Myths and Legends? Books?

Question

I am currently looking for a really good myths / legends / fairy tales book for a creative writing class. To get some inspiration. I want a book that has an exceptional compilation of different of myths / legends / fairy tales from around the world. I am also looking for a Mythological Creatures/ Magical Creatures book with creatures from myths / legends / fairy tales from around the world as well. Can anyone recommend me a couple that are extensive and will serve its purpose.

Answer 1

The Tain its the Irish Celtic saga and history its quite a good read and will have a lot of what you are looking for.

Answer 2

idk hope you find one though

Answer 3

Joseph Campell's "The Masks of God" four volume set is one of the most extensive collections on the subject of Mythology.  Although it's very dated (it was writtenin the 1960's), the series is still a classic and Campbell is a big name in the field.  But you're probably best looking at regional studies of mythology.  I'm an Archaeology major focused in Eastern Europe, so here's a collection that's helped me understand the mindset of the various tribes of the Ancient Slavs:

The Slavs by Barford

Polish Customs, Traditions, & Folklore by Knab

Polish Herbs, Flowers, and Folk Medicine also by Knab

The Making of the Slavs: History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region, c. 500-700 by Florian Curta

The latter are scholarly studies with the exception of Knab's works.  I'd shy away from Rybakov and Gimbutas, who, although made landmarks in the field, are really too dated to be reliable.  Mythology and folklore in Eastern Europe is a really obscure area, and you really have to dig.  Most of the sources are in Slavic languages, but some lay English texts would be some compilations of various folktales:

Forests of the Vampires: Slavic Myth by Charles Phillips (a little diluted, but serves the purpose)

Medieval Russia's Epics, Chronicles, and Tales by Serge A. Zenkovsky (byliny are Russian epics, good stuff)

Tales from Slavic Myth by Hudec (nice pictures, not very good substance)

The Batthouse at Midnight by W.F. Ryan (a very extensive search into magic and divination in Russia, probably not what you're looking for, but if you want to dig through it, be my guest)

Russian Fairy Tales by Vladimir Afanas'ev (one of the great Slavophiles of the nineteenth century, he compiled a good collection of the folktales of his homeland, as many were doing at the time)

Mythology and folklore is an interesting subject to delve into.  It's important to keep in mind that there are regional variations of the stories and characters, even within a given culture, that they evolved over time, and meant different things across time.  Read a little about it on Wikipedia first to see if it suits your needs:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavic_myth...

Answer 4

just find a Greek microlight book !

Answer 5

look up old city of baku maiby baki it's located in estern part of russia coucosus that's the area. and plus try to look up armenia, good luck.

Answer 6

A good book for that stuff is:

Please Explain by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki