Enumerates and categorizes the various inhabitants of the world of fairy folklore from a cross-cultural perspective, viewing them both as lesser divinities and mythical archetypes.

    Gathered from around the world, from regions as diverse as sub-Saharan Africa and Western Europe, from North and South American Indian cultures and New World settlers, from Asia and the Middle East, these 100 folktales celebrate strong female heroines.Fearless Girls, Wise Women, and Beloved Sisters is for all women who are searching to define who they are, to redefine the world and shape their collective sensibility. It is for men who want to know more about what it means to be a woman. It is for our daughters and our sons, so that they can learn to value all kinds of courage, courage in battle and the courage of love. It is for all of us to help build a more just vision of woman.

    In this highly successful attempt to render Malory into Modern English, Steinbeck recreated the rhythm and tone of the original Middle English.

    It is a collection of essays, observations and rituals, and outlines LaVey's Satanic ideology. It contains the core principles of the Church of Satan and is considered the foundation of the philosophy and dogma that constitute LaVeyan Satanism.

    At every stage of civilization, people have relied on symbolic expression, and advances in science and technology have only increased our dependence on symbols. The language of symbols is considered a science, and this informative volume offers an indispensable tool in the study of symbology. It can be used as a reference or simply browsed for pleasure. Many of its entries — those on architecture, mandala, numbers, serpent, water, and zodiac, for example — can be read as independent essays. The vitality of symbology has never been greater: An essential part of the ancient arts of the Orient and of the Western medieval traditions, symbolism underwent a 20th-century revival with the study of the unconscious, both directly in the field of dreams, visions, and psychoanalysis, and indirectly in art and poetry. A wide audience awaits the assistance of this dictionary in elucidating the symbolic worlds encountered in both the arts and the history of ideas.

    Now, at a veritable fairy-tale moment—witness the popular television shows Grimm and Once Upon a Time and this year’s two movie adaptations of “Snow White”—Philip Pullman, one of the most popular authors of our time, makes us fall in love all over again with the immortal tales of the Brothers Grimm.From much-loved stories like “Cinderella” and “Rumpelstiltskin,” “Rapunzel” and “Hansel and Gretel” to lesser-known treasures like “Briar-Rose,” “Thousandfurs,” and “The Girl with No Hands,” Pullman retells his fifty favorites, paying homage to the tales that inspired his unique creative vision—and that continue to cast their spell on the Western imagination.

    Like the symbols that haunt our dreams and guide our inner journeys, the myths of the Western world touch something deep within us, awakening old nightmares and new yearnings.Some of the gods, tales, and mythic creatures in Bergen Evan's Dictionary Of Mythology are as familiar as the disturbing tale of Oedipus. Others may seem strange, wonderful, or chillingly macabre: Lycaon, the murderer, who is transformed into a wolf by an angry god; Cronus (Time) who devours his won children; Pan, the god of the animal in man, who fills us with overmastering fears that sweep courage and prudence aside; the hero Sigurd, who seeks a magic ring and finds a maiden . . . in a ring of fire.These tantalizing stories and dozens more make this book a perfect addition to any library, as delightful for browsing as it is essential for reference.

    Now The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales provides the first authoritative reference source for this complex, captivating genre. With more than 800 entries written by a team of 67 specialists from around the world, the Companion offers an illuminating look at the classic tales themselves, both ancient and modern, from Jack and Jill and Cinderella to Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz. The contributors also profile the writers who wrote or reworked these luminous tales, as well as the illustrators, film-makers, choreographers, and composers who have been involved with creating or interpreting them. The Companion also covers such related topics as film, art, opera, ballet, music, even advertising. An introductory overview by Jack Zipes sets the subject in its historical and literary context, and special survey articles explore the development of the fairy-tale tradition in individual countries, focusing particularly on the European and North American traditions. The volume includes a detailed bibliography, to aid in further research into this fascinating topic. Strikingly illustrated with 70 beautiful pictures, from early engravings to 20th-century film stills, this is an essential companion for everyone who loves fairy tales and storytelling.

    Through the use of diverse and rare literary sources, he shows Merlin to have been a historical figure--one of the last heirs to druidic tradition. 16 pages of black-and-white photos.

