Böcker utgivna av Clive Gilson

This collection covers a range of cultures and themes based around the California Basin and South Western nations. There is no single mythology of the Indigenous North American peoples. There are numerous traditions and narratives associated with religion, ethics and core beliefs. These stories are deeply based in nature and are rich with the symbolism of seasons, weather, plants, animals, earth, water, fire, sky and the heavenly bodies. Common elements are the principle of an all-embracing, universal and omniscient Great Spirit, a connection to the Earth and its landscapes, a belief in parallel worlds in the sky and beneath our feet, diverse creation narratives, visits to the 'land of the dead', and collective memories of ancient sacred ancestors.A characteristic of many of the myths is the close relationship between human beings and animals including birds and reptiles. They often feature shape-shifting between animal and human form. Marriage between people and different species, particularly bears, is a common theme.Most of the myths from the California Basin and the South West were first transcribed by ethnologists during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These sources were collected from Native American elders who still had strong connections to the traditions of their ancestors. They may be considered the most authentic surviving records of the ancient stories.Myths of this region are dominated by the sacred creator and trickster, Coyote. Other significant characters include the Sun People, the Star Women and Darkness.Myths of the Navajo, Apache and Pueblo peoples tell how the first human beings emerged from an underworld. According to the Hopi Pueblo people, the first beings were the Sun, two goddesses known as Hard Being Woman, or Huruing Wuhti, and Spider Woman. It was the goddesses who created living creatures and human beings. Other themes include the origin of tobacco and corn, and horses.

Continuing the theme of stories from northern lands, this volume concentrates on the Sagas from Viking isles, such as Iceland and The Faroe Isles. These forms are also known as family sagas, and were often told by the “skald” bards. For the most part these sagas take the form of prose narratives and are mostly based on historical events that took place in the 9th, 10th, and early 11th centuries. Many of these sagas are focused on history, especially genealogical and family history, and reflect the struggle and conflict that arose within the societies of the early generations of Island settlers.The stories in this volume are taken from various collections including Andrew Lang’s Coloured Fairy Books, Jennie Hall’s Viking Tales and Nora Kershaw’s Stories and Ballads of the Far Past. They include original stories sourced from previous collectors such as Jón Árnason and collections such as Islandische Märchen and Neuisländischen Volksmärchen.

This is the first in a two volume collection of tales from Scandinavia. There is a clear and rich tradition of storytelling in the north, perhaps dictated by long winter nights and roaring fires. Whenever you read the sagas or pick up on the wandering collections of Hans Christien Andersen and Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, amongst many others, you tap into a centuries old heritage wrapped in wonder and magic and outlandish heroism.In this volume I’ve pulled together some of my favourite stories as told by Andersen, Asbjørnsen, Zacharias Topelius and Andrew Lang. The stories have been drawn from Lang’s Coloured Fairy Books, Andersen’s Fairy Tales, from The Birch and the Star, and Other Stories, and from Asbjørnsen collaboration on Tales from the Fjeld.As with the collections from the British Isles published recently, It’s always a pleasure and never a chore to re-read and re-present these lovely stories.

There are many sources & traditions within Native American storytelling & mythologies. These tales are a selection of those told by the tribes & peoples of the far north.Like all mythology, Inuit myths and legends are both entertaining and instructive. The Inuit designated the powers of good and evil to deities living in a spirit world closely entwined with the starkly beautiful northern landscape. These tales were intrinsically linked to Inuit shamanism.Inuit myths and legends are usually short dramatic forms dealing with the wonders of the world: the creation, the heavens, birth, love, hunting and sharing food, respect for the aged, polygamy, murder, infanticide, incest, death and the mystery of afterlife.These tales are an absolute delight to discover, showing just how deep & rich are the veins of folk & tribal lore across the Americas.

