Myths and Legends
MYTHS
& LEGENDS
Last altered July 2nd, 1998.
Aside from the General, Gothic Horror, Early Fantasy, and Medieval
sections, these links are organized by region and language group, with
those groups which produced written accounts of their myths and legends
earlier, generally appearing closer to the beginning.
Contents
General
Indicies and site reviews
-
Philip Burns' Mythology
& Folklore A description of mythology along with scores if not
hundreds of links. It's quite a stash. There is a greater emphasis on folklore
than here. He's been annotating them as well.
-
John Adcox maintains a somewhat smaller collection of Mythology
and Folklore links.
-
Song, Kang-hee maintains a
collection of world mythology links from his site in South Korea. Some
viewers may have difficulty with the non-Roman lettering of much of the
text.
-
Julia's Ancient World
Web contains links to and reviews of a number of sites dealing with
archaeology, history, art, mythology and ancient religions. She used to
have a separate index for mythology and ancient religions but her site
is now undergoing a massive overhaul.
-
Arthur Goldstuck's Legendary
Site of the Week Myths, Legends, and Urban Folklore are fair game.
-
Raymond Williams' Diogenes'
Links to the Ancient World has returned, with links to historic and
mythic material from the Ancient Near East and Medeteranean.
Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, and Archives
-
Micha Lindemans' Encyclopedia Mythica.
Over 3000 articles and growing on myth related topics of lengths ranging
from a couple of sentances to a couple of paragraphs.
-
A somewhat similar venture by Lestat is Of
Gods and Men.
-
The University of Michigan has assembled a collection of Mythology
pages describing deities from around the world. Of note is that here they
are organized not only by cultural group, but by "sphere of influence"
as well.
-
The Probert Encyclopedia
- Mythology should probably be called a dictionary, given its extensive
number of rather brief (one or two line), entries. You'll need Netscape
or Internet Explorer to see it.
-
After the MIT incarnation of this page, Mark de la Hey's MythText was the
earliest site devoted entirely to mythology of which I was aware. Robert
O'Connell of Untangle has revived the non-commercial parts of that site
as Mythhome.
It includes articles on and links to sites dealing with various aspects
of mythology.
-
J. Cress' Mythology
page contains listings of deities and capsule retellings of myths and folklore
from various cultures.
-
Kat's Goddesses
of the World features brief entries on the Goddesses of Norway, Egypt,
Greece, and Rome, with those from Sumer forthcomming. She also has pages
on Greek Amazons, Faeries, and Mermaids reachable from her home
page.
-
At the same site, Eliki, is a set of pages on Gods,
Goddesses and Myth featuring the Celtic pantheons, and such creatures
as the phoenix, dragons, and Pegasus.
-
Richard McLaughlin's Mythology
Notes present descriptions of gods, summaries of myths, and some historical
material on the mythologies of the Ancient Near East, Persia, Scandinavia,
and the Celts. His is one of the few sites to include a mythological treatment
of Judaic and Christian stories - some of the material he draws upon for
these is extracanonical.
-
JBL statue is out to sell
you statues of deities from all over the world. The cool thing is that
they show you pictures of these statues, but their brief descriptions of
the deity featured thereon are not always accurate.
-
Brewer's
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable is just that from 1894.
Offline sources
-
Kim and Mike Burkhard's All
Things Ancient page is still growing but currently features Kim's extensive
mythology booklist FAQ - partially culled from USENET.
-
Mark Isaak now keeps his Mythological
Sources FAQ on his own page and features his picks of the better mostly
offline sources.
-
I too, have cobbled together a short list of Mythology
Sources but to escape redundancy I've added brief reviews of those
works I've encountered.
Myth and Story Collections
-
Bulfinch's
Mythology. It's first section, The Age of Fable includes Greek, some
Norse, and some Egyptian mythology in a sort of "Reader's Digest" format.
Its other sections on King Arthur, the Mabinogeon, and Charlemagne continue
in a similar format.
-
Bob Fisher has placed on-line a hypertext version of the Graeco-Roman section
of The Age of Fable
by Thomas Bulfinch.
