Forget what the cynics tell you; the real oldest profession in human society is storytelling. From time immemorial humans have been talespinners. Their ancient art is preserved today in the types of stories called mythology, folktales, and fairy tales. These are stories that have stood the test of time, and usually for very good reason. They tend to touch something very basic to our psyche. It can be hard to tell where one type ends and another begins; at the fringes, they sort of shade into one another.
| World mythology | Fairy tales | Folktales |
Mythology from around the world
Mythology is usually used to refer to ancient religious stories, tales of gods and demons. BULFINCH'S MYTHOLOGY is a classic reference work on mythology. Written by Professor Thomas Bulfinch in the mid-1800s, it remains one of the best sources for Greek, Roman, Norse, and European myths and legends. I have a number of other books that cover other mythologies from around the world:
AFRICAN MYTHOLOGY
Knappert, Jan
c.1990, Diamond Books
ISBN: 0-261-66653-3
ALGONQUIN LEGENDS
Leland, Charles
c.1992, Dover Books
ISBN: 0-486-26944-2
A collection of myths and legends from the Algonquin tribe of northeastern North America. Reprint of a book first published in 1884
FOLKTALES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN
c.1990, Senate Press
ISBN: 1-85958-175-7
THE GIFT OF THE GILA MONSTER: NAVAJO CEREMONIAL TALES
Hausman, Gerald
c.1993, Touchstone
ISBN: 0-671-76811-5
HAWAIIAN MYTHOLOGY
beckwith, Martha
c.1970, Univ. of Hawaii
ISBN: 0-8248-0514-3
MYTHS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS
Spence, Lewis
c.1994, Gramercy Books
ISBN: 0-517-10158-0
PACIFIC MYTHOLOGY
Knappert, Jan
c.1992, Diamond Books
ISBN: 0-261-66655-X
PRIMAL MYTHS: CREATION MYTHS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Sproul, Barbara C.
c.1979, Harper
ISBN: 0-06-067501-2
STORIES FROM THE SIX WORLDS: MICMAC LEGENDS
Whitehead, Ruth Holmes
c.1988, Nimbus Publishing
ISBN: 0-921054-14-9
VOICES OF THE WINDS: NATIVE AMERICAN LEGENDS
Edmonds & Clark
c.1989, Facts on File
ISBN: 0-8160-2067-1
Fairy tales are storystuff distilled down to its essence: short, sharp, and speaking directly to your subconscious. Our culture tends to write off fairy tales as "kid stuff," but they wouldn't have survived this long if they were only for kids. They're archetypes of the most direct sort, and besides being ripping good yarns, they're of great interest to anthropologists. The same themes tend to turn up over and over again, in tales from many different cultures. They also migrate from one culture to another, mutating as they go. Watching how they change can tell you a lot about a culture and its background, and also its contacts with other cultures.
I have several collections of fairy tales of yore:
THE FABER BOOK OF FAVOURITE FAIRY TALES
Corrin, Sara & Stephen (ed.)
c.1988, Faber & Faber
ISBN: 0-571-14854-9
Collection of traditional European fairy tales.
THE KING OF THE CATS AND OTHER FELINE FAIRY TALES
Stephens, John Richard (ed.)
c.1993, Faber & Faber
ISBN: 0-571-19827-9
A collection of fairy tales about cats.
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY AND OTHER CLASSIC FRENCH FAIRY TALES
Perrault and d'Autnoy
c.1991, Dilithium Press
ISBN: 0-517-03706-8
A collection of classic French fairy tales, including "The Sleeping Beauty" and "Beauty and the Beast."
THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND ONE NIGHT
Mardrus & Mathers
c.1989, Routledge
ISBN: 0-415-04543-6
Long, long ago, the story goes, Shahryar the King of Persia was betrayed by his faithless wife, and condemned all women as betrayers. Every night thereafter he took a new wife, always a beautiful maiden, always a virgin. Every morning, he had her executed. For three long years this went on. Finally, Scheherezade, daughter to the king's chief wazir (advisor), found a way to end the deaths. Every night, she told the king part of a story. When morning came, Shahryar let her live another night, so that he could hear the story continued. For a thousand nights this went on, and at the end of it all the king repented and let Scheherezade live. From the tales she told come many classic stories: Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, the seven voyages of Sindbad the Sailor, and many more. This four-volume set is the complete Thousand Nights and a Night, as translated from Arabic to French by Dr. J. C. Mardrus, then from French to English by Powys Mathers. Like the earlier English translation by Sir Richard Burton, the Mardrus & Mathers translation preserves all the features of the original, including the very earthy and explicit language.
I also have a few "modern fairy tales," new spins on old stories or entirely new stories written in the old traditions.
RED AS BLOOD: TALES FROM THE SISTERS GRIMMER
A collection of stories from Tanith Lee that spin some of the Grimms' fairy tales in new and strange ways. Imagine Snow-White as an evil witch, and her stepmother the Queen as a good one...
TAM LIN, by Pamela Dean, is a novel based on a well-known Scottish folksong. The novel is set in a more or less modern-day environment, on a small university somewhere in the American Midwest.
JACK THE GIANT-KILLER by Charles de Lint (recently reprinted in JACK OF KINROWAN), takes elements from Celtic mythology and spins them into a story set in the modern world.
SNOW WHITE AND ROSE RED, by Patricia Wrede, is based on the Grimms' story by the same name. However, it's been considerably expanded and modified to work as a novel-length story.
THOMAS THE RHYMER, by Ellen Kushner, tells the story of the legendary Scottish poet and seer Thomas of Ercildoune. Also known as "True Tom," Thomas the Rhymer was a bard who was taken captive by the Queen of Faerie and held in Faerie for seven years. Then he managed to escape. As reward and punishment, the Queen placed two spells on him: first, a true gift of prophecy, and second, an inability to lie, ever, about anything.
Folktales are much like fairy tales, but they have fewer or no fantastic elements to them. However, like fairy tales they tend to travel, and to change as they travel. They may or may not be based on real events or people. The many and varied stories of Robin Hood are a good example. These are some of my books about folktales:
THE MERRY ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD
Pyle, Howard
c.1952, Grossett & Dunlap
ISBN: 0-448-05820-0
Howard Pyle's classic version of the stories of Robin Hood. First published late 1800s; reprinted many times since then.
ROBIN HOOD
Rhead, Louis
c.1987, dliithium Press
ISBN: 0-517-67129-8
Louis Rhead's version of the tales of Robin Hood, written in the late 1800s.
SCOTTISH LORE AND FOLKLORE: A SELECTION OF POETRY, RHYMES, TALES, AND PROSE
Douglas, Ronald MacDonald
c.1982, Crown Publishers
ISBN: 0-517-03759-9
A collection of poetry, legends, fact and fiction about Scotland.
TREASURY OF IRISH FOLKLORE, A
Colum, Padraic (editor)
c.1982, Wings Books
ISBN: 0-517-42046-5
A collection of stories, traditions, legends, humor, wisdom, ballads, and songs of the Irish people.
THE WORLD'S GREAT FOLKTALES
Foster, James R. (ed.)
c.1955, Galahad Books
ISBN: 0-88365-883-6
Collection of 172 famous folktales from around the world.
