Step into a world of star-crossed lovers, magical winds, mischievous giants, and trolls, through some of the most exquisite illustrations in publishing history. In this gorgeous reprint, TASCHEN revives the most ambitious publication project of beloved Danish artist Kay Nielsen, one of the most famous children’s book illustrators of all time.First published in 1914, East of the Sun and West of the Moon is a celebrated collection of fifteen fairy tales, gathered by legendary Norwegian folklorists Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe on their journeys across Norway in the mid-nineteenth century. Nielsen’s illustration edition of Asbjørnsen and Moe’s tales is considered a jewel of early 20th-century children's literature, highly sought-after by art and book collectors worldwide. An original signed copy of the book sold at auction in 2008 commanded the highest price ever paid for an illustrated children’s book.This finely crafted reprint restores the stunning detail and artistry of Nielsen’s images to their original splendor. Featuring 46 illustrations, including many enlarged details from Nielsen’s rare original watercolors, the book is printed in five colors with a lovingly designed slipcase. Three accompanying essays, illustrated with dozens of rare and previously unseen artworks by Nielsen, explore the history of Norwegian folktales, Nielsen’s life and work, and how this masterpiece came to be.

    Introduced by Grimm Tales author Philip Pullman and leading fairy tale scholar Jack Zipes, The Singing Bones breathes new life into some of the world's most beloved fairy tales.

    Now he shares the same gift of storytelling with a new generation. Hiawatha was a strong and articulate Mohawk who was chosen to translate the Peacemaker’s message of unity for the five warring Iroquois nations during the 14th century. This message not only succeeded in uniting the tribes but also forever changed how the Iroquois governed themselves—a blueprint for democracy that would later inspire the authors of the U.S. Constitution. Caldecott Honor–winning illustrator David Shannon brings the journey of Hiawatha and the Peacemaker to life with arresting oil paintings. Together, Robertson and Shannon have crafted a new children’s classic that will both educate and inspire readers of all ages. Includes a CD featuring a new, original song written and performed by Robbie Robertson.

    ‘The Devil’s Dozen’ is a modern ‘gramarye’, or ‘black book’ of thirteen Craft rites of the Old One has been created and is offered by a present day initiate of the ‘Old Craft’Within its pages there are to be found thirteen rites – for both the ‘lone’ practitioner and the assembled companie – of vision, sacred compact, dedication, initiation, consecration, empowerment, protection, illumination, union, transformation and devotion.

     In this baker’s dozen of all new and original stories from Rusty Wilson, the World’s Greatest Bigfoot Storyteller, you’ll see an Alaska that few see, an Alaska that maybe even fewer want to see, and an Alaska that puts all the other states to shame for mysterious places and happenings, as well as having the highest number per capita of people who go missing without a trace. Come read about a photographer who finally gets his wish to see the Northern Lights, only to find there are other things that glow in the Arctic wilds—then read about the Kodiak bear guide who finds much more than he was hunting for—and there’s the soldier who ends up finding something just a little unusual while out surveying the Alcan Highway—then read about the native Alaskan who’s haunted by a dream of epic proportions—and, if you dare, ride along with a young native girl on a snowmachine as her attempt to save her mother’s life looks like it may end in sinister disaster—and there’s the strange sight seen by two roustabouts out checking an oil pipeline—and the bush pilot who sees a chilling sight on one of Alaska’s largest glaciers—and the story of almost catching something besides salmon in fish camp—then read about the elusive and very destructive Copper People—two guys who go hunting with a drone and find exactly what they were looking for after they’ve changed their minds—and a woman who finds there’s much more to the deep wilderness than what can be seen—then read about unexpected trouble in Alaska’s version of the Bermuda Triangle—and finally, explore the deep rainforest of strange and mysterious Yakobi Island, hoping you live to tell about it. All these and more great campfire tales are guaranteed to make you happy you’re safe and sound in your house instead of listening to a strange howling in the darkness from inside your thin nylon tent, deep in the Alaskan wilds. Or, if you’re truly the adventurous type, maybe you’ll want to buy a thin nylon tent and head to Alaska, but good luck if you do! Fly-fishing guide Rusty Wilson spent years collecting these stories from his clients around the campfire, stories guaranteed to scare the pants off you—or make you want to meet the Big Guy! “I don’t typically get a lot of clients from Alaska, as they have their own great fishing holes up there, but I do have many who were originally from Alaska and have moved Outside (what the Alaskans call the rest of the world). Some of the absolute best stories I’ve ever heard came from these intrepid souls, many who are far braver than I think I could ever be, given the often hairy circumstances they experienced.” —Rusty Wilson

    Add a little magic to each day and keep pace with the ever-turning Wheel of the Year with this indispensable, on-the-go tool.Find fresh ways to celebrate the sacred seasons and enhance your practice with seasonal spells by Deborah Blake, inspiring Sabbat musings by James Kambos, tasty Sabbat recipes by Susan Pesznecker, and Moon rituals by Elizabeth Barrette. For spellwork, there’s astrological information and daily colors. Also included are articles on The Power of the Mind by Dallas Jennifer Cobb, Smartphone Sorcery by Michael Furie, Beating the Bad-Day Blues by Melanie Marquis, and Enchanted Stomping Grounds by Jane Meredith.  At-a-glance guide to the best days to plant and harvest Wiccan holidays, Sabbat musings, and tasty seasonal recipes for celebrating the Wheel of the Year Daily planetary and color correspondences to empower your magical work Moon lore and Esbat rituals, plus Moon phases for successful spellcasting 17th Year of Publication!Spiral bound for easy use.

    The Sufis, who believe that deep intuition is the only real guide to knowledge, use the humorous stories of Nasrudin’s adventures almost like exercises in Eastern thought.The Sufis ask people to choose a few which especially appeal to them, and turn them over in their mind, making them their own.Sufi teaching masters say that in this way a breakthrough into a higher wisdom can be effected. A single story can work on many levels, from great humour to initiating profound thought.Idries Shah's collection of Nasrudin tales is an excellent introduction to Sufi thought and Eastern philosophy.

    After releasing a critically acclaimed graphic novel we're thrilled to share more of The Storyteller's magic. In the spirit of Henson's inventive imagination, this hardcover collects four stories of witches and witchcraft from all over the world. Each story is told by a different writer and artist, exploring classic witch stories and fairy tales through an incredible blend of art styles and storytelling techniques, and taking full advantage of the visual medium. Collects the watercolor story of "The Magic Swan Goose and the Lord of the Forest" from S.M. Vidaurri (Iron: Or, the War After), Spera artist Kyla Vanderklugt's haunting tale of the snow witch, Matthew Dow Smith's tale of a man shipwrecked on an island of witches, and the unproduced The Storyteller teleplay from The Jim Henson Company Archives, adapted by Jeff Stokely (Six-Gun Gorilla). Features an all-new cover illustration by Sonny Liew (The Shadow Hero) and the never-before-seen, unproduced The Storyteller teleplay from The Jim Henson Company Archives.