These stories cover a broad range of nations and tribes from North Americas eastern and south-eastern regions. Many of the stories have been told as part of the Iroquois and Cherokee traditions.The Iroquois are a historically powerful northeast Native American confederacy in North America. They were known during the colonial years to the French as the Iroquois League, and later as the Iroquois Confederacy, and to the English as the Five Nations, comprising the Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, and Seneca. After 1722, they accepted the Tuscarora people from the Southeast into their confederacy and became known as the Six Nations.Like many cultures, the Iroquois' spiritual beliefs changed over time and varied across tribes. Generally, the Iroquois believed in numerous deities, including the Great Spirit, the Thunderer, and the Three Sisters, the spirits of beans, maize, and squash. The Great Spirit was thought to have created plants, animals, and humans to control the forces of good in nature, and to guide ordinary people. Orenda was the Iroquoian name for the magical potency found in people and their environment. The Iroquois believed in the spiritual force that flowed through all things, and they believed if people were respectful of nature, then the orenda would bring about positive results. There were three types of spirits for the Iroquois: 1) Those living on the earth, 2) Those living above the earth and, 3) the highest level spirits controlling the universe with the most high being known variously as the Great Spirit, the Great Creator or the Master of Life.Cherokee spiritual beliefs are held in common among the Cherokee people - Native American peoples who are indigenous to the south-eastern woodlands, and today live primarily in communities in North Carolina (the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), and Oklahoma (the Cherokee Nation and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians). Some of their beliefs, and the stories and songs in which they have been preserved, exist in slightly different forms in the different communities in which they have been preserved. But for the most part, they still form a unified system of theology.For my part, the journey through these many and varied stories is a delight and a wonder. I can almost smell the woodsmoke…

These stories cover a broad range of nations and tribes from North Americas eastern and south-eastern regions. Many of the stories have been told as part of the Iroquois and Cherokee traditions.The Iroquois are a historically powerful northeast Native American confederacy in North America. They were known during the colonial years to the French as the Iroquois League, and later as the Iroquois Confederacy, and to the English as the Five Nations, comprising the Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, and Seneca. After 1722, they accepted the Tuscarora people from the Southeast into their confederacy and became known as the Six Nations.Like many cultures, the Iroquois' spiritual beliefs changed over time and varied across tribes. Generally, the Iroquois believed in numerous deities, including the Great Spirit, the Thunderer, and the Three Sisters, the spirits of beans, maize, and squash. The Great Spirit was thought to have created plants, animals, and humans to control the forces of good in nature, and to guide ordinary people. Orenda was the Iroquoian name for the magical potency found in people and their environment. The Iroquois believed in the spiritual force that flowed through all things, and they believed if people were respectful of nature, then the orenda would bring about positive results. There were three types of spirits for the Iroquois: 1) Those living on the earth, 2) Those living above the earth and, 3) the highest level spirits controlling the universe with the most high being known variously as the Great Spirit, the Great Creator or the Master of Life.Cherokee spiritual beliefs are held in common among the Cherokee people - Native American peoples who are indigenous to the south-eastern woodlands, and today live primarily in communities in North Carolina (the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), and Oklahoma (the Cherokee Nation and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians). Some of their beliefs, and the stories and songs in which they have been preserved, exist in slightly different forms in the different communities in which they have been preserved. But for the most part, they still form a unified system of theology.For my part, the journey through these many and varied stories is a delight and a wonder. I can almost smell the woodsmoke…

Tales From Germania, as with the collection of stories from France, Tales From Gallia, concentrates on those lesser known stories from the Brothers Grimm alongside other collectors such as Andrew Lang, Margaret Arndt and Logan Marshall. I also found some interesting but unattributed tales to add to the mix.Although the stories told by the brothers and Andrew Lang have become old and familiar friends, I have to say that the stories told by Margaret Arndt have been an absolute delight to read. They are as fresh and light and compelling now as ever they were when first written. Discovering Margaret’s story-telling genius has been a highlight of the summer so far.

The wonder of storytelling is in the ritual. We have been sharing our stories, adult and child, for millennia. Before the advent of pen and parchment people relied on stories being passed through the generations as both history and as caution or adventure or excitement. Stories were and remain an essential element in the cultural and spiritual life of communities the world over.Listening to a story is like going on a journey. Only you can see the pictures in your mind. Only you can conjure the demons and the dragons and the heroes with such vivacity. As we travel through our story landscapes we are marked with wisdom and imagination. These are just some of the ingredients that make the wonder of storytelling.This book covers the English tradition in folk and fairy tale, in fable and saga. In compiling this collection from just a few of our forebears, I have been very warmly surprised at the breadth of subject matter. I’ve also come across stories that I had never read before, so the journey has been a delight.Once again, I hope that you are as delighted with these wonderful tales as I have been in putting these two volumes together.

