Mythology & Folklore

It's easy to dismiss myths simply as lies. After all, did Apollo really pull the Sun around in a chariot? Did Coyote really create the Indian tribes by flinging a defeated monster in several directions? Did Onamuji really die twice and have to be rescued by his mother? Who on earth is Onamuji? As children of the Enlightenment we have little patience for such absurd stories, condescendingly studying them (if we pay attention at all) as artifacts of primitive societies, or simply transforming them into comic book adventures.

Which is probably exactly what most of the originators of the myths would have wanted, at least the comic book part. As the great Roman poet Ovid demonstrated in his masterful Metamorphoses, myths aren't about telling what actually happened or describing the physical realities of the world so much as they're concerned with renewal, transfiguration and change.

There is a sense in which myths are intended to explain some perplexing aspect of the known world, as when the Scandinavians attributed lightning and thunder to Thor charging around in his goat-drawn chariot. But there's another sense in which it didn't really matter if they believed the stories they told at religious gatherings or by the fire at night; the mythologies of the Greeks, Chinese, Sioux tribes, Congolese and Slavs were all intended to impart to their listeners particular ideas about the world, about justice, about life and death, and about themselves.

Postmodernists like to call this sort of thing metanarrative, a universal story that imparts meaning on the chaos of existence. Men like G.K. Chesterton and J.R.R. Tolkien preferred to call it a search for truth. It was in this sense that Chesterton called the Christian Gospel a Myth—not because it was in any sense not true; quite the opposite, because it is perfectly true. Old mythologies worked hard to discover truth, while the Christian myth (the only completely true myth, as C.S. Lewis would say) is truth.

This is not to undermine the Christian narrative as found in the Bible, nor is it to apotheosize the ancient myths. There's plenty the old mythologists got wrong, and nothing untrue in the Word of God. Not only that, whereas the old myths are complete fabrications, the narrative of Scripture presents real historical events that actually transpired.

What is also true, however, and what is often ignored, is that what the Bible does for real, the myth-writers were trying to do. They wanted understanding, and the often bizarre stories they conjured weren't weird for the sake of weirdness: they were attempts at building a framework that would make sense of everything they knew existed, its origins, and its ultimate destiny.

Folklore shares a similar goal, though it's generally less universal, more homespun and culture-specific. Zeus is a mythic figure; Paul Bunyan is a folk hero. The folk hero is generally a national symbol, a human distillation of the peoples' spirit, someone they can identify with while looking up to them at the same time. Mythology and folklore often merge, especially in places with a long and deep heritage. The United States has no mythology, but its people have developed a rich folklore to make up for it.