    Curl up in front of a warm fire on a silent night and choose your poison.

    As a staple of the tours, guides entertain paying customers by routinely relying on stories of enslaved black specters. But who are these ghosts? Examining popular sites and stories from these tours, Miles shows that haunted tales routinely appropriate and skew African American history to produce representations of slavery for commercial gain. Dark tourism often highlights the most sensationalist and macabre aspects of slavery, from salacious sexual ties between white masters and black women slaves to the physical abuse and torture of black bodies to the supposedly exotic nature of African spiritual practices. Because the realities of slavery are largely absent from these tours, Miles reveals how they continue to feed problematic Old South narratives and erase the hard truths of the Civil War era. In an incisive and engaging work, Miles uses these troubling cases to shine light on how we feel about the Civil War and race, and how the ghosts of the past are still with us.

    She devours chickens and goats and cows and cats. Some say children are missing. But this murderous wolf isn't the villain of our story; she's the hero! The Blood Wolf hates humankind for destroying the forest, but an encounter with a beggar teaches her a better way to confront injustice. How will she react when those she loves are threatened?

    Brave Crow sets out on a dangerous journey to find the Sun, and beg for warmth. Will Crow succeed, and what will happen to his colourful rainbow feathers?Inspired by a Lenape Native American myth, this beautiful debut picture book shows how courage and kindness are what really matter.

    Whether you want to learn a little about their ancient Thracian origins, or you want to experience rituals practiced throughout the year with a fictitious Bulgarian family, or even if you’re only interested in traditional Bulgarian cuisine, this book has something for everyone.Bulgarian culture is rich in folklore and traditions surviving since the days of the ancient Thracians. As pagan and Christian religions collided, many celebrations merged into one.“Light Love Rituals” will take you on a journey to discover these unique festivals.• Illuminated by the light of the full moon, a woman in a long, white robe holds an icon while she dances in a trance over burning coals. The mystical music of a shepherd’s pipe plays in the background.• Women dressed in colorful outfits dance in a circle, then pass through an enormous wreath made of magical healing herbs.• Wild spring flowers decorate the hair of young girls. Laden with baskets filled with colorful Easter eggs, the youths travel from house to house singing to bring health and prosperity to the village.• Men clothed like wild animals with colorful, scary masks parade around a village. Attached around their waists, giant cow bells resound announcing their arrival. The men jump and yell to scare away evil spirits."Light Love Rituals," not only describes the rituals, but also makes them interesting and understandable to people of all ages. The book is divided into four seasons, beginning with winter. It includes activities where you can learn how to make martenitsi, survachka, and Easter eggs dyed with natural colors. A short quiz after each season lets you test your knowledge of what you’ve read. To help you engage in the traditions in the book, you’ll meet Maria and her family. They’ll open the doors of their home so you can participate in these celebrations along with them.

    Accept food from Sasquatch and you will forever be trapped in the spirit world, according to indigenous North American tales. And today, abductees—at least those who have returned—often report being offered strange beverages from their captors. Are these similarities mere coincidence, or is something more at play?In this outstanding example of scholarship on the unknown, Joshua Cutchin has created the world’s first survey and analysis of the food and drink offered by aliens, faeries, and Sasquatch. The offerings are often not what they appear to be: some liquids have healing or aphrodisiac qualities, some foods expand awareness, and there are ointments that reveal an invisible world.Through his playful explorations of every possibility—from the outer regions of space to the inner sanctum of the human mind—A TROJAN FEAST offers new insight into our relationship with these strange creatures of the outer edge.“The humble subject of food in anomalistic accounts serves, in Cutchin’s measured, learned, and lucid argument, as proof that high strangeness events may be uncertain and discordant, but not incomprehensible.” — Thomas E. Bullard, folklorist (ret.), Indiana University, Bloomington“Joshua Cutchin has brought together a contemplative and truly unique folkloric analysis of the way that food and drink fits into the broader narrative of purported strange phenomena. In doing so, Cutchin provides, in the very truest sense, ‘food for thought.’” — Micah Hanks, author of “Magic, Mysticism and the Molecule”JOSHUA CUTCHIN is a native of North Carolina with a long interest in forteana. He holds a Masters in Music Literature and a Masters in Journalism from the University of Georgia, and currently works as a public affairs specialist in the southeast. In addition to his media work, Cutchin is also a published composer and maintains an active performing schedule as a jazz and rock tuba player, having appeared on eight albums and live concert DVDs. A TROJAN FEAST is his first book.

    In this new volume of the Collected Works of Joseph Campbell, editor Evans Lansing Smith collects Campbell’s writings and lectures on Arthurian legends, including his never-before-published master’s thesis on Arthurian myth, “A Study of the Dolorous Stroke.” Campbell’s writing captures the incredible stories of such figures as Merlin, Gawain, and Guinevere as well as the larger patterns and meanings revealed in these myths. Merlin’s death and Arthur receiving Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake, for example, are not just vibrant stories but also central to the mythologist’s thinking.The Arthurian myths opened the world of comparative mythology to Campbell, turning his attention to the Near and Far Eastern roots of myth. Calling the Arthurian romances the world’s first “secular mythology,” Campbell found metaphors in them for human stages of growth, development, and psychology. The myths exemplify the kind of love Campbell called amor, in which individuals become more fully themselves through connection. Campbell’s infectious delight in his discoveries makes this volume essential for anyone intrigued by the stories we tell—and the stories behind them.

    The twelve chapters, representative of the seasons, present the celebrations, superstitions and folklore that shape our year. From cherished traditions like Valentine’s Day to the lost excitement of May Day, The Magpie and the Wardrobe reveals a calendar bursting with history, imagination and curious facts. Take a closer look at your favourite homespun rituals and the magic we conjure every day; make a candle wish, mix a moon oil elixir, and hang your romantic hopes on the predictions of an apple peel. Illustrated by a unique collection of ephemera and embellished with trinkets and charms, this sumptuous volume will appeal to the creative and curious.

    Her poems capture the epic through the lenses of nameless soldiers, outcast warriors and handmaidens but also abducted princesses, tribal queens and a gender-shifting god. As peripheral figures and silent catalysts take centre stage, we get a glimpse of lives and stories buried beneath the edifices of god and nation, heroes and victory; a glimpse of the price paid for myth and history--all too often interchangeable.

