Folklore & Mythology

In a moonlit graveyard somewhere in southern Italy, a soldier removes his clothes in readiness to transform himself into a wolf. He depends upon the clothes to recover his human shape, and so he magically turns them to stone, but his secret is revealed...

Have you ever wondered what a snap dragon, a mammoth and mustard all have in common? The answer is Norfolk! Inspired by seven unique objects at Norfolk Collections Centre, this book tells seven stories, all from different periods in time, which combine...

A dictionary? No, this is really an astonishing ark filled with beasts from a fabulous zoo far more varied and entertaining than anything from ordinary natural history. From Abaia and Abath to Ziz and Zu, from the microscopic Gigelorum that nests in a...

Discover how to connect with fairies, accept their guidance to your inner self and restore your unity with the natural world. Fairies are benign spirits who can speak to you, if you can reawaken your childhood self and recapture the sense of awe and...

'Immensely informative, wrapped in an engagingly casual tone, complemented by more than a dash of the bizarre. You'd be barking to miss it.' Professor Michael Scott Can you tell your Odysseus from your Oedipus? In this unique introduction, Philip...

In her compendious study, [of the folktale of the runaway wife] Leavy argues that the contradictory claims of nature and culture are embodied in the legendary figure of the swan maiden, a woman torn between the human and bestial worlds. --The New York...

Everything you ever wanted to know about King Arthur and his knights is covered in this fascinating volume: the origins of the Grail legend, the Tristan and Isolde love story in opera and literature, Spielberg's use of Arthurian motifs in Star Wars , the...

Rather than providing a dictionary of superstitions, of which there are already numerous excellent, exhaustive and, in many cases, academic works which list superstitions from A to Z, Bainton gives us an entertaining flight over the terrain, landing from...

Rather than providing a dictionary of superstitions, of which there are already numerous excellent, exhaustive and, in many cases, academic works which list superstitions from A to Z, Bainton gives us an entertaining flight over the terrain, landing from...

Hungary nestles in the crossroads of Europe, and so Hungarian culture shares elements from West and East, with a rich tradition of folk beliefs and folktales that have been passed down through the generations. This delightful collection gathers together...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780955507922Author Ivor Agyeman-DuahFormat HardbackPage Count 336Imprint Ayebia Clarke Publishing LtdPublisher Ayebia Clarke Publishing LtdWeight(grams) 660g

In this comprehensive book Michael Witzel persuasively demonstrates the prehistoric origins of most of the mythologies of Eurasia and the Americas ('Laurasia'). By comparing these myths with others indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa, Melanesia, and...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9788763504072Author Lars Boje MortensenFormat HardbackPage Count 348Imprint Museum Tusculanum PressPublisher Museum Tusculanum PressWeight(grams) 832g

Essex - the witch hunting county - is especially rich in traditions, legends, dialect and stories that have been handed down through the ages. It is these traditions that are gathered together in this volume and whose origins and meanings are explored to...

A landmark work that demystifies the rich tradition of Indian art, Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization analyzes key motifs found in legend, myth, and folklore taken directly from the Sanskrit. It provides a comprehensive introduction to...

This is a fascinating exploration of the role of the botanical in ancient Greek and Roman myth and classical literature. This engaging book focuses on the perennially fascinating topic of plants in Greek and Roman myth. The author, an authority on the...

Bees existed long before human beings, but our future is perhaps more reliant upon them than any other species. They pollinate 80 per cent of the world's crops and plants, but how much do we really know about them? Small, clever and mysterious, the...

"A colorful, beautiful book which teaches us about ourselves as much as about one of North America's native peoples."-Vancouver SunRarely accessible to the general public, Ojibway mythology is as rich in meaning, as broad, as deep, and as innately...

In this brilliant reworking of Lewis Spence's seminal Myths and Legends of the North American Indians, Jon E. Lewis puts the work in context with an extensive new introductory essay and additional commentary throughout the book on the history of Native...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780767931939Author Ritch DuncanFormat PaperbackPage Count 236Imprint Broadway Books (A Division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc)Publisher...