This is the first of two volumes, so rich are the story-mining seams taken from just the few Irish collections I have in my possession at the moment. These first stories have been taken from around one hundred and forty Irish tales, themselves taken from pretty well every tradition, including classic tales of Irish legend, fairy and folk beliefs, and tales in the vernacular, oral tradition.For the most part these tales are as collected by Victorian and Edwardian enthusiasts, but there are one or two tales where I have amended the original to suit modern language tastes and norms.There are also a few stories that clearly share a common root, and appear similar at first reading, but there always seem to be sufficient and interesting differences to keep the reader’s attention.I hope you enjoy this ever-growing collection from a grand British and Irish heritage. These Irish tales have taken a lot of work to collect and sift and prepare, but as ever, I’ve loved putting this collection together.

So, here we are, book number two in the Fireside series of traditional folk and fairy tales from around the world. These tales are drawn from some of the great collectors of Celtic and Scottish storytelling, and as ever, these stories illustrate the beauty and the darkness inherent in our ancestral memories and in our “modern” interpretations of this confusing world.These stories were, once upon a time, the fireside equivalent of a YouTube story, even to the extent that a theme is copied across race and geography and time and so becomes a slow moving meme. We might think of ourselves as advancing rapidly beyond boundaries, and in some ways that is true, but the fundamentals of storytelling remain much as they have ever been. The pace of the telling has shifted, but the methods of engaging the human imagination rely on some pretty long-served psychological hooks.Our grandparents were “modern” back in the day. My daughter now looks at me askance if I mention certain bands and gigs and anything analogue. She will, of course, have to deal with her own seeming irrelevance in just a few short years. So the world turns and always has. I think that’s what I’m trying to hint at here – that these stories, as are all well told tales, are fundamentally timeless. These tales weave a magic in our heads and have done so for centuries. For millennia probably. Neither they nor we are ever irrelevant. We just move at different speeds through time and thought. Personally, I like the fact that I spend more time with my imagination as I grow older.I hope you enjoy this small collection from a grand Scottish heritage. I’ve loved the process of reading and creating my own images from these wonderful stories. Next up are the Irish books.

Folk & Fairy Tales, Legends, Myths & Sagas from Wales - I’ve been collecting and telling stories for many years now, having had a number of my own works published in recent years, particularly focused on short story writing in the realms of magical realities and science fiction fantasies.I’ve always drawn heavily on traditional folk and fairy tales, and in so doing have amassed a collection of many thousands of these tales from around the world. It has always been a long-standing intention to gather these stories together and to create a free library of these tales that tell the stories of places and peoples around the world.Now that I’ve got a digitised archive up and running, I’m finally in a position to start on the great project… and this volume, Tales from the Land of Dragons, is the first in a set of collections covering the whole of the British Isles.Time and facility allowing, I fully intend to go northwards next, covering the lands of ice and snow, before then heading south and east across Europe. Even then we’ll just be scratching the surface. Far flung continents, lands and peoples beckon us ever onwards in our journey.That’s the great gift in storytelling. Since the first of our ancestors sat around in a cave somewhere, contemplating an ape’s place in the world, we have, as a species, told each other stories of magic and cunning and caution and love. When I began to read through tales from the Celts, tales from Indonesia, tales from Africa and the Far East, tales from everywhere, one of the things that struck me clearly was just how similar are the roots.We share characters and characteristics. The natures of these tales are so similar underneath the local camouflage. We clearly share a storytelling heritage so much deeper than the world that we see superficially as always having been just as it is now.These tales, whenever and wherever their origin, were originally told by firelight as a way of preserving histories and educating both adult and child. These tales form part of our shared heritage, witches, warts and all. They can be dark and violent. They can be sweet and loving. They are we and we are they in many, many ways.Every story does, by the way, have a brief attribution, both of the original collector / writer and the title that this particular version has been adapted from. I’ve loved reading and re-reading all of these stories. I hope you do too.