    Together, these essays take the theme of silencing in Appalachian culture, whether the details of that theme revolve around faith, class, work, or family legacies.In essays that take wide-ranging forms—making this an ideal volume for creative nonfiction classes—contributors write about families left behind, hard-earned educations, selves transformed, identities chosen, and risks taken. They consider the courage required for the inheritances they carry.Toughness and generosity alike characterize works by Dorothy Allison, bell hooks, Silas House, and others. These writers travel far away from the boundaries of a traditional Appalachia, and then circle back—always—to the mountains that made each of them the distinctive thinking and feeling people they ultimately became. The essays in Walk Till the Dogs Get Mean are an individual and collective act of courage. [Taken from official website]

    This is a fast-paced, young adult sci-fi story, centered around sixteen-year-old Alex. What starts as a rare meteor shower, ends up unleashing a viral plague that changes everything. Led into the mountains of the Pacific Northwest by cryptic clues left from her deceased father, Alex discovers that the past is not what she learned in school. When the human race balances on the brink of extinction, the fate of the world rests on the truth being exposed. To unravel the ancient secrets, Alex must rely on her friends, family and few allies. The Forgotten Origins is an epic saga, drawing the reader into a fascinating, frightening world where the unfolding drama will keep you riveted until the last page is turned.

    I've rambled from the bayous of Louisiana to the ruined hills of West Virginia, and from Memphis to Glastonbury in search of stories and materials and ways of doing. There are so many old ideas newly integrated into my personal practice and my teaching - enough to fill a book. And here it is. May you remember well and enjoy this next journey.

    Yet with every rapturous taste of blood, Jennifer Carshaw cannot help but long for something even more exquisite: the capacity to experience true love. As she struggles to balance her murderous secret life with homework, cross-country practice, and her first boyfriend, Jennifer delves into the terrifying questions surrounding her inhuman existence, driven by the unexpectedly human need to understand why she is doomed by a life she never chose.Bridging the gap between the literary tradition of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the modern teen vampire romance made popular by the Twilight series, Jennifer the Damned reexamines the legendary monster as a conflicted and complex being. Jennifer is at once the quintessential vampire, embodying an unholy union of life and death; yet she is also a sympathetic young woman full of spiritual anxieties, gifted with a limitless sense of ironic humor, and possessed of a beautifully persistent hope in the love she yearns for.

    But she cannot outrun her past. Fire fey and a rising darkness threaten the light, burning a path across the veil. Her fiery dreams come to life, and with the help of Hennessy, an uninhibited Irish girl, Áine dives into the flames to discover who she truly is. Her mother burned to keep her secret safe, and now Áine wields the deadly Eta. She must learn to fight in the shadows — or die in the flames. This is not a fairy tale.

    Contemporary Heathenry is divided over how to treat him. Is he a bringer of freedom and enlightenment, or an agent of destruction? Was he ever honored in the old days—and is it a valid Heathen practice to worship him now? Stephan Grundy brings all the resources of modern scholarship to bear on the controversy over Loki's place in modern Heathenry.

    But what do those elf stories really tell us about the Iceland of old and the people who lived there? In this book, author Alda Sigmundsdóttir presents twenty translated elf stories from Icelandic folklore, along with fascinating notes on the context from which they sprung. The international media has had a particular infatuation with the Icelanders’ elf belief, generally using it to propagate some kind of “kooky Icelanders” myth. Yet Iceland’s elf folklore, at its core, reflects the plight of a nation living in abject poverty on the edge of the inhabitable world, and its people’s heroic efforts to survive, physically, emotionally and spiritually. That is what the stories of the elves, or hidden people, are really about. In a country that was, at times, virtually uninhabitable, where poverty was endemic and death and grief a part of daily life, the Icelanders nurtured a belief in a world that existed parallel to their own. This was the world of the hidden people, which more often than not was a projection of the most fervent dreams and desires of the human population. The hidden people lived inside hillocks, cliffs or boulders, very close to the abodes of the humans. Their homes were furnished with fine, sumptuous objects. Their clothes were luxurious, their adornments beautiful. Their livestock was better and fatter, their sheep yielded more wool than regular sheep, their crops were more bounteous. They even had supernatural powers: they could make themselves visible or invisible at will, and they could see the future. To the Icelanders, stories of elves and hidden people are an integral part of the cultural and psychological fabric of their nation. They are a part of their identity, a reflection of the struggles, hopes, resilience and endurance of their people. All this and more is the subject of this book.

    

    The Book of Oberon is the meticulous transcription and translation of a sixteenth-century manuscript acquired by the esteemed Folger Shakespeare Library. Unlike the more theoretical magic books of the era, this collection of spells, secrets, and summonings was compiled gradually by unknown authors for working practical magic.Now published in a premium hardcover edition retaining the original's red lettering of significant words and holy names, The Book of Oberon includes rituals for summoning a long list of spirits and faeries (including Oberion, Fairy King and close relation to Shakespeare's Oberon); original drawings; common prescriptions used by cunning folk; instructions for dealing with Goetic demons that were censored in other texts; one of the oldest known copies of the magical manual The Enchiridion; and much more. This is a significant contribution to the annals of magical history, bringing to light the kind of grimoire that was commonplace in its era but is rarely published today.

    The thorn was shimmering as he knelt before it. Whispering directly to the roots of the tree, Man Donaghy said, “I want you to take Wife Donaghy.”’ Jane Talbot’s seven bewitching tales will draw you into a world of fairy tales and magick, a world of devilish debts, trysts and trades, of broken bargains and unjust trials, of quick-wittedness, of hoodwinking, of revenge. A dark, tender, dazzling collection that will make you remember why you love stories. The stories in this collection follow many conventions associated with traditional, oral storytelling. For this reason, as well as enjoying the stories in the privacy of your own head, you might also find that they’re even better when read aloud and shared with others.

    Now, after extensive research, Johannes Gårdbäck presents the fascinating occult art of Norse trolldom to an English-speaking audience.This detailed account of traditional Scandinavian folk magic offers in-depth historical background, divination methods, and descriptions of practical trolldom, paving the way for the 2014 publication of hundreds of collected trolldom spells for love, money, protection, healing, and cursing.Johannes Gårdbäck is a respected healer, teacher, and spiritual worker of Swedish folk-magic. A practitioner of hoodoo and conjure, he is also a founding member of AIRR, the Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers. He brings solid, firsthand knowledge of Norse, Scandinavian, and African-American folklore to his international practice. He currently lives in Göteborg, Sweden.The Norse folk magic tradition, called Trolldom, has much in common with the practices of African-American folk magic. This book is a detailed account of traditional Swedish folk magic and offers spells, background, and descriptions of the Trolldom practice."

