Book picks similar to
Cornish Folk Tales by Mike O'Connor
folklore
fiction
short-stories
celtic
Russian Magic Tales from Pushkin to Platonov
Robert ChandlerAlexander Pushkin - 2012
Some of the stories here were collected by folklorists during the last two centuries, while the others are reworkings of oral tales by four of the greatest writers in Russian literature: Nadezhda Teffi, Pavel Bazhov, Andrey Platonov, and Alexander Pushkin, author of Eugene Onegin, the classic Russian novel in verse. Among the many classic stories included here are the tales of Baba Yaga, Vasilisa the Beautiful, Father Frost, and the Frog Princess.
Ashoka: Lion of Maurya
Ashok K. Banker - 2016
Their target—the entire imperial family.The prince makes it his mission to root out the assassins with the help of the Chandikas—the female military order instituted by Samrat Chandragupta Maurya. But when his own lover, a Chandika, confesses a terrible secret, he realizes that the threat lies within his own family!Meanwhile, the palace is not without its own intrigues. Queen Khorasan and her mother are playing their own game of thrones. Dowager Queen Apama is secretly working for her father, Seleucus Nicator, who still has ambitions of invading the sub-continent. King Bindusara’s harsh methods are turning the marbled floors of the imperial palace awash with blood. Will Prince Ashoka be able to save his family —and Mauryavansh—before it’s too late?India’s epic storyteller turns his masterful hand to the life of ancient India’s greatest ruler, Ashoka in a thrilling trilogy packed with non-stop action, adventure, battles and lusty no-holds-barred storytelling.
Shadow and Evil in Fairy Tales
Marie-Louise von Franz - 1974
In this book, Marie-Louise von Franz uncovers some of the important lessons concealed in tales from around the world, drawing on the wealth of her knowledge of folklore, her experience as a psychoanalyst and a collaborator with Jung, and her great personal wisdom. Among the many topics discussed in relation to the dark side of life and human psychology, both individual and collective, are:- How different aspects of the "shadow"--all the affects and attitudes that are unconscious to the ego personality--are personified in the giants and monsters, ghosts, and demons, evil kings, and wicked witches of fairy tales - How problems of the shadow manifest differently in men and women - What fairy tales say about the kinds of behavior and attitudes that invite evil - How Jung's technique of Active imagination can be used to overcome overwhelming negative emotions - How ghost stories and superstitions reflect the psychology of grieving - What fairy tales advise us about whether to struggle against evil or turn the other cheekDr. von Franz concludes that every rule of behavior that we can learn from the unconscious through fairy tales and dreams is usually a paradox: sometimes there must be a physical struggle against evil and sometimes a contest of wits, sometimes a display of strength or magic and sometimes a retreat. Above all, she shows the importance of relying on the central, authentic core of our being--the innermost Self, which is beyond the struggle between the opposites of good and evil.
The Seven Wonders
Steven Saylor - 2012
and the youthful Gordianus has just turned eighteen, and is about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime: a far-flung journey to see the Seven Wonders of the World. Gordianus is not yet called “the Finder”—but at each of the Seven Wonders, the wide-eyed young Roman encounters a mystery to challenge his powers of deduction.Accompanying Gordianus on his travels is his tutor, Antipater of Sidon, the world’s most celebrated poet. But there is more to the apparently harmless old poet than meets the eye. Before they leave home, Antipater fakes his own death and travels under an assumed identity. Looming in the background are the first rumblings of a political upheaval that will shake the entire Roman world.Teacher and pupil journey to the fabled cities of Greece and Asia Minor, and then to Babylon and Egypt. They attend the Olympic Games, take part in exotic festivals, and marvel at the most spectacular constructions ever devised by mankind. Along the way they encounter murder, witchcraft and ghostly hauntings. Traveling the world for the first time, Gordianus discovers that amorous exploration goes hand-in-hand with crime-solving. The mysteries of love are the true wonders of the world, and at the end of the journey, an Eighth Wonder awaits him in Alexandria. Her name is Bethesda.
Tansy
Gretchen Craig - 2015
For Tansy, however, the choice was never hers. On the eve of her seventeenth birthday, Tansy is caught in a sizzling kiss with Christophe Desmarais. The next night, Tansy’s mother introduces her to the life she has been raised for: as a beautiful quadroon in Old New Orleans, Tansy is meant to be a rich white man’s mistress. She is as she should be, biddable, loyal and submissive. But is this all there is? As Tansy matures, she wearies of telling herself that her narrow life is enough, yet she is terrified to leave behind security and plenty to become a self-reliant, independent woman.Christophe Desmarais was, like Tansy, born to a mixed-race mother and a rich white father, but as a shrewd card-player, a talented violinist, and a respected teacher, he creates his own life. The attraction between him and Tansy has never abated, only been pushed down and unacknowledged. When he sees Tansy discovering there is more to her than being pretty and pleasing, he allows himself to hope that she will become her own woman. Maybe then the two of them will have a chance at a life together.Multiple award-winning author Gretchen Craig returns with an unconventional novel about loyalty, independence, and love.