    . . An eye-opener to readers into the universality and importance of myth in human history and culture."--William E. Paden, Chair, Department of Religion, University of Vermont For as long as human beings have had language, they have had myths. Mythology is our earliest form of literary expression and the foundation of all history and morality. Now, in Parallel Myths, classical scholar J. F. Bierlein gathers the key myths from all of the world's major traditions and reveals their common themes, images, and meanings.Parallel Myths introduces us to the star players in the world's great myths--not only the twelve Olympians of Greek mythology, but the stern Norse Pantheon, the mysterious gods of India, the Egyptian Ennead, and the powerful deities of Native Americans, the Chinese, and the various cultures of Africa and Oceania. Juxtaposing the most potent stories and symbols from each tradition, Bierlein explores the parallels in such key topics as creation myths, flood myths, tales of love, morality myths, underworld myths, and visions of the Apocalypse. Drawing on the work of Joseph Campbell, Mircea Eliade, Carl Jung, Karl Jaspers, Claude L�vi-Strauss, and others, Bierlein also contemplates what myths mean, how to identify and interpret the parallels in myths, and how mythology has influenced twentieth-century psychology, philosophy, anthropology, and literary studies."A first-class introduction to mythology . . . Written with great clarity and sensitivity."--John G. Selby, Associate Professor, Roanoke College

    Bennett's bestselling The Book of Virtues is an inspiring anthology that helps children understand and develop moral character—and helps parents teach it to them.Responsibility. Courage. Compassion. Honesty. Friendship. Persistence. Faith. Everyone recognizes these traits as essentials of good character. In order for our children to develop such traits, we have to offer them examples of good and bad, right and wrong. And the best places to find them are in great works of literature and exemplary stories from history. William J. Bennett has collected hundreds of stories in The Book of Virtues. From the Bible to American history, from Greek mythology to English poetry, from fairy tales to modern fiction, these stories are a rich mine of moral literacy, a reliable moral reference point that will help anchor our children and ourselves in our culture, our history, and our traditions—the sources of the ideals by which we wish to live our lives. Complete with instructive introductions and notes, The Book of Virtues is a book the whole family can read and enjoy—and learn from—together.

    • Includes charts of equinoxes and solstices, movable holy days, and monthly lunar phases through 2033 • First edition sold more than 30,000 copies Pagan rites and festivals are at the root of many traditional holidays in the Western world. Embracing a sensitivity we have lost, the Pagan traditions emphasize mystical spirituality, reverence for the feminine principle, and the links between people and the earth. This unique daybook contains a treasury of information about rituals and celebrations that have for centuries been associated with the changing seasons of the year. Included are the observances of the ancient Greek, Roman, Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse traditions, as well as Wiccan traditions and the worship of the Goddess. In The Pagan Book of Days the author provides details on auspicious and inauspicious days, holy days of ancient gods and goddesses, and the eight stations of the year (the solstices, equinoxes, and cross-quarter days). He also includes lunar and solar charts indicating dates of major Pagan celebrations from the year 2011 through 2033. Illustrations throughout depict images from the classical and northern European traditions. The Pagan Book of Days is an enlightening way to incorporate these ancient cultural and spiritual practices and awarenesses into your daily life.

    Lewis' The Discarded Image paints a lucid picture of the medieval world view, as historical and cultural background to the literature of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. It describes the image discarded by later ages as the medieval synthesis itself, the whole organization of their theology, science and history into a single, complex, harmonious mental model of the universe. This, Lewis' last book, was hailed as the final memorial to the work of a great scholar and teacher and a wise and noble mind.

    Featuring 24 new full-color, rune-inspired paintings and dozens of black-and-white sketches by Froud, as well as more than 100 pages of the folklore and mythology surrounding each rune, this book if packed with notable legends, such as the Birch Mother, the Woman of the Marsh, the Ever-Living, the Green Girl of the Birches, and the Day-Child. * * * The Runes of Elfland is a perfect gift book for anyone who enjoys Celtic folklore and mythology, as well as for those interested in faeries and fantasy. Froud fanatics will treasure this offering, which is both art book and folklore collection. "A single word can be a world and every letter a land. A rune drawn upon the ground can have curious consequences, might invite adventure, may open ancient doors. Here are the Runes of Elfland. Here are the songs of the shining lands. Here are signs of crossing and threshold. Here are stories of fate and illumination. Chant the charm, tell the tale, and step across " Paul Goat Allen- From School Library Journal:"If runes are the keys to Faery, this book is an Open Sesame."

    You’ve heard about St. George, but how about the Green Man, who was believed to rule over the natural world? Or Black Shuck, the giant ghostly dog who was reputed to roam East Anglia? As well as looking at the history of this subject, this book has a directory of places you can go to see folklore alive and well today. The Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival, for example, or wassailing cider orchards in Somerset.