    He was wrong—it was about to get worse. Much worse.While on a field trip to the Vancouver Museum, Grayle is forced to steal a Viking runestone from the museum’s newest exhibit. Should’ve been an easy job, especially for a master thief like Grayle. What he didn’t expect was another student, Sarah Finn, tagging along, or the Viking goddess of death showing up to steal the same artifact.Now in a fight for their lives, Grayle and Sarah learn the runestone is one of five markers describing the whereabouts of the Eye of Odin, a mystical orb said to give its owner infinite knowledge of the past, present, and future. Though Grayle would love nothing more than to ditch Sarah, he knows he’ll have little hope of finding the Eye and unlocking his mysterious past without her. Dodging Hel-hounds, Frost Giants, and a cannibal Hex, the two teenagers race from Canada to the frozen reaches of Norway in an effort to recover the remaining runestones. The stakes are clear: find the markers in time and save the world. Fail, and the Viking goddess will use the Eye to destroy mankind.

    In it, Tran—Minnesota's first Vietnamese librarian and an active member of the Vietnamese-American community—recounts cherished folktales such as "The Story of Tam and Cam" (the Vietnamese version of Cinderella), "The Jade Rabbit," and "The Legend of the Mai Flower." They make perfect new additions for story time or bedtime reading. With beautiful illustrations by veteran artists Nguyen Thi Hop and Nguyen Dong, children and adults alike will be enchanted by Tran's English retellings. Stories in which integrity, hard work and a kind heart triumph over deception, laziness, and greed—as gods, peasants, kings and fools spring to life in legends of bravery and beauty, and fables about nature.The Children's Favorite Stories series was created to share the folktales and legends most beloved by children in the East with young readers of all backgrounds in the West. Vietnamese Children's Favorite Stories will keep Vietnam's folktales alive for them and the legions of young readers who enjoy multicultural children's books and stories set in faraway lands. Other multicultural children's books in this series include: Asian Children's Favorite Stories, Indian Children's Favorite Stories, Indonesian Children's Favorite Stories, Japanese Children's Favorite Stories, Singapore Children's Favorite Stories, Filipino Favorite Children's Stories, Favorite Children's Stories from China & Tibet, Chinese Children's Favorite Stories, Korean Children's Favorite Stories,Balinese Children's Favorite Stories..

    With humour, drama and and more than a little tension, you will be drawn into a world of Trolls and Huldr, Elves and Mara. We live in a world full of hidden creatures, if you have the eye to see them. And if you dont, the wonderful illustrations contained in the book should help! The book itself has mystical significance as 33 is a magic number. Is it a coincidence that there are 33 inspired contributions? Well, yes, actually, it probably is. Welcome to the Northlore series. Poetry and prose inspired by Scandinavian Folklore. In turns funny, horrifying, sexy and sad, what you seek is within. Warning! Do NOT feed the animals.

    Fiona’s on a journey to Granny’s house …… but who’s that following her through the streets of Dublin?Travel across the city with Fiona and her fantastic friends in this modern Dublin fairytale.With beautiful quirky illustrations by acclaimed illustrator Nicola Colton.

    Each story is first presented in the original Old Irish and then in English so that a reader can experience the story as it existed in the original before reading a new translation. Many of the existing translations are around a hundred years old, and often either exclude material or else skew the retelling to fit the mores of a more Victorian audience. The translations included here in stories including Angus's Dream to the Taking of the Sidhe are an attempt to find a balance between a more literal translation that is still enjoyable to an English speaking audience. All material focuses on the stories of the Irish Gods, the Tuatha De Danann.

    Retold by award-winning author Alexis York Lumbard, this story invites readers to experience a world where trees and birds speak and interact with each other, and which shows us that no act of kindness and sharing goes unrewarded. Featuring beautiful paintings by multiple award-winning illustrator Beatriz Vidal, you will never look at pine trees in the same way again!"

    In Eulalie’s time, women of color look after white children in the homes of white families and are respected, even loved, but distrusted and kept separated as a group. A palpable gloss, sweeter than the state’s prized tupelo honey, holds their worlds firmly apart. When that gloss fails, the Klan restores its own brand of order.When some white boys rape and murder a black girl named Mattie near the sawmill, the police have no suspects and don’t intend to find any. Eulalie, who sees conjure as a way of helping the good Lord work His will, intends to set things right by “laying tricks.”But Eulalie has secrets of her own, and it’s hard not to look back on her own life and ponder how the decisions she made while drinking and singing at the local juke were, perhaps, the beginning of Mattie’s ending.Bonus “Glossary and Notes” included in the back of the book.

    This utterly charming and mythic tale was created by Mary Daniel Hobson and her young daughter Anna. Accompanying the text are dreamy, evocative illustrations created by Anna’s grandfather Charles Hobson.

    Comic fans of all ages will thrill to stories of witches, princesses, giants, dragons, fairy queens, elves, and goblins. Enjoy fairy tale classics like "The Emperor s New Clothes," "The Gingerbread Man," "The Wise Men of Gotham," "The Lost Prince," and "Cinderella" (published eight years before the Disney Classic) in this gorgeous collection. Introduction by Kelly-fan animator and beloved illustrator Dean Yeagle."

    From renowned artists like Angus Oblong to up and comers like Minjoon Kim, each image has been hand selected by curator of curiosities and Krampus aficionado Mike Drake. Behold the wages of sin as naughty and misbehaving children are beaten, shackled, and shoved into Krampus' basket to be carried off.. Gather your gingerbread, sharpen a candy cane, secure the windows, bolt the door, Boil the cocoa, summon all your courage, and let the artists of Contemporary Krampus show you what lurks in the shadows on cold winter nights.

    Notable for their music, storytelling, and particularly for the terrific display of costumes revelers wear, Britain s folk festivals are at once great entertainment and a link with the nation s rich cultural history. Arcadia Britannica is the product of photographer Henry Bourne s repeated trips to some of Britain s greatest folk events: striking color portraits capture an eccentric collection of individuals in inventive outfits, including arboreal costumes, pagan-inspired creations, and historical garb. These were captured at events like the annual Jack in the Green festival held in Hastings in May, for which the town and its people are decked in green to welcome summer, and the Easter Sunday celebration in Bacup, Lancashire, where fiercely proud Britannia Coconut Dancers (or Nutters ) perform their traditional seven dances. An accompanying text by Simon Costin provides the historical backstory and explains the folklore behind this wacky, inspiring collection of images."

    Expert herbalist Pip Waller provides a wealth of information about growing, collecting, preserving, and preparing herbs for a variety of purposes--from cleaning products, to food and drink, medicines, beauty products, and more. Attractive and easy to use, The Herbal Handbook for Home and Health includes growing tips and profiles of herbs, guidelines for setting up an herbalist's kitchen, and techniques to make everything from tinctures to tonics. A valuable resource for anyone affected by allergies or sensitivities, this compendium is handsomely produced with two-color printing throughout and more than three hundred striking illustrations.The Handbook includes contributions from herbalists from around the world and encompasses recipes that range from very simple to more complex. Seasoned herbalists as well as those just beginning to explore the world of herbs will find something to start their own nontoxic, non-allergenic domestic revolution.The book includes:   • A history of herbal lore    • The herbalist's kitchen--equipment and procedures for harnessing the power of plants    • Green cleaning products (from floor wax to stain removers)    • Herbal pharmacy (from throat lozenges to hangover cures)    • Nutritional supplements and detoxes    • First aid (from anti-anxiety drops to bruise ointment)    • For travel (insect repellant to anti-nausea drops)    • Food and drink (breads, butters, wines, teas)    • Beauty and balms (toothpaste to shampoo to lip balm)    • Kitchen Pharmacy    • Food & Drink    • Beauty, Balms & Personal Care

    They have inspired poets and painters, and feature in many legends and place names. Here Niall Mac Coitir provides a comprehensive look at the mythology, legends and folklore of Irish birds, both wild and domestic. He presents various aspects of bird folklore, such as fairy birds, birds of notable song or beauty, birds in the Brehon Laws and in early Irish poetry, and legends, such as the Children of Lir being turned into swans and how the banshee often appeared in the form of a crow, are featured. The birds are presented in seasonal order based either on their migratory habits, for example the cuckoo in summer, or on their cultural associations, such as the robin at Christmas. Also explored is how birds are often powerful symbols of various virtues and qualities, such as the goose, which is a symbol of watchfulness and bravery. Written with imagination and enthusiasm, this mix of natural history, mythology and folklore will entertain and enlighten all interested in the birds of Ireland.

    She had appeared from nowhere one day, when he had been lonely during the long winter hunting trip. Isolated in the vast wilderness of the northeast, he would only return to his village in the spring. Except that this year he would not be alone, because she had appeared.The hunter had quickly fallen in love with the mysterious woman, and together they had become their own little family. But when spring arrived and it was time to return to the village, she disappeared just as suddenly as she had arrived. Would he ever see his love again? The hunter didn’t know, but he was sure he would keep his promise and never forget her. That is, until one day the chief’s daughter cast a spell on him!World-renowned storyteller Joseph Bruchac retells this traditional story of love, loyalty, trust, and magic, which can be found in various forms among many of the indigenous nations of the northeast, both Iroquoian and Algonquin. Join him and award-winning illustrator Bill Farnsworth, as they recount this ancient and unique Abenaki tale of keeping a promise to one’s family and of the proper relationship of humans to the natural world.

    The largest land animal in North America once thundered across the Great Plains in numbers of 30 to 50 million. They provided shelter, food, clothing, tools, hunting gear, ceremonial objects and many other necessities if for those who lived on the Plains. But by 1889, just over a thousand buffalo remained,and the lives of the Plains Cree people changed. The buffalo is honoured to this day, a reminder of life in harmony with nature as it was once lived. This is the story of how the buffalo came to share themselves so freely. Written in both English and Cree (y dialect), this is the legend about the buffalo and why they were so important to the Plain Cress people for their survival. The story woven around it is about a boy and his grandfather and their visit to see real buffalo.

    Giselle Liza Anatol focuses on the figure of the soucouyant, or Old Hag—an aged woman by day who sheds her skin during night’s darkest hours in order to fly about her community and suck the blood of her unwitting victims. In contrast to the glitz, glamour, and seductiveness of conventional depictions of the European vampire, the soucouyant triggers unease about old age and female power. Tracing relevant folklore through the English- and French-speaking Caribbean, the U.S. Deep South, and parts of West Africa, Anatol shows how tales of the nocturnal female bloodsuckers not only entertain and encourage obedience in pre-adolescent listeners, but also work to instill particular values about women’s “proper” place and behaviors in society at large.   Alongside traditional legends, Anatol considers the explosion of soucouyant and other vampire narratives among writers of Caribbean and African heritage who in the past twenty years have rejected the demonic image of the character and used her instead to urge for female mobility, racial and cultural empowerment, and anti colonial resistance. Texts include work by authors as diverse as Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison, U.S. National Book Award winner Edwidge Danticat, and science fiction/fantasy writers Octavia Butler and Nalo Hopkinson.This book is available as an audio book (https://www.abantuaudio.com/books/119...).

    The scarecrow serves as decoy, proxy, and effigy—human but not human. We create them in our image and ask them to protect our crops and by extension our very survival, but we refrain from giving them the things a creation might crave—souls, brains, free-will, love. In Scarecrow, fifteen authors of speculative fiction explore what such creatures might do to gain the things they need or, more dangerously, think they want.Within these pages, ancient enemies join together to destroy a mad mommet, a scarecrow who is a crow protects solar fields and stores long-lost family secrets, a woman falls in love with a scarecrow, and another becomes one. Encounter scarecrows made of straw, imagination, memory, and robotics while being spirited to Oz, mythological Japan, other planets, and a neighbor’s back garden. After experiencing this book, you’ll never look at a hay-man the same.Featuring all new work by Jane Yolen, Andrew Bud Adams, Laura Blackwood, Amanda Block, Scott Burtness, Amanda C. Davis, Megan Fennell, Kim Goldberg, Katherine Marzinsky, Craig Pay, Sara Puls, Holly Schofield, Virginia Carraway Stark, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, and Kristina Wojtaszek.

    In Romeo and Juliet, Lady Capulet calls for quinces to make pies for the marriage feast, knowing that the fragrant fruit was connected with weddings and fertility. Shakespeare’s contemporaries would have been familiar with such ripe symbolism in part due to herbals, tomes filled with detailed botanical descriptions consulted to deepen knowledge of the plants of the day.            A Shakespearean Botanical follows in the tradition of the medieval and Renaissance herbal, touring the Bard’s remarkable knowledge of the fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers of Tudor and Jacobean England through fifty quotations from his plays and verse poems. Each of the entries is beautifully illustrated with hand-colored renderings from the work of Shakespeare’s contemporary, herbalist John Gerard, making an appropriate pairing with his writing, along with a brief text setting the quotation within the context of the medicine, cooking, and gardening of the time. The book’s many beautifully reproduced images are a pleasure to look at, and Margaret Willes’s well-chosen quotations and expert knowledge of Shakespeare’s England provide readers with a fascinating insight into daily life. The book will make an inspiring addition to the Shakespeare lover’s bookshelf, as well as capitvate anyone with a passion for plants or botanical art.

    There, a group of stranded fellow travelers decide to swap ghost stories to pass the night. But the gathering takes on a sinister twist when secrets of unpunished past deeds are brought to light.