At its best, mythology promotes noble conduct, self-sacrifice, and peacefulness. At its worst, it depicts a universe at the hands of capricious deities with appetites only different from ours in that they're bigger, more depraved, more destructive. We don't suggest building a worldview out of ancient myths, but if you have any desire to understand how people of the past thought and what motivated them, we do suggest starting with their stories.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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Adventures of Robin Hood
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Paul Creswick, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
1991 Edition from Reader's Digest
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in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (3 in stock)
Aeneid
by Virgil, translated by Robert Fitzgerald
from Vintage Classics
Ancient Literature/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$16.00
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop
from Signet Classics
Fairy Tales & Fables for 10th grade-adult
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$5.95
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, Isaac Bashevis Singer
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
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Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Macmillan
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-Adult
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$14.99
Aesop's Fables and Life of Aesop
by Aesop, Mons. De Meziriac, R. Dodsley
from Rand McNally
for 6th-12th grade
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Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends
by Lewis Spence
Reprint from Dover Publications
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Annotated African American Folktales
by Henry Louis Gates & Maria Tatar
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 9th-Adult
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Annotated Brothers Grimm
by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Bicentennial from W. W. Norton and Co.
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Annotated Classic Fairy Tales
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Annotated Hans Christian Andersen
by Hans Christian Andersen
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Annotated Hans Christian Andersen
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$18.00 (1 in stock)
Arabian Nights
by Sir Richard Burton, trans.
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Arabian Nights
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora A. Smith, editors, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Eastern Fairy Tales for 9th-Adult
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Arabian Nights
International Collectors Library
by Sir Richard Burton, illustrated by Steele Savage
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Arabian Nights
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Arabian Nights
by Sir Richard Burton, trans.
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Arabian Nights
by Amabel Williams-Ellis, illustrated by Pauline Baynes
from Blackie & Son LTD.
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Arabian Nights
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from Book-of-the-Month Club
Eastern Fairy Tales for 9th-Adult
Arabian Nights - Two Volume Set
by Sir Richard Burton (translator), illustrated by Arthur Szyk
from Heritage Press
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Arabian Nights I
Signet Classics
by Richard Burton (Translator), Jack Zipes (Adapter)
from Signet Classics
Eastern Fairy Tales for 9th-Adult
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$9.95
Arabian Nights II
Signet Classics
by Anonymous, Sir Richard Burton (Translator), Jack Zipes (Adapter)
from Signet Classics
Eastern Fairy Tales for 9th-Adult
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$8.95
Arctic Twilight
by Samuli Paulaharju
1982 Edition from Finnish American Literary Heritage Foundation
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Argosy of Fables
by F. T. Cooper (editor), illustrated by Paul Bransom
from Frederick A. Stokes Company
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$64.00 (1 in stock)
Arthurian Romances
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from Penguin Classics
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Aztec and Maya Myths
by Karl Taube
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Battle of Maldon together with The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth
by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Peter Grybauskas
from HarperCollins
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$30.00
Best-Loved Folktales of the World
by Joanna Cole
from Anchor Books
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Bulfinch's Greek and Roman Mythology
Dover Thrift Editions
by Thomas Bulfinch
from Dover Publications
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$6.00
Bulfinch's Medieval Mythology
Dover Thrift Editions
by Thomas Bulfinch
from Dover Publications
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$10.00
Bulfinch's Mythology: A Modern Abridgment
by Thomas Bulfinch
from Laurel-Leaf Books
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$7.99
Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Chivalry
by Thomas Bulfinch
from Living Book Press
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$12.99
Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable
by Thomas Bulfinch
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Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable
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$15.99
Bulfinch's Mythology: The Complete Texts
by Thomas Bulfinch
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Bulfinch's Mythology: The Legends of Charlemagne
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$11.99
Canterbury Tales
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Chronicles
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$18.00
Companion to World Mythology
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from Kestrel Books
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Complete Fables of Aesop
Penguin Classics
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Fables for 9th-Adult
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$14.00
Complete Fairy Tales
Penguin Classics
by George MacDonald
from Penguin Classics
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Folklore for 7th-Adult
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$17.00
Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde
Signet Classics
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Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
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$25.00
Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
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Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales
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Complete Illustrated Stories of the Brothers Grimm
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Complete Tales of Uncle Remus
by Joel Chandler Harris
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Complete Tales of Uncle Remus
by Joel Chandler Harris, retold by Julius Lester, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
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Animal Fantasy for 7th-Adult
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Diamond Path
Time-Life Myth & Mankind
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Early Irish Myths and Sagas
by Jeffrey Gantz
from Penguin Classics
