It is these stories that have shaped Africa as we know it.

    these ancient northern deities gave their names to the very days of our week. Nevertheless, most of us know far more of Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and the classical deities. Recent researches in archaeology and mythology have added to what was already a fairly consistent picture (largely derived from a twelfth-century Icelandic account) of the principal Scandinavian gods and goddesses. This new study - the first popular treatment of the subject to appear in English for many years - is the work of a scholar who has long specialized in Norse and Germanic mythology. She describes the more familiar gods of war, of fertility, of the sky and the sea and the dead, and also discusses those puzzling figures of Norse mythology - Heimdall, Balder, and Loki. All these deities were worshipped in the Viking Age, and the author has endeavoured to relate their cults to daily life and to see why these pagan beliefs gave way in time to the Christian faith.

    K. Narayan has produced his own versions of tales taken from the Ramayana and the Mahabarata. Carefully selecting those stories which include the strongest characters, and omitting the theological or social commentary that would have drawn out the telling, Narayan informs these fascinating myths with his urbane humor and graceful style."Mr. Narayan gives vitality and an original viewpoint to the most ancient of legends, lacing them with his own blend of satire, pertinent explanation and thoughtful commentary."—Santha Rama Rau, New York Times"Narayan's narrative style is swift, firm, graceful, and lucid . . . thoroughly knowledgeable, skillful, entertaining. One could hardly hope for more."—Rosanne Klass, Times Literary Supplement

    An overview of the pre-Christian religions of Scandinavia.

    

    Catriona is nine, and an orphan. Her parents were drowned in India, and she is being raised in a country house in Wales, by a young, pretty, but ferociously spinsterish governess, Jane. Jane forbids her to read myths, play with animals or her country friends, and sets a strict regime of study. Catriona rebels and is punished. A tutor is sent for; he proves to be a good, gentle man named Morgan, with whom the child Catriona falls in love. Despite Jane's jealous efforts at interfering, Catriona grows up, and the improbable love becomes reality. [Kirkus Review]

    This novel has had a wide appeal among Chinese reader since its appearance in the 16th century, and its hero, Monkey, has become one of the most lovable figures in Chinese literature. Monkey is a fearless and loyal character capable of performing supernatural feats. In defiance of the powers that be, he creates havoc in heaven, and consequently is imprisoned by Buddha under the Mountain of the Five Elements. Five hundred years later he becomes a Buddhist follower and escorts the monk Hsuan-tsang on his pilgrimage to the west to seek Buddhist scriptures. During the journey he kills demons and performs many other deeds. In the story of their encounter with the White-Bone Demon, Hsuan-tsang fails to see through the demon's disguise, and claims that even a demon can be made to mend its ways. But Monkey refuses to be taken in, and for this he is sent away by Hsuan-tsang. Only after he has saved the monk from the man-eating monster's jaws does the latter realize that people are not always what they appear to be, and that the only way to deal with a demon is resolutely to wipe it out.

    

    And a bibliography of recommended translations of Greek and Latin prose and poetry.“A knowledge of classical mythology is indispensable in understanding and appreciating much of the great literature, sculpture, and painting of both the ancients and the moderns. Unless we know the marvelous stories of the deities and heroes of the ancients, their great literature and art as much later work down to the present day will remain unintelligible. Through the centuries from Chaucer, Spencer, Shakespeare, and Milton on, not only the major writers but also hundreds of lesser writers have retold the old tales or used them as a point of departure for new interpretations in terms of contemporary problems and psychology.”—From author’s Introduction

    Norman Lockyer believed that ancient Egyptian monuments were constructed "in strict relation to the stars." In this celebrated study, he explores the relationship between astronomy and architecture in the age of the pharaohs.Lockyer addresses one of the many points already extensively investigated by Egyptologists: the chronology of the kings of Egypt. All experts are in accord regarding the identity of the first monarch, but they cannot agree upon the dates of his reign within a thousand years. The author contends that by applying a knowledge of astronomy to the actual site orientation of the region's pyramids and temples, accurate dating can be achieved. In order to accomplish this, Lockyer had to determine the level of the ancient Egyptian ideas of astronomy. Some of his inferences have been invalidated by subsequent scholarship, but many of his other conclusions stand firm and continue to provide sensational leads into contemporary understanding of archaic astronomy.