    Native American Studies. Jackalope in Denise Low's trickster stories is a 21st century figure as real as Bigfoot. Part antelope and part rabbit, this denizen of the grasslands has a Twitter account and a trusty road car. He loves Native American tales as well as Old West adventures. Jack's social life includes encounters with Roswell aliens, Jayhawks, and Chupacabra (Goat Sucker). Bawdy humor is Jackalope's lifeblood, so join Jack as he (or sometimes she) savors urban legends and juniper- based martinis. In JACKALOPE, the mythic gender- bending figure, Jaq/Jack, takes us along on a magical mystery tour where s/he meets up with other trickster- cryptids. Jaq/Jack leaps out of the two-dimensional entrapment of postcards to claim his/her own spaces between worlds. One wonders why Jackalope has had to wait so long to have a say.--Jeanetta Calhoun Mish, Director of The Red Earth MFA JACKALOPE recounts the seriocomic encounters of a Native American trickster who travels through a world that's 'part factual and part mythological, just like everything else.' In the 'intergender' Jackalope/Jaqalope Kelley's picaresque sojourns in bars (mostly), truck stops, and galleries, history meets tall tale, dream and vision worry the mundane, and humor functions as a salve for wounds of the long-oppressed. Here is a multi- faceted and incisive look at America from the viewpoint of its indigenous people and spirits.--William Trowbridge, Missouri Poet Laureate JACKALOPE is a perfect blend of stories, poetry, and strangeness. Denise Low has created a collection that is simultaneously myth and not-myth, a shining delight.--Kij Johnson, Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards winner Trickster takes center stage in Denise Low's JACKALOPE, a collection of prose and poetry recounting the adventures of its title character, Jackalope Kelley. This anthropomorphic animal is the cryptid on postcards you see at gas stations across the American Midwest--a rabbit with two iconic pronghorn antlers. Jackalope Kelley shifts between male and female identities: Jack when he's a man, Jaq when she's a woman. He drinks a gin and tonic in a Twitter bar. She passes through Seattle, Santa Fe, Minneapolis, Colorado, and Roswell, among other places. He vomits when he sees the head of one of his ancestors mounted above the door in a Wyoming bar. And she searches for a gynecologist--or does he need a urologist? All of these scenes give the book a playful feel, but there's also plenty of time for reflection. In quieter moments, Jackalope tries to explain his complicated heritage to others. ... This merging of shape-shifting identities with shape-shifting trickster narratives is no accident. The language of the book is steeped in the Native American mythologies and vocabularies that Low understands so well.--Ben Pfeiffer, Interviews Editor, The Rumpus

    During the 1930s and 1940s, Sidney Robertson Cowell, Alan Lomax, and Helene Stratman?Thomas set up field studios in homes, hotels, community halls, church basements, and parks throughout Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin to record roughly 2000 folksongs and tunes. Since the late 1970s, working incrementally with many generous individuals, partners, and organizations, folklorist Jim Leary has been part of a movement bent on bringing this body of extraordinary folk music of the Upper Midwest to the attention of the larger public. Folksongs of Another America: Field Recordings from the Upper Midwest, 1937-1946, to be published in fall 2014 by the University of Wisconsin Press, combines five compact disks, a DVD, and a book.Focusing on 175 representative performances by more than 200 singers and musicians - and including biographical sketches and photographs of performers, as well as transcriptions, translations, and annotations for songs in all twenty-five languages.

     The full contents are as follows... A Magical Invocation of Pan by Dion FortuneThe Rebirthing of Pan by Adrian EckersleyPanic by R.B. Russell The Maze at Huntsmere by Reggie OliverThe Secret Woods by Lynda E. Rucker Faun and Flora: A Garden for the Goat-God Pan by Sheryl HumphreyPan With Us by Robert FrostA Song Out of Reach by John HowardLithe Tenant by Stephen J. Clark Pan by A.C. Benson (from an epitaph in The Greek Anthology)A New Pheidippioes by Henry Woodd NevinsonGoskin Woods by Charles SchneiderPan’s Pipes by Robert Louis Stevenson The House of Pan by John GaleThe Company of the Lake by Jonathan WoodThe Role of Pan in Ritual, Magic and Poetry by Diane ChampignyLeaf-Foot, Petal-Mouth by Bethany van RijswijkThe Rose-White Water by Colin InsoleThe Death of Pan by Lord DunsanyMeadow Saffron by Martin JonesThe Lady in the Yard by Rosanne RabinowitzAn Old God Almost Dead: Pan in the 1940s by Nick FreemanA Puzzling Affair by Ivar CampbellSouth-West 13 by Nina AntoniaIn Cypress Shades by Mark ValentineHoney Moon by D.P. WattSummer Enchantment by Harry Fitzgerald It is a sewn, lithographically printed volume with colour endpapers, and numerous antique illustrations throughout. The first printing was limited to 300 copies

    Seattle is On the Verge. 2016 BookLife Prize Quarterfinalist"The sinewy plot...provides a solid matrix for imaginative insights into the relationship between art, creativity, and myth that hold the tale together." - Critic's Report, 2016 BookLife PrizeFreya is just a university student worried about grades and tuition until a gorgeous succubus interrupts her post-exam latte with a proposition: come work for her boss, Seattle’s reclusive heiress and antiquities collector Imogen Beldame. Eagerly agreeing despite a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach, Freya finds herself swept up in a deadly quest at the behest of her psychopathic new employer. Beldame has given her until Halloween to collect three magical pigments that hold the key to crafting mesmerizing portraits that can access the Verge, a borderland on the edge of human reality, and the powerful beings that call it home. Freya’s reluctant journey takes her to a goblin stronghold in the Cascades for the color blue, to the Seattle Underground to request the color red from Baba Yaga, and to the Fremont home of a beautifully gruesome Cambodian ahp, or spirit of the night, for the color yellow. Working together with Rusty, an enigmatically disfigured man intimately connected with the Verge, and a motley crew of mercurial demons, Freya must come up with a plan to stop Beldame and preserve the fragile balance between fantasy and reality that is at its most vulnerable on Halloween.

    The collective term refers to a diverse ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a social and religious structure, as well as a common language, Mapudungun. The mythology and religion of the Mapuche contain an extensive collection of shared beliefs. These myths tell the story of the creation of the world and speak of deities and spirits that reside in the Patagonia. They also try to explain how some plants, animals, lakes and mountains were created. This short work contains an anthology of legends and myths that are common to the various Mapuche tribes.