The Malleus is an important text and is frequently quoted by authors across a wide range of scholarly disciplines. Yet it also presents serious difficulties: it is difficult to understand out of context, and is not generally representative of late...

With origins lost in the mists of time, these lively folk tales reflect the wisdom (and eccentricities) of South Yorkshire's county and people. Amongst the heroes and villains, giants and fairies, knights and highwaymen, are well-known figures, such as...

This collection, inspired by the folklore of the Royal County, contains a plethora of tales robustly retold for a contemporary audience. The exploits of well-known figures such as Herne the Hunter and Dick Turpin feature alongside many of the county's...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781932043105Author Theodor KittelsenFormat PaperbackPage Count 166Imprint Penfield BooksPublisher Penfield BooksWeight(grams) 231gDimensions(mm) 229mm *...

An enchanting treasury of fairy lore!Around the corner, behind the bushes, and just out of sight...fairies have spent hundreds of years weaving their way in and out of our homes and gardens to spread their magic. Featuring folklore, mythology, and poetry...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780399582257Author C D'erricoFormat PaperbackPage Count 80Imprint Watson-GuptillPublisher Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/RodaleWeight(grams) 482gDimensions(mm)...

This volume boldly proposes that the core of the Arthurian and Holy Grail traditions derived not from Celtic mythology, but rather from the folklore of the peoples of ancient Scythia (what are now the South Russian and Ukrainian steppes). Also includes...

The great Norse Myths are among the most dramatic and unforgettable stories in all human history. These fascinating, fantastical tales have inspired centuries of art, culture and literature, including the storytelling of Tolkien, Neil Gaiman, George R. R...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781959350026Author Maria KvilhaugFormat PaperbackPage Count 646Imprint Three Little SistersPublisher Three Little SistersWeight(grams) 1102gDimensions(mm)...

In this beautiful retelling of a folktale from Greenland, an unlikely friendship develops between a lonely old woman and a baby polar bear. With stunning artwork from Chris Corner, this book explores the moving relationship between human and animal as...

Cave paintings at Lascaux, France and Altamira, Spain, fraught with expression thousands of years later; point to an early human desire to form a cultural identity. In the Oxford Companion to World Mythology, David Leeming explores the role of mythology,...

Attempts to find the person (if any) behind the legend of King Arthur have been going on for a long time. The search has revealed many interesting facts and it has also led to sharp disagreements. By the 1980s, the search was more or less abandoned,...

Worcestershire is a county of contrasts, with one face turned to the modern buzz of Birmingham and the other turned towards the quiet rural landscape of the West Country. Its folk tales reflect this dichotomy, with some stories based in the fears and...

Why were Prometheus and Loki envisioned as chained to rocks? What was the Golden Calf? Why are mirrors believed to carry bad luck? How could anyone think that mortals like Perseus, Beowulf, and St. George actually fought dragons, since dragons don't...

Modern-day Cambridgeshire is a county of diverse landscapes: from the elegance of the university city and the rural delights of the old county of Huntingdonshire Isle of Ely, each district has its own identity and its own stories. Explore the antics of...

For fans of Neil Gaiman and Welcome to Night Vale, Aaron Mahnke's The World of Lore (based on the popular LORE podcast) explores the chilling truth behind the legendary creatures, peculiar people and horrific places that arouse our deepest fears. For you...

From the earliest days of oral history to the present, the vampire myth persists among mankind's deeply-rooted fears. This encyclopedia, with entries ranging from "Abchanchu" to "Zmeus," includes nearly 600 different species of historical and...

Much of the folklore, proverbs, songs and legends of the Celtic nations revolve around this wonderful variety of food and drink. Drawn from the author's travels through Scotland, Ireland and Wales, the recipes presented in this text come with proverbs,...

The magical realm of unicorns comes to life in this dazzling craft book, brimming with sparkles and rainbows. Let your imagination run wild in creating dozens of fun and entertaining projects to make for yourself or give as gifts, including an amazing...

Robin Hood is one of the most enduring and well-known figures of English folklore. Yet who was he? In this intriguing book, Lesley Coote re-examines the early tales about Robin in light of the stories, both English and French, that surrounded them -...