The Mechanic's Curse brings together Clive Gilson's collected short stories in a single volume. These stories have been previously published in anthologies and online magazines. Clive's love of magical realism from writers such as Angela Carter, and the glories of traditional folk and faery tales shines through. These stories in particular mix the macabre and the fey and tradition with a loving touch.These are intimate tales, focusing on broad but subtle themes and personal recollections. Clive Gilson's stories continue to link recurring themes of fantasy with urban and future decay – splintered glass, dust motes and cracked plaster; the loss of loved ones, of the ability to remember; black and white movies of the mind; shafts of golden light shattered by war; haunted memories and the night darks. There is a poetic lilt to the narrative, that delights in the minutiae of observation, bringing the mundane into the spotlight, giving it a meaning and beauty that is mostly lost on us busy ones; there is the terror of the ordinary, the shadow in the midday sun; and then there is the humour: sharp, cynical, painfully astute. Clive Gilson's stories reverberate in the mind, long after they've been read. They connect us in their telling, because we relate to these deep, dark moments of human emotion that make us who we are. These are, indeed, black and white movies for the mind...

The Insomniac Booth continues many of the themes that first emerged in Clive Gilson's earlier collection of short stories, The Mechanic's Curse. This second collection continues with the investigation of magical realism and the glories of traditional folk and faery tales.As ever, these are intimate tales, focusing on broad but subtle themes and personal recollections. Clive Gilson's stories continue to link recurring themes of fantasy with urban and future decay – splintered glass, dust motes and cracked plaster; the loss of loved ones, of the ability to remember; black and white movies of the mind; shafts of golden light shattered by war; haunted memories and the night darks. There is a poetic lilt to the narrative, that delights in the minutiae of observation, bringing the mundane into the spotlight, giving it a meaning and beauty that is mostly lost on us busy ones; there is the terror of the ordinary, the shadow in the midday sun; and then there is the humour: sharp, cynical, painfully astute. Clive Gilson's stories reverberate in the mind, long after they've been read. They connect us in their telling, because we relate to these deep, dark moments of human emotion that make us who we are. These are, indeed, black and white movies for the mind...

This collection covers a range of cultures and themes based around the California Basin and South Western nations. There is no single mythology of the Indigenous North American peoples. There are numerous traditions and narratives associated with religion, ethics and core beliefs. These stories are deeply based in nature and are rich with the symbolism of seasons, weather, plants, animals, earth, water, fire, sky and the heavenly bodies. Common elements are the principle of an all-embracing, universal and omniscient Great Spirit, a connection to the Earth and its landscapes, a belief in parallel worlds in the sky and beneath our feet, diverse creation narratives, visits to the 'land of the dead', and collective memories of ancient sacred ancestors.A characteristic of many of the myths is the close relationship between human beings and animals including birds and reptiles. They often feature shape-shifting between animal and human form. Marriage between people and different species, particularly bears, is a common theme.Most of the myths from the California Basin and the South West were first transcribed by ethnologists during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These sources were collected from Native American elders who still had strong connections to the traditions of their ancestors. They may be considered the most authentic surviving records of the ancient stories.Myths of this region are dominated by the sacred creator and trickster, Coyote. Other significant characters include the Sun People, the Star Women and Darkness.Myths of the Navajo, Apache and Pueblo peoples tell how the first human beings emerged from an underworld. According to the Hopi Pueblo people, the first beings were the Sun, two goddesses known as Hard Being Woman, or Huruing Wuhti, and Spider Woman. It was the goddesses who created living creatures and human beings. Other themes include the origin of tobacco and corn, and horses.