King Arthur and the Goddess of the Land: The Divine Feminine in the Mabinogion
Caitlín Matthews - 1990
• Revised edition of Arthur and the Sovereignty of Britain (UK) that includes the author's latest research and insights. • A comprehensive reader's companion with synopsis of stories and full commentary. • Written by renowned scholar Caitlín Matthews, author of The Celtic Wisdom Tarot (15,000 sold). The ancient Celtic stories of the Mabinogion have received universal recognition from scholars as both sources of the Arthurian legend and keys to insights into the ancient magic of the Celtic Otherworld. Now renowned Celtic scholar Caitlín Matthews, drawing on a full range of medieval texts and ancient Welsh writings, provides a fully revised and updated reader's guide to these rich and far-reaching tales. In King Arthur and the Goddess of the Land, Matthews sheds particular light on Sovereignty, the Goddess of the sacred land of Britain, and the spiritual principle of the Divine Feminine. Clearly revealed are the many alternate forms taken by the Goddess of the Land--including her incarnation as Morgan of Avalon, who plays a dominant role in the Arthurian cycle. Also established are links between the legendary characters of the Mabinogion and their counterparts in other living myths of the Western world. Through the marriage of the Celtic kings to the Goddess of the Land, the sacred contract between political rulership and responsibility for the land's well-being is dramatically revealed. In King Arthur and the Goddess of the Land, Matthews once again articulates definitively the continuing relevance of ancient Celtic thought and belief as illustrated in the powerful myths and legends of ancient Britain.
The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm
Jack D. Zipes - 2000
Each grouping is introduced and annotated by Jack Zipes, the genre's reigning expert. Twenty illustrations accompany the texts. Criticism includes seven important assessments of different aspects of the fairy tale tradition, written by W. G. Waters, Benedetto Croce, Lewis Seifert, Patricia Hannon, Harry Velten, Siegfried Neumann, and Jack Zipes. Brief biographies of the storytellers and a Selected Bibliography are included.
Emerald Magic: Great Tales of Irish Fantasy
Andrew M. GreeleyTanith Lee - 2000
From the great Celtic myths featuring the bard Taliesin, the terrible Morrigan, the heroic Cuchulain, or the noble and cunning Sidhe to strange and mysterious tales of today, the stories and traditions of the Emerald Isle hold a strong attraction for many. Stories are told in cottage hearths from Galway to Dublin, and from the windblown rocky Cliffs of Mohr to the seaside villages where fishing boats still roam the oceans. Tall tales and town stories are as much a way of life as a pint and good conversation at the local pub.Emerald Magic brings together today's best fantasy authors to explore the myths of the Irish, telling their own versions of these ancient tales of luck, love, and honor, or drawing upon centuries of Irish myths and folktales and updating them into brand-new stories. Edited and with an introduction by bestselling author Father Andrew M. Greeley, Emerald Magic contains fourteen wonderful stories of legend and lore, including:"A Woman Is a Fast Moving Picnic" by Ray Bradbury. A group of pub regulars set out to discover the truth behind a local song and answer that age-old question: Just how fast does a person sink in a bog?"The Isle of Women" by Jacqueline Carey. In an age long ago, a warrior sailing for vengeance happens upon an island ruled by a woman like no other. But if he is to continue his quest, he must choose between her and his duty. "Speir-Bhan" by Tanith Lee. A woman who finds and reads her grandfather's diary unleashes the specter of an old debt that, even in today's modern age, must be paid---one way or the other."A Drop of Something Special in the Blood" by Fred Saberhagen. In the late eighteenth century, an Irish author encounters a being that he will turn into his greatest literary creation."The Cat with No Name" by Morgan Llywelyn. A lonely girl neglected by her parents finds an unexpected friend in the alley behind her home---one that may be more than it first seems."The Butter-Spirit's Tithe" by Charles de Lint. Even in twenty-first-century America, it is still not wise to anger the spirits of the world, as a young musician discovers when a butter-spirit who had cursed him nine years earlier comes to claim his soul. "Land of Heart's Desire" by Elizabeth Haydon. A young man discovers the magical truth about his parents' marriage, and sets a chain of events in motion that will force him to choose between the life he has always known---and another life he could have."The Swan Pilot" by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. In the far future, spaceship pilots travel through interdimensional portals from planet to planet---and the only thing more important than knowing how to fly is knowing how to handle the strange hallucinations that appear during the journey.Filled with the spirit and magic of the stories of Ireland, Emerald Magic is a collection of fantasy stories that will delight and captivate from the first page to the last.
A Sheriff to Save Her
Chloe Carley - 2019
But leading the people to the right path proves challenging when he is considered to be unstable due to being without a bride.Then the perfect chance for Romance comes his way – the beautiful and determined Lily Franklin, a schoolteacher trying to erase the stigma left from taking refuge in a brothel house after her parent’s home burned to the ground.But when they both struggle to come to terms with the fact that they are deprived of their chance for love, everything changes, as Spencer finds himself working on a case that threatens the people he cares about – and Lily’s life is at stake.Can Spencer save her before an unexpected man from the town’s past re-emerges and changes everything?If you like fast-paced clean romance, inspirational and emotion-packed stories, you won't be able to put down this compulsively addictive Novel by Chloe Carley."A Sheriff to Save Her" is a stand-alone Christian Historical Romance Novel of approximately 400 pages.Buy "A Sheriff to Save Her" to discover Lily's inspirational romantic story today!Get this Book FREE With Kindle Unlimited!