-
Reality Software has large excerpts
from their books on the Origins of Mythology, and myths from the
British Isles, China, India, and Japan. They also have zipfiles of the
full texts, downloadable as shareware.
-
Students in Janice Cook's and Jeff Williamson's ESL and developmental writing
classes have retold a number of myths, legends and fables from their own
cultures, ranging from Bolivia through Vietnam, from China to Somalia in
this Collaborative
Myths and Legends Project.
-
Creation
Stories and Traditional Wisdom Short tales primarily from Australian
Aboriginal and Native American sources.
-
Tales of Wonder
- Folk and Fairy tales from Russia, Siberia, China, and North America.
-
D. L. Asheman is the translator of several Electronic
Texts in Folklore and Mythology. His translations are primarily from
German tales and there are links to tales from Scandinavia, Britain and
other regions.
Essays and Commentary
-
John Fiske wrote a "somewhat rambling and unsystematic series of papers"
entitled Myths
and Mythmakers: Old Tales and Superstitions Interpreted by Comparative
Mythology.
-
Eliza Burt Gamble wrote The
God-idea of the Ancients or Sex in Religion in 1899.
-
Excerpts from the mythology related writings of James
Frazer, author of The Golden Bough.
-
Excerpts from Mircea Eliade's From
Primitive to Zen.
-
The Joseph Campbell Foundation Web Site
features bio- and bibliographical information on the popular mythologist,
an excerpt of his work, some other mythological links, and details of the
Foundation's activities.
-
Aaron Rester's Mythology Home
Page contains several essays about mythological stories from numerous
cultures all relating to the idea of a savior/creator/fertility deity.
He also has a collection of links to other mythology sites.
-
Flute (Carolyn Maloney), Vickie Hamby and the rest of Creative
Minds have a site on which includes monthly articles on mythology.
They also feature poetry, the mystical, back articles and of course, links.
-
N. S. Gill has assembled a number of essays on Ancient/Classical
History for the Mining Company. Included is a section on mythology
and religion.
-
Tired of a saccharine goddess image? Robin Weare's Dark
Goddess site examines the less sweet aspects of such deities as Artemis
and Kali from a bit of a neo-Pagan standpoint.
Creatures of Myth and Legend
-
The Guide to Unbiological
Species by Kyle Lindner is a bestiary with scores of brief descriptions
and definitions of mythological and legendary inhuman creatures. Also included
are a brief history of bestiaries and, of course, links.
-
Conrad Tolentino's The
Bestiary presents information on both mythcal beasts and cryptozoological
creatures such as Bigfoot.
-
Jennifer Walker's Here be Dragons!
provides mythic information as well as art and assorted links related to
these fearsome beasts.
-
Polenth's
Weyr is a collection of information about both literary and mythological
dragons as well as links to other dragon afficianados on the web.
-
The Dragon's Pearl
A brief article on Lake Tahoe's Tessie with mentions of a couple of other
dragon tales.
-
U. Mass has a page on Snake
Mythology written by Scott Jackson and Peter Mirick with illustrations
by Nancy Haver.
-
Soror Ourania's Naga
page also focuses on the snake's role in myth.
-
Pictures, tales, and legends of Faeries
-
Rebecca Lehmann's Faerie
Encyclopedia has many brief entries as well as links to related pages
and some of Yeats' tales.
-
Earendil's (Allen Garvin's) extensive collection of Faerie
Lore and Literature from the British Isles and Scandinavia.
-
Sea Tails Online Kurt
Cagle's mermaid page. The History and Persona Guide is the meatiest section
here.
-
Frodo's mermaid pages are primarily oriented around Disney's Ariel, however
he maintains some useful Links
to other Mermaid pages.
-
Gryphons, Griffins,
Griffons! Tirya's page with some info, more pictures, and lots of links
to companies named Gryphon or thereabouts.
-
Cybercat's Space presents
some brief notes on the cat as a symbol in world mythology.
-
Laura Steinke (Shadowfox) presents a page on Kitsune
and other legends of foxes from around the world.