Among many Native cultures, "storytelling" was normally restricted to the long winter evenings. The Cree were one culture with a strict belief in this regard: "During the summer, no stories founded on fiction were ever told, the Indigenous peoples believing that if any 'fairy' tales were told during that season when they were supposed to use their time to best advantage, the narrator would have his life destroyed by the lizard, which would suck his blood."Some broad themes can be identified in Indigenous Canadian mythology. Creation myths are among the most sacred to many Indigenous cultures. Haida myths of the Raven, a "celestial being", explain the creation of the sun. The Haida word for Raven means "the one who is going to order things", and it was Raven who established the laws of nature and was present when people were first created.Supernatural beings are prominent in many myths about the origin of places, animals, and other natural phenomena. Supernatural experiences by ordinary mortals are found in other myths. For example, the Chippewa have myths explaining the first corn and the first robin, triggered by a boy's vision. Some myths explain the origins of sacred rituals or objects, such as sweat lodges, wampum, and the sun dance.Folktales have been a part of the social and cultural life of Native American regardless of whether they were sedentary agriculturists or nomadic hunters. As they gathered around a fire at night, Native Americans could be transported to another world through the talent of a good storyteller. The effect was derived not only from the novelty of the tale itself but also from the imaginative skill of the narrator, who often added gestures and songs and occasionally adapted a particular tale to suit a certain culture. As I said at the beginning of this short preface, it's been a delight to get to know these tales just a little, and I still have a long way to walk amongst the stories of so many more tribes and peoples across North America.

There are many sources and traditions within Native American storytelling and mythologies. These tales are a selection of those told by the tribes and peoples of the Great Plains, but by no means does this book cover all aspects even within just this sub-group. It's been one of the absolute delights of the summer discovering just how deep and rich are the veins of folk and tribal lore across the Americas.There is a deep sense of nature, of the seasons, weather, plants, animals, earth, water, fire, sky and the heavenly bodies, together with common elements such as all-embracing, universal and omniscient Great Spirit.A characteristic of many of the myths is the close relationship between human beings and creatures of the natural world, often featuring shape-shifting between forms.Although most Native American myths are profound and serious, some use light-hearted humour, often in the form of the hapless trickster, Iktomi, to entertain, as they subtly convey important spiritual and moral messages.Stories from the Great Plains often feature buffalo, the animals so important in the lives of these peoples. Another common theme is the making of a journey, often to a supernatural place across the landscape or to the sky world.The Great Plains are generally described as the expansive area of North America between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, embodying many cultures whose various rites and ceremonies emerged from a common background.Many tribes, but not all, were semi-nomadic and depended more on buffalo hunting than on agriculture for their living. Folktales have been a part of the social and cultural life of Native American regardless of whether they were sedentary agriculturists or nomadic hunters. As they gathered around a fire at night, Native Americans could be transported to another world through the talent of a good storyteller. The effect was derived not only from the novelty of the tale itself but also from the imaginative skill of the narrator, who often added gestures and songs and occasionally adapted a particular tale to suit a certain culture.As I said at the beginning of this short preface, it's been a delight to get to know these tales just a little, and I still have a long way to walk amongst the stories of so many more tribes and peoples across North America.

This is the second in a two volume collection of tales from Scandinavia. There is a clear and rich tradition of storytelling in the north, perhaps dictated by long winter nights and roaring fires. Whenever you read the sagas or pick up on the wandering collections of Hans Christien Andersen and Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, amongst many others, you tap into a centuries old heritage wrapped in wonder and magic and outlandish heroism.In this second volume I’ve pulled together some more of my favourite stories as told by Andersen, Asbjørnsen, Zacharias Topelius and Andrew Lang. The stories have been drawn from Lang’s Coloured Fairy Books, Andersen’s Fairy Tales, from The Birch and the Star, and Other Stories, and from Asbjørnsen collaboration on Tales from the Fjeld.As with the collections from the British Isles published recently, It’s always a pleasure and never a chore to re-read and re-present these lovely stories.

This is the second book in the Fireside series covering the English story-telling tradition. Listening to a story is like going on a journey. Only you can see the pictures in your mind. Only you can conjure the demons and the dragons and the heroes with such vivacity. As we travel through our story landscapes we are marked with wisdom and imagination. These are just some of the ingredients that make the wonder of storytelling.Once again, I hope that you are as delighted travelling on this particular journey as I have been in putting this and the first volume together.

