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Overview
'Mythology gives us a direct connection with our human lineage, taking us out of the bubble of our modern worlds and into a narrative where time is elastic.'
This wondrous encyclopaedia gathers together over 100 myths from across the globe, featuring Mesopotamian creation stories, Roman legends, Norse epics, indigenous tales and more. These abridged stories open a window into the ancient landscapes, histories and beliefs that make up our cultural inheritance. These retellings include:
• Asgard (Scandinavia)
• Bran the Blessed (Britain)
• Mount Olympus (Greece)
• Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Middle East)
Discover the roots of many recognizable characters, places and tales in each chapter. Made for easy reference, readers can thumb-through this illustrated treasure trove of parables, folktales and wonderful epics, derived from over 30 diverse cultures.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781398806238 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Arcturus Publishing |
| Publication date: | 11/01/2020 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Sales rank: | 307,673 |
| File size: | 7 MB |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Introduction 12
Myths, legends, and folk stories 14
What is the difference between myths, legends and folk stories? 15
Writing, reading and collecting myths 16
Common features 16
What do myths tell us? 17
Creation myths 18
The Dreamtime (Australia) 19
The seven generations of the age of gods (Japan) 21
The Island of Creation (Egypt) 22
Marduk: the killing of the goddess (Mesopotamia) 23
The cosmic egg (Finland) 25
The song of the birth of the world (Estonia) 26
The lands pulled up from the sea by a giant fish hook (Polynesia) 27
The Vedic creation myth (India) 29
The creative sacrifice (China and Indonesia) 31
The Aztec creation myth (Mexico) 33
Viracocha (South America) 35
Spider's creation (Sia, North America) 36
The creation of the world (Wyandot, North America) 39
Creation myths from Alaskan peoples (North America) 41
How the old man above created the world (Shastika, North America) 43
The universality of 'the serpent' (World mythologies) 44
Men as birds and women as fish (Korea) 46
The origin of fire and light (World mythologies) 48
Great floods 50
Noah and the Ark (Middle East) 51
The tree god myth (Korea) 52
Trentren Vilu and Caicai Vilu (Chile) 54
Nanabozho and the Great Serpent (North America) 55
The Creator's pipe (North America) 56
The Great Flood and Yu the Great (China) 57
Cosmology 59
The world as evil (Persia) 60
The battle of good and evil (Middle East) 61
Yoruba philosophy (Nigeria) 64
Yggdrasil: the world tree (Scandinavia) 66
The sky ladder (World mythologies) 67
Sun and moon (World mythologies) 68
Tribal gods (Scandinavia) 70
Stealing the sun (Congo) 70
The mantis and his antelope (Southern Africa) 72
When sun also lived on earth (Southern Africa) 73
The origins of the seasons (North America) 74
Old Mole's creation (Shastika) 75
The men of early times (Zuni) 76
The boomerang and the sun (Australia) 77
Wonders of the Heavens (Australia) 78
Time (World mythologies) 79
Stories of gods and men 82
Poseidon (Greece) 83
Achilles (Greece) 84
Zeus and his thunderbolts (Greece) 86
The Trojan War (Greece) 87
Marrying mortals (Greece) 89
Pele's revenge (Hawaii) 91
The maid of the mist (North America) 92
War with the Titans (Greece) 93
Devas against Asuras (India) 94
Celtic gods against the Fomorians (Ireland) 96
Conflict and competition (Greece) 98
The story of Phaeton (Greece) 99
Osiris, Isis and Horus against Set (Egypt) 104
Mount Olympus (Greece) 105
Asgard (Scandinavia) 106
Tripartite God of Christianity (Middle East) 107
Vishnu and his avatars (India) 108
The dying god (Greece) 109
Pan and Syrinx (Greece) 111
Judaeo-Christian God (Middle East) 116
The sky father (World mythologies) 117
Rangi and Papa 119
Shamanism: Soyot, Amazonian/Peruvian, Celtic, Medicine people, Dogon (World mythologies) 121
Legendary heroes and fantastical creatures and events 129
Defeating the beast (Greece) 130
The story of Daedalus and Icarus (Greece) 133
Monkey (China) 136
The adventures of Okuninushi (Japan) 138
Koschei the Deathless (Russia) 139
Vampires, demons and spirits (World mythologies) 140
Prince Igor and Krak (Russia and Poland) 143
Dragons (World mythologies) 144
The Apocalypse (World mythologies) 145
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Middle East) 146
Ragnarök (Scandinavia) 146
Shiva destroys the world (India) 148
Return of the Spider Woman (North America) 149
The first totem pole (Kwakiutl) 150
Yo-sem-i-te, Large Grizzly Bear (Yosemite) 152
Wiske-djak and Great Beaver (Algonquin) 157
How Glooscap conquered his enemies (M'kmaq) 159
The last of the thunderbirds (Inuit) 165
The battle for Uluru (Australia) 166
Hina, the eel and the coconut (Polynesia) 167
The war of the winds (Australia) 168
How honey gave the antelope their colours (Southern Africa) 169
Tricksters 171
Coyote and Raven (North America) 172
How the people got five fingers and other stories (Miwok) 173
The origin of light and fire 176
Coyote and Grizzly (Nez Perce) 178
The fable of the animals (Karok) 179
Anansi (Ghana) 181
Reynard the fox (Europe) 181
Crow (Australia) 183
Robin Hood (Britain) 184
Leprechauns (Ireland) 185
The Sirens (Greece) 186
Kitsune (Japan) 189
Ivan the Fool (Russia) 191
First Man Tiki (Maori) 191
Maui the trickster hero (Polynesia) 193
Mythological epics 195
Beowulf (Scandinavia) 196
The Iliad and the Odyssey (Greece) 198
Gilgamesh (Mesopotamia) 200
Tuatha dé Danann (Ireland) 203
Mabinogion (Britain) 204
The Popul Vuh (Mesoamerica) 206
Death and the afterlife 208
Heaven and hell (World mythologies) 209
Valhalla (Scandinavia) 210
Orpheus and Eurydice (Greece) 211
Izanagi in the underworld (Japan) 213
The Heavenly Civil Service (China) 215
Tuonela, Land of the Dead (Finland) 216
The lingering spirits and ghosts (Africa) 217
The River Styx and the underworld (Greece) 220
Rebirth cycles and the next life (World mythologies) 221
Blurring history, legend and mythology, 223
Manco Cápac: the legendary founder of the Inca dynasty (Peru) 224
King Arthur (Britain) 224
The Ulster Cycle and Fenian Cycle (Ireland) 226
Bran the Blessed (Britain) 228
Romulus and Remus (Italy) 229
The founding of Athens (Greece) 231
Wolf, mother of the Turks (Turkey) 232
Viracocha and the founding of Cuzco (Peru) 233
The Jade Emperor (China) 234
Customs and popular religion 236
Vision quests (North America) 237
Feng Shui (China) 238
Animism (World mythologies) 239
Divination and fortune-telling (World mythologies) 240
Huacas: monuments of holiness (South America) 240
Quetzalcoatl as an incarnation of Jesus (Mesoamerica) 242
Witchcraft and sorcery (World mythologies) 243
Vodou (West Africa) 244
Ancestor worship (World mythologies) 245
Conclusion 247
Bibliography 249
Picture credits 250
Index 251