-
Bob Trubshaw's article, Black
Dogs - Guardians of the Corpse Ways, explores the mythology of dogs
drawing from many cultures.
-
Les
licornes, The Unicorn Web Page of Bruno Faidutti. He keeps a number
of unicorn pictures at this bilingual site, drawing from medieval manuscripts.
-
alt.mythology.mythic-animals
Miscellany
-
The Minneapolis Institute of the Arts runs a very visual tour of World
Mythology meant to supplement a trip to the museum.
-
Here is presented the Origin
of the Seven Day Week.
-
Unity Now's Culture Page examines
mythic symbols of from Egyptian and Tibetan culture, paying particular
attention to symbols which appear in their products.
-
This feature on The
Celestial David and Goliath takes an astronomical look at that Biblical
tale and compares it to tales in Irish mythology.
-
Martin Gray invites folks to Explore
the Sacred Sites he has photographed. His commentary discusses the
religious, archeological and historical import of those sites with the
mythic and legendary content varying.
-
Whether or not they describe actual events, most modern religions
are not above invoking material which is mythic in character.
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alt.mythology
Ancient Near East
Mesopotamia
-
Sumerian Mythology
FAQ This page contains a description of the pantheon and cosmology
of the Sumerians, who lived in what is now southern Iraq over 4000 years
ago. Aspects of Sumerian culture are touched upon as are parallels with
Biblical stories.
-
Shemhazai's (Valis, Michael Tolle) Babyloniaca
brings you translations of Sumerian and Akkadian myths, hymns and incantations,
as well as information relavant to Mesopotamian oriented pagans.
-
The Gate to the Gods' Sumerian,
Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian Mythology and Magic page contains
a number of translations of primarily Akkadian myths. At least two of these
are directly out of Stephanie Dalley's
Myths from Mesopotamia.
-
Twin Rivers Rising a pagan
coven of the Sumerian Tradition maintains a good page on the Religion of
the Sumerians, as well as providing an English-Sumerian dictionary.
-
The
Temple of Enki presents some info on Sumerian gods and demons, as well
as some sample hymns.
-
Mary Lynn Schroeder has written an essay entitled In
the Eyes of Inanna: Aspects of a Goddess in Literature, drawing from
Jacobsen, Kramer, Eliade and Wolkstein.
-
Assyro-Babylonian
Mythology FAQ This page contains a description of the pantheon, cosmology,
and history of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians. These people lived
from about 4000 years ago to about 2500 years ago primarily in what is
now northern and central Iraq.
-
Fr. James W. Reites' Origins of Western Religion course presents information
on the Enuma Elish and Gilgamesh for contrast with the creation and flood
stories in Genesis in Archaeology
and Literature: Creation and Flood Stories.
-
Washington State University's World Cultures course presents a summary
of the New Babylonian version of the Epic of
Gilgamesh
by Sin-eqi-unninni.
-
Enkidu Research maintains a briefer summary of the Gilgamesh epic entitled
The
Enkidu Myth
-
Arthur A. Brown has written an essay entitled Storytelling,
the Meaning of Life, and The Epic of Gilgamesh for Exploring
Ancient World Cultures.
Egypt
-
Shawn C. Knight's Egyptology
Page. Reworked and reformatted for the web from the old Egyptian Mythology
FAQ, this edition is also quicker to upload.
-
Jimmy Dunn has put together The
Gods of Ancient Egypt, an extensive document discussing the individual
deities and the development of Egyptian religion over time.
-
April Arnold's Ancient
Egypt: the Mythology contains extensive descriptions of the deities,
retellings of the myths, and essays on the region.
-
The
Egyptian Mythology Site provides brief descriptions of the deities,
images, descriptions of philosophical concepts, and another translation
of the Papyrus of Ani.
-
In addition to providing a teaser for his new book Hor,
Peter Preston provides an overview and some notes on Egyptian Mythology.
-
Deborah Howard's essay The
Egyptian Culture Reflected in Worship presents an overview of Egyptian
religion and mythology for Exploring Ancient World Cultures.
-
The
Papyrus of Ani: The