This is a second volume of Irish tales, so rich are the story-mining seams taken from just the few Irish collections I have in my possession at the moment. Across the two volumes we have around one hundred and forty tales taken from pretty well every tradition, including classic tales of Irish legend, fairy and folk beliefs, and tales in the vernacular, oral tradition.For the most part these tales are as collected by my Victorian and Edwardian counterparts, but there are one or two tales where I have amended the original to suit modern language tastes and norms.There are also a few stories that clearly share a common root, and appear similar at first reading, but there always seem to be sufficient and interesting differences to keep the reader’s attention.I hope you enjoy this ever-growing collection from a grand Irish heritage. These Irish tales have taken a lot of work to collect and sift and prepare, but as ever, I’ve loved putting this collection together.

Tales From Germania, as with the collection of stories from France, Tales From Gallia, concentrates on those lesser known stories from the Brothers Grimm alongside other collectors such as Andrew Lang, Margaret Arndt and Logan Marshall. I also found some interesting but unattributed tales to add to the mix.Although the stories told by the brothers and Andrew Lang have become old and familiar friends, I have to say that the stories told by Margaret Arndt have been an absolute delight to read. They are as fresh and light and compelling now as ever they were when first written. Discovering Margaret’s story-telling genius has been a highlight of the summer so far.

In Tales from Gallia we have a collection of tales from the French & Gallic folk tradition. These tales were originally collected by Andrew Lang, Charles Perrault, Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont, Comtesse de Sophie Ségur, Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d'Aulnoy, Katharine Pyle and Edmund Dulac, representing some of the finest collectors working from the seventeenth century onwards.As ever it’s been a delight working with these tales. You'll see from the contents list that some of the more obviously famous French tales, such as Cinderella and Puss in Boots have been left out. I have so many tales of French origin that I wanted to re-tell some of the lesser known examples here. I'm sure, however, that we'll revisit those remaining classic tales before too long.French, or Gallic, folklore encompasses the fables, folklore, fairy tales and legends of the French speaking people and their ancestors. Traditions of storytelling have a long and distinguished history, and in the Gallic tradition we can date back at least as far as Occitan literature in the Middle Ages. Occitan examples often include songs, poetry and literature from the South of France from the 11th and 12th centuries, much of which inspired vernacular literature throughout medieval Europe.

Folklore & Fairy Tales from the Magyars (Hungary) - Here we have a rich mine of folk and fairy tales from the Magyar tradition. I’ve taken the following extract from Wikipedia as a starting point for this introduction…“According to András Róna-Tas the locality in which the Hungarians, the Manicha-Er group, emerged was between the Volga river and the Ural Mountains. Between the 8th and 5th centuries BC, the Magyars embarked upon their independent existence and the early period of the proto-Hungarian language began.Around 830 AD, when Álmos was about 10 years old, the seven related tribes, namely Jen┼æ, Kér, Keszi, Kürt-Gyarmat, Megyer Nyék and Tarján formed a confederation in Etelköz, called "Hétmagyar" ("Seven Magyars"). Their leaders, the Seven chieftains of the Magyars, besides Álmos, included El┼æd, Ond, Kond, Tas, Huba and Töhötöm, who took a blood oath, swearing eternal loyalty to Álmos…”In a simple context, therefore, we have a long Magyar history and a deep well of tales and lore from which to draw.

It is said that a particular feature of Romanian culture is the relationship between folklore and classical education and the arts. This is, in part, attributed to the rural character of Romanian life that has produced an exceptionally vital and creative traditional culture. Romanian folklore tales were the main literary genre until the 18th century, being both a source of inspiration for literary writers and a traditional way of framing storytelling.Strong folk traditions have survived to this day due to that same rural character of Romanian communities. Romania's rich folk traditions have been nourished by many sources, some of which predate the Roman occupation.The adaptations in this book come from the nineteenth century tradition of translation and interpretation from a variety collectors and collections. These include tales from Andrew Lang’s Fairy Books, translations of older tales by Lucy Byng in Roumanian Stories, tales collected by Mite Kremnitz in Roumanian Fairy Tales, and Carmen Sylva’s (the then Queen of Romania), Legends from River & Mountain.Truth be told these are some of the most engaging stories that I’ve read for a long time. That tradition, that vitality, really shines through in these traditional tales, and I’m sure, like me, you will fall just a little bit in love with some of these wonderful characters.