    Believed to dwell in exotic, remote areas, these inexplicable parts of God's creation aroused fear, curiosity, and wonder in equal measure. Powerfully captured in the illustrations of manuscripts, such as bestiaries, travel books, and devotional works, they continue to delight audiences today with their vitality and humor. Medieval Monsters shows how strange creatures sparked artists’ imaginations to remarkable heights. Half-human hybrids of land and sea mingle with bewitching demons, blemmyae, cyclops, and multi-headed beasts of nightmare and comic grotesques. Over 100 wondrous and terrifying images offer a fascinating insight into the medieval mind.

    His fiancée, Nicoletta, prays for his safety. Gianni, swept from his fishing boat, is rescued by a mermaid who whips the water into a length of elegant lace, which she gives to Gianni for Nicoletta’s wedding veil. This gorgeously illustrated tale recounts the mythical origins of Burano lace, whose production has long been a vital part of the island’s economy and vibrant culture, ensuring the islanders would never go hungry. The lace is still famed throughout the world for its scalloped, wave-like patterns.

    In most of the early modern period, jurisdiction in Italy relating to witchcraft rested with the Roman Inquisition, whereas in Denmark only the secular courts raised trials. Kallestrup explores the condemnation and narratives of witchcraft as they were presented by people involved in the trials in a Roman-Catholic and Danish-Lutheran context, and ties together the diverse research traditions of Italian and Danish witchcraft scholarship. Agents of Witchcraft is divided into three sections, beginning with an analysis of the learned and legal understandings of witchcraft, and proceeding with an examination of how the people on trial understood the term 'witchcraft'. Finally, the book ends by looking at the encounter of beliefs between the defendant and the judge.

    Contains and introduction, footnotes, and information on the storytellers and their origins.

    Deftly weaving contemporary scientific analysis and powerfully staged historical scenes of satanic initiation, confession under torture, possession, and persecution, Häxan creatively blends spectacle and argument to provoke a humanist re-evaluation of witchcraft in European history as well as the contemporary treatment of female "hysterics" and the mentally ill. In Realizing the Witch, Baxstrom and Meyers show how Häxan opens a window onto wider debates in the 1920s regarding the relationship of film to scientific evidence, the evolving study of religion from historical and anthropological perspectives, and the complex relations between popular culture, artistic expression, and concepts in medicine and psychology. Haxan is a film that travels along the winding path of art and science rather than between the narrow division of "documentary" and "fiction." Baxstrom and Meyers reveal how Christensen's attempt to tame the irrationality of "the witch" risked validating the very "nonsense" that such an effort sought to master and dispel. Häxan is a notorious, genre-bending, excessive cinematic account of the witch in early modern Europe. Realizing the Witch not only illustrates the underrated importance of the film within the canons of classic cinema, it lays bare the relation of the invisible to that which we cannot prove but nevertheless "know" to be there."

    Every classic film from the legendary animation studio is retold here in vibrant comics that jump off the page, drawn by Disney's own master artists. This exciting story time treat is a must have for every Disney-Pixar fan's collection!

    From cursed princes to the first werewolves, things aren't always what they seem!

    The angel says he has to sit on the rock for three years, a punishment for an uncharitable remark he made at a friend’s expense. Sir Charles recognizes an opportunity when he sees one (he’s been selling dragons to train young dragon-fighters for years now) but as it turns out, dragons are also good at recognizing opportunities. And there’s one very angry dragon-mom on the way. Originally published in Dragons, Knights and Angels magazine, Even A Stone sees a chance meeting change Sir Charles’ entire life, and an angel may learn whether even a stone warms up if you sit on it. Even A Stone can also be purchased as part of the "Seven Angels Short Story Bundle," along with "Damage," "Winter Branches," "Hired Man," and eight bonus shorts.

    From The Day the Earth Stood Still and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, to Battleship, Prometheus and beyond, our hopes and fears of alien contact have been fuelled by the silver screen. But what messages does Hollywood impart to us about our possible otherworldly neighbours, from where do UFO movies draw their inspiration, and what other factors – cultural or conspiratorial – might influence their production and content? Silver Screen Saucers is a timely and revealing examination of the interplay between Hollywood’s UFO movies and the UFO phenomenon itself, from 1950 to present day.The book grants the reader a rare, close-up examination of the DNA that builds our perceptions of the UFO mystery: one strand of this DNA weaves real events, stories and people from the historical record of UFOlogy, while the other spins and twists with the film and TV products they have inspired. With our alien dreams and nightmares now more fully visualized onscreen than ever before, Silver Screen Saucers asks the question: what does it all mean? Are all UFO stories just fever dreams from LA screenwriters, or are they based in something else? Could any of them be real and are they part of a bigger message?From interviews with screenwriters and directors whose visions have been shaped by their lifelong UFO obsessions; to Presidents Carter and Reagan talking aliens with Spielberg at the White House; to CIA and Pentagon manipulation of UFO-themed productions; to movie stars and producers being stalked by real Men in Black, Silver Screen Saucers provides fresh perspective on the frequently debated but little understood subject of UFOs & Hollywood.The book addresses questions such as: •Does Hollywood fuel the UFO mythos, or vice versa? In other words, are our beliefs about alien visitation shaped by UFO movies, or are UFO movies shaped by our beliefs about alien visitation?•Do Hollywood’s UFO movies fictionalize the UFO phenomenon in the public mind, actualize it, or both? •If and when humanity makes full and open contact with an unearthly intelligence, would we, as cinemagoers, be able to divorce Hollywood’s historical imaginings from the reality with which we are presented? Indeed... •Should we? After all, a great deal of Hollywood’s UFO movie content has been closely informed by supposedly factual UFOlogical literature, events and debates. Perhaps, then, there is more truth to be found in Hollywood’s UFO movies than we might imagine – which raises the question: •Just how has so much dense UFOlogical theory (by its very nature ‘fringe’ and subcultural) managed find its way into Hollywood’s populist science fiction narratives? Is Hollywood’s incorporation of UFO lore attributable to a “Hollywood UFO conspiracy” designed to acclimate us to a UFO/alien reality, or is it merely the result of a natural cultural process?

    Visible from nearly everywhere, the sea represents the life and livelihood of many who dwell on the islands and coastal areas of the Mediterranean, and it has been so since long ago--the sea loomed large in the Homeric epics and throughout Greek mythology. The Greeks of antiquity turned to the sea for food and for transport; for war, commerce, and scientific advancement; and for religious purification and other rites. Yet, the sea was simultaneously the center of Greek life and its limit. For, while the sea was a giver of much, it also embodied danger and uncertainty. It was in turns barren and fertile, and pictured as both a roadway and a terrifying void. The image of the sea in Greek myth is as conflicting as it is common, with sea crossings taking on seemingly incompatible meanings in different circumstances.In The Sea in the Greek Imagination, Marie-Claire Beaulieu unifies the multifarious representations of the sea and sea crossings in Greek myth and imagery by positing the sea as a cosmological boundary between the mortal world, the underworld, and the realms of the immortal. Through six in-depth case studies, she shows how, more than a simple physical boundary, the sea represented the buffer zone between the imaginary and the real, the transitional space between the worlds of the living, the dead, and the gods. From dolphin riders to Dionysus, maidens to mermen, Beaulieu investigates the role of the sea in Greek myth in a broad-ranging and innovative study.