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Egypt: Gods, Myths and Religion
by Lucia Gahlin
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Elfin Knight
by Edmund Spenser & Toby Sumpter
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$20.00
Eternal Cycle
Time-Life Myth & Mankind
from Time-Life Books
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Faerie Queene
Penguin Classics
by Edmund Spenser
from Penguin Classics
Allegory/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
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$22.00
Faerie Queene Book 1
by Edmund Spenser, edited with an introduction by Carol V. Kaske
from Hackett Publishing Company
Allegory/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
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$15.00
Faerie Queene Book 2
by Edmund Spenser
from Hackett Publishing Company
Allegory/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
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$14.00
Faerie Queene Book 3 & 4
by Edmund Spenser
from Hackett Publishing Company
Allegory/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
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$16.00
Faerie Queene Book 5
by Edmund Spenser
from Hackett Publishing Company
Allegory/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
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$14.00
Faerie Queene Book 6
by Edmund Spenser
from Hackett Publishing Company
Allegory/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
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$14.00
Faerie Queene Books 1-6
by Edmund Spenser
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Allegory/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
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$68.40
Fairy Tales from the Arabian Nights
Dent & Dutton Illustrated Series
by E. Dixon, illustrated by Joan Kiddell-Monroe
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
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Favorite Folktales from Around the World
by Jane Yolen
from Pantheon Books
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves
by Roy Maynard & Edmund Spenser
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Allegory/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
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Forests of the Vampire
Time-Life Myth & Mankind
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Gifts of the Child Christ - 2 Volume Set
by George MacDonald
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Glittering Plain
by William Morris
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Gods of Sun & Sacrifice
Time-Life Myth & Mankind
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Great Folktales of Old Ireland
by Mary McGarry, illustrated by Richard Hook
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Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales
by Brothers Grimm, translated by Margaret Hunt
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$24.99
Hans Christian Andersen: The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories
by Hans Christian Andersen, Translated by Erik Christian Haugaard
1983 Anchor Books Edition from Anchor Books
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$27.00
Heroes of the Dawn
Time-Life Myth & Mankind
from Time-Life Books
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History of the Kings of Britain
Penguin Classics
by Geoffrey of Monmouth
from Penguin Classics
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$19.00 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Iliad
Everyman's Library
by Homer (translation by Robert Fitzgerald)
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Ancient Literature/Epic Poetry for 9th-Adult
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$23.00
Iliad
by Homer (translation by Robert Fagles)
from Penguin Putnam
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$20.00
Iliad
by Homer (translation by Robert Fitzgerald)
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Ancient Literature for 11th-Adult
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$17.00
Iliad
by Homer (translation by Robert Fagles)
from Penguin Putnam
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$18.00
Iliad
by Homer (translation by Robert Fitzgerald)
from Franklin Library
Ancient Literature/Epic Poetry for 9th-Adult
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Iliad
Signet Classics
by Homer (translation by W.H.D. Rouse), Afterword by Adam Nicolson
from Signet Classics
Ancient Literature for 9th-Adult
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$6.95
Iliad & Odyssey
by Homer (translation by Robert Fagles)
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Iliad of Homer
by Homer (translation by Richmond Lattimore)
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Ancient Literature/Epic Poetry for 9th-Adult
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$15.00
Illustrated Bulfinch's Mythology: Age of Fable
by Thomas Bulfinch
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Illustrated Bulfinch's Mythology: Legends of Charlemagne
by Thomas Bulfinch
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Illustrated Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Chivalry
by Thomas Bulfinch, illustrated by Giovanni Caselli
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John Burnet of Barns
by John Buchan
1946 Reprint from Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd
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Johnny Appleseed
by Robert Price
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Journeys through Dreamtime
Time-Life Myth & Mankind
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Juniper Tree and Other Tales from Grimm
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Maurice Sendak
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Kingdom Far and Clear
Calla Edition
by Mark Helprin
from Dover Publications
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Land of the Dragon
Time-Life Myth & Mankind
from Time-Life Books
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Le Morte d'Arthur
Signet Classics
by Sir Thomas Mallory
from Signet Classics
for 9th-Adult
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$7.95
Le Morte d'Arthur
by Sir Thomas Malory
from Modern Library
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Le Morte d'Arthur
Signet Classics
by Sir Thomas Mallory
from Random House
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Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun
by J.R.R Tolkien, Edited by Christopher Tolkien
Reprint from Mariner Books
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$16.95
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
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Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
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$11.99
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
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Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
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$6.00 (2 in stock)
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery, translated by Richard Howard
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Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
$18.00
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
from Harcourt
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
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$7.50 (2 in stock)
Little Prince - Russian language edition
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
from Eksmodetstvo
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lost Realms of Gold
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
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