There are a number of outstanding dissertations in folklore which warrant a wider readership and which belong in the library of any educational institution or individual with a serious interest in folklore. A few of these are in fact already well known to professional folklorists who may have bothered to send for them through inter-library loan or in more recent times purchased copies from University Microfilms International in Ann Arbor, Michigan. However, it should be noted that not all dissertations are available through UMI. The appearance for selected folklore dissertations and theses, both old and new, in the Folklore Library series will make it much easier for libraries and individuals to obtain these significant studies. Among the most important hitherto unpublished folklore dissertations are such works as motif and/or tale type indices, historic-geographic (comparative) in-depth studies of single folktales or ballads, and surveys of specialized folklore scholarship e.g., of a particular country or group. There are in addition valuable filed collections of folklore data to be found in dissertations. First published in 1993. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Clouston's classic study of international folktales, their common origins, and their cultural variations is updated with new research. This classic study of popular tales and fictions is a global map of human imagination reaching back to a time that the author calls "the childhood of the world." First published in two volumes more than a century ago, the book traces familiar themes from strikingly different times, places, and cultures: invisible caps and cloaks, shoes of swiftness, inexhaustible purses, gold-producing animals, life tokens, bird maidens, forbidden rooms, fairy hinds, magic barks, thankful beasts, and magical transformations. The author investigates their origins, examines their variations, and follows their migration from one culture to another. Editor Christine Goldberg brings this classic up to date with an introduction that evaluates and expands the original work in the light of current scholarship. Takes a thematic approach to the study of folktales, exploring topics like gold-producing animals, invisible caps and cloaks, and bird maidens An introduction by contemporary folklorist Christine Goldberg places W. A. Clouston's classic work in historical and scholarly context

Turandot's Sisters represents the culmination of more than a century's research on the riddle-tale subgenre by a small but distinguished group of folklorists. It focuses on the interpretation of riddles, especially the role of riddles in courtship ritual.

The central tale studied in Turandot's Sisters, first published in 1993, is The Princess Who Can Not Solve the Riddle, AT 851. Other wisdom tales are surveyed to show that they are separate from the riddle tales in material and in spirit. Customs and beliefs concerning riddling and riddle contests are examined to see what motifs from the tales are taken from reality, leaving the rest to be either fantasy motifs or stylistic traits. The central tale AT 851 is analysed in detail to exhibit its obligatory and optional elements, a wealth of possibilities that enables it to adapt to a range of moods and to express a variety of ideas.