The worlds of folklore and traditional storytelling are fascinating places to visit wherever the land or the people may be Tales from different regions are often shaped by geography and by cultural and historical factors that have accumulated over the course of centuries. At their heart, though, is an ever present desire to explain and understand the world and the experience of living in it day by day.The Balkan Peninsula is a region in South-Eastern Europe, and has a full and rich history and tradition where cultures have been mixing for at least 2,000 years and Slavic civilisation has had an especially strong influence. The result is diverse and fascinating folklore with its own set of mythical beings and legendary heroes.One of the more common characters of Slavic mythology is the Samodiva. The Samodiva is a forest spirit in the shape of a beautiful woman who never loses her youthful looks. The Samodivi bathe in forest springs underneath the moonlight and sometimes make young bachelors from the nearby villages play the kaval (a wooden flute) for them. If a man steals a Samodiva's veil, she becomes an ordinary woman and has to be his wife, but will spend every moment she can looking for her veil to regain her freedom, even if it means leaving her children behind. The Samodivi also protect forest animals.These tales are taken from collections such as Serbian Folk-lore by Madame Elodie L. Mijatovich, published by The Columbus Printing, Publishing & Advertising Company, 1899, from Hero Tales and Legends of the Serbians by Woislav M. Petrovitch, published in 1914, and from Andrew Lang's various coloured Fairy Books from the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.As ever it's been a voyage of discovery, with common themes emerging alongside some distinct regional variations and differences. I hope you enjoy these tales.

Mythology was at the heart of everyday life in Ancient Greece. Greeks regarded mythology as a part of their history, using myth to explain natural phenomena, cultural variations, traditional enmities and friendships. It was a source of pride to be able to trace the descent of one's leaders from a mythological hero or a god. Few ever doubted that there was truth behind the account of the Trojan War in the Iliad and Odyssey.Greek myths concern the origin and the nature of the world, the lives and activities of deities, heroes, and mythological creatures, and the origins and significance of the ancient Greeks' own cult and ritual practices.The Greek myths were initially propagated in an oral-poetic tradition most likely by Minoan and Mycenaean singers. Eventually the myths of the heroes of the Trojan War and its aftermath became part of the oral tradition of Homer's epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey.Two poems by Homer's near contemporary Hesiod, the Theogony and the Works and Days, contain accounts of the genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the succession of human ages, the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices.Myths are also preserved in the Homeric Hymns, in fragments of epic poems of the Epic Cycle, in lyric poems, in the works of the tragedians and comedians of the fifth century BC, in writings of scholars and poets of the Hellenistic Age, and in texts from the time of the Roman Empire by writers such as Plutarch and Pausanias.The adaptations in this book come from the nineteenth century tradition of translation and interpretation from collectors, notably such as Andrew Lang and Charles Kingsley, amongst many others.As ever, it’s been a delight and an education to read and work with these stunning texts. I hope you enjoy them too, for as the final line of The Golden Crab says, “And then they lived happily, and we who hear the story are happier still.”

Italian literature arguably began after the founding of Rome in 753 BC. Latin literature was, and still is, highly influential in the world, with numerous writers, poets, philosophers, and historians, such as Pliny the Elder, Pliny the Younger, Virgil, Horace, Propertius, Ovid and Livy.Much later, following in the footsteps of Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron, Italian Renaissance authors produced a number of important works such as Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso. Giovanni Francesco Straparola and Giambattista Basile, who wrote The Facetious Nights of Straparola (1550–1555) and the Pentamerone (1634) respectively, printed some of the first known versions of fairy tales in Europe, examples of which appear in this collection.Later still the Italian Romantic movement coincided with the Risorgimento, the patriotic movement that brought Italy political unity and freedom from foreign domination. Italian writers embraced Romanticism in the early 19th century. The time of Italy’s rebirth was heralded by the poets Vittorio Alfieri, Ugo Foscolo, and Giacomo Leopardi. The works by Alessandro Manzoni, the leading Italian Romantic, are a symbol of the Italian political struggle.As ever it’s been a delightful journey wandering through Italy’s famous cities and grand histories as I put this small collection together. I hope that you enjoy these stories too.