    Ballads straddled, and destabilized, the categories of public and private performance spaces, the material and the ephemeral, music and text, and oral and written traditions. Sung by balladmongers in the streets and referenced in theatrical works, they were also pasted to the walls of local taverns and domestic spaces. They titillated and entertained, but also educated audiences on morality and gender hierarchies. Although contemporaneous writers published volumes on the early modern controversy over women and the English witch craze, broadside ballads were perhaps more instrumental in disseminating information about dangerous women and their acoustic qualities. Recent scholarship has explored the representations of witchcraft and malfeasance in English street literature; until now, however, the role of music and embodied performance in communicating female transgression has yet to be investigated. Sarah Williams carefully considers the broadside ballad as a dynamic performative work situated in a unique cultural context. Employing techniques drawn from musical analysis, gender studies, performance studies, and the histories of print and theater, she contends that broadside ballads and their music made connections between various degrees of female crime, the supernatural, and cautionary tales for and about women.

    The new Covenant granted noble titles to those with magic and magic to those with titles. Now it’s the 1980s, and after centuries of mage rule, including a recent 30 years of total war in Europa followed by 20 years of uneasy peace, the world is ready to embrace change.Over 30 tales of Airship Pirates, Flying Monsters, Alchemical Adventurers, Rocket Ninjas, Chthonic Horrors, Mad Scientists, Occult Detectives, Dog-Headed Cops, Folk-Magicians, Seelie and Unseelie Faeries, Infernal Conspiracies, Sorceress-Queens, and Punk-Rocker Spies, build into the story of a revolution, and a Civil War that will change the destiny of a whole universe.

    Written at a reading level of approximately grade three, and an interest level suitable for the 12+ age group, this book is a perfect pick for reluctant and struggling readers. With comic book-inspired illustrations, this book presents these folktales as they were meant to be experienced, with all of the heart-pounding action and awe-inspiring creatures that Inuit mythology has to offer.

    The book is both a valuable reliquary of practices for the traditional witch, and a resource for folklorists and historians alike; telling the tale of a hitherto ignored, but hugely influential episode in modern occult history.A full annotated transcript of Cecil Williamson’s “Witchcraft” manuscript.A History of Cecil Williamson and the Museum of Witchcraft.A treatise on Cecil Williamson’s vision of traditional Witchcraft - the practices and the philosophy of the wayside witches.An account of his meetings with Alistair Crowley and Gerald Gardner, and a controversial account of his witnessing of the birth of ‘Wicca’.

    After his long hunt, Baltimore finally confronts the vampire who destroyed his life in London for a final showdown! * From _Hellboy_ creator Mike Mignola! * Perfect for _Hellboy_ fans!

    The subject has been largely neglected by mainstream historians and archaeologists, and the contributors to this volume represent the current leading experts in each part of it, and often the pioneers of study of it. Between them, they show how ample and convincing the evidence is, and how it forces us to reconsider the history of ritual and religion in Britain since the Middle Ages and admit to the existence of a whole dimension of activity which has hardly been considered before. It should therefore have importance to those interested in British history in general across this large span of time.

    Pravina Shukla offers richly detailed case studies from the United States, Brazil, and Sweden to show how individuals use costumes for social communication and to express facets of their personalities.

    Science unavailable to ancient sources helped guide author Spencer Clevenger to critical insights and intriguing results. In Greek Mythic History, he weaves myths concerning gods, kings, and heroes into their intended time and place and offers a concise retelling of Greek myths from a historic perspective. Capitalizing on modern discoveries, Clevenger tells the story in chronological order, starting with the creation of the cosmos and ending in the Dark Ages when poets began to write down their myths and stories. Neither history nor mythology, the stories depict what history might be if the myths were interpreted more literally.With maps and exhibits included, Greek Mythic History provides a comprehensive retelling of the various Hellenic myths in a logical historical sequence, and places nearly the entire canon into context.

    Since then he has worked to understand how this collection came to exist and be set aside. With Stephen T. Austin, Bolick has transcribed the subsequent 1939 audio recordings. Mississippi Fiddle Tunes and Songs from the 1930s presents the history of the collecting work, with over three hundred of the tunes and songs and a beautiful selection of period photographs.In the summer of 1936, over one hundred fiddle tunes, many of them unique, along with thousands of songs, were collected and notated throughout a large part of Mississippi. Roughly 130 novice field workers captured beautiful tunes and tantalizing fragments. As a body of work, it is an unparalleled and fascinating snapshot of vernacular music as heard in Mississippi in the early part of the recorded era. However, this music was unpublished and forgotten.In 1939, building on the contacts made three years earlier, Herbert Halpert led one of the last and best executed of the WPA folklore projects which recorded audio performances in Mississippi. Some, but not all, of those distinctive fiddle tune recordings have been published. Additionally, through cassette tape copies passed hand to hand, some of these distinctive tunes have regained currency and popularity among contemporary fiddlers. In Mississippi Fiddle Tunes and Songs from the 1930s, this great music is at last widely available.Selected tunes in this book are available from Document Records.Get Harry Bolick's CD with 22 tunes from the book, more information, a video, and free downloads of the sound files at www.mississippifiddle.com.

    This publication makes a landmark contribution to the study of Pennsylvania German fraktur, and offers the most comprehensive study of the topic in over 50 years. The featured objects, most of which have never been published, accompany significant new information about the artists who made these works and the people who owned them. An introductory essay sets the renowned Johnson Collection within the context of collecting and scholarship on Pennsylvania German folk art and then highlights major new discoveries, including connections between fraktur and related examples of furniture and prints. An interview with the collectors offers valuable insights into the formation of this special group of objects, which includes birth and baptismal certificates, bookplates, religious texts, writing samples, house blessings, cutworks, and printed broadsides. The splendid color illustrations reveal schools of artistic and regional influence, giving a nuanced understanding of how artists took inspiration from one another and how designs were transferred to new locations. Detailed catalogue entries include extensive information about each piece as well as complete translations.Lisa Minardi is an assistant curator at Winterthur Museum and a specialist in Pennsylvania German art and culture.

    Ranging from the age-old folktales heard at his grandmother’s knee to urban legends collected down the years, each of these vital narratives is brought to stunning visual life by artist José Meléndez. An appendix classifies the pieces and enumerates motifs for scholarly research, and an introduction by noted folklorist Mark Glazer provides a larger context for the work.