingly retold and updated, Kate Hodges places each heroine, rebel and provocateur fimly at the centre of their own narrative. Players include: Bewitching, banished Circe, an introvert famed and feared for her transfigurative powers. The righteous Furies, defiantly unrepentant about their dedication to justice. Fun-loving Ame-no-Uzume who makes quarrelling friends laugh and terrifies monsters by flashing at them. The fateful Morai sisters who spin a complex web of birth, life and death. Find your tribe, fire your imagination and be empowered by this essential anthology of notorious, demonised and overlooked women.

This is a golden treasury of over one hundred English folktales captured in the form they were first collected in past centuries. Read these classic tales as they would have been told when storytelling was a living art - when the audience believed in boggarts and hobgoblins, local witches and will-o'-the-wisps, ghosts and giants, cunning foxes and royal frogs. Find "Jack the Giantkiller", "Tom Tit Tot" and other quintessentially English favourites, alongside interesting borrowings, such as an English version of the Grimms' "Little Snow White" - as well as bedtime frighteners, including "Captain Murderer", as told to Charles Dickens by his childhood nurse. Neil Philip has provided a full introduction and source notes on each story that illustrate each tale's journey from mouth to page, and what has happened to them on the way. These tales rank among the finest English short stories of all time in their richness of metaphor and plot and their great verbal dash and daring.

A fascinating and detailed look at English folklore and village customs. Contents Include - What Folklore is - The Calendar - Village Seasonal Life: Part 1: Winter Feasts to Midsummer: Part 2: Midsummer to Christmas - Our Dance and Drama:1. The Sword Dance - 2 . The Play - The Other Play - The Morris Dance - Our Country Dances - Our Songs and their Folklore - Our Tales - A page of Magic