John A. Crow explains it perfectly in Spain, The Root and the Flower, University of California Press, 1985:Spain was first called Iberia, a name given to it by its Iberian inhabitants (from North Africa). The name was supposedly based on the Iberian word for river, Iber. They reached Spain around 6000 BCE. When the Greeks arrived on Spanish soil around 600 BCE. they referred to the peninsula as Hesperia, meaning "land of the setting sun." When the Carthaginians came around 300 BCE. they called the country Ispania (from Sphan, "rabbit"), which means "land of the rabbits." The Romans arrived a century later and adopted the Carthaginian name of the country, calling it Hispania. Later, this became the present day Spanish name for the country, España. Thus, because of the Romans and their language, the rabbits won over the sunset and over the river.This collection contains stories either written by or collected by Rachel Harriette Busk, Charles Sellers, Gustavo Adolfo Becquer, Andrew Lang and by Jose╠ü Mun╠âoz Esca╠ümez. Translations from Becquer are by Cornelia Francis Bates and Katherine Lee Bates.As ever it’s been a delight to work on these stories, many of which I had not read before working through some of these original collections. There is a real flavour of the peninsular in these stories, reflecting as they do Spain and Portugal’s long history of thought, religion and conflict. I hope you enjoy these stories.

And so we reach the final volume in this small collection of tales from the north. Originally I intended to complete the series with the Finnish volume, but as ever, there were just too many fabulous stories in my archive to call such an immediate halt.In this volume we have work collected by Jørgen Engebretsen Moe and Peter Christen Asbjørnsen taken from East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon and Norske Folkeeventyr, much of which I have adapted from George Webbe Dasent’s translations in Popular Tales from the Norse and from Andrew Lang’s Red Romance Book.Norse mythology is generally considered to be the body of myths of the North Germanic peoples , stemming from Norse paganism and continuing after the Christianisation of Scandinavia and into the Scandinavian folklore of the modern period. The northernmost extension of Germanic mythology, Norse mythology consists of tales of various deities, beings, and heroes derived from numerous sources from both before and after the pagan period, including medieval manuscripts, archaeological representations, and folk tradition.The collecting of generic Scandinavian folklore began when Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden sent out instructions to all of his priests in the 1630's to collect the folklore of their area. They collected customs, beliefs that were not sanctioned by the church, and other traditional material. As a result of their common Germanic origin, Scandinavian folklore shows a large correspondence with folklores elsewhere, such as England and Germany, among others.So, for the final time from the winter lands of the north, I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I do.

his volume of tales from the north concentrates on Finland. Many of these stories have their roots in the folklore of Finnish paganism, and they have many features shared with fellow Finnic Estonian mythology and other Uralic fables. Finnish folklore also shares some similarities with neighbouring Baltic, Slavic and to a lesser extent, Norse mythologies.Much of Finnish mythology survived within an oral tradition of mythical poem-singing and folklore well into the 19th century. One of my favourite aspects of Finnish mythology is the wonderful sense of darkness at its heart.These stories come from collectors such as Andrew Lang and his Coloured Fairy Books, the elusive R. Eivind’s Finnish Legends for English Children and Zacharias Topelius and The Birch and the Star, and Other Stories. Most derive from legendary cycles such as the Song of the Kalevala and earlier collections such as the Lapplandische Märchen. As ever, my voyage of discovery through these stories has been a delight.

Continuing the theme of stories from northern lands, this volume concentrates on the Sagas from Viking isles, such as Iceland and The Faroe Isles. These forms are also known as family sagas, and were often told by the “skald” bards. For the most part these sagas take the form of prose narratives and are mostly based on historical events that took place in the 9th, 10th, and early 11th centuries. Many of these sagas are focused on history, especially genealogical and family history, and reflect the struggle and conflict that arose within the societies of the early generations of Island settlers.The stories in this volume are taken from various collections including Andrew Lang’s Coloured Fairy Books, Jennie Hall’s Viking Tales and Nora Kershaw’s Stories and Ballads of the Far Past. They include original stories sourced from previous collectors such as Jón Árnason and collections such as Islandische Märchen and Neuisländischen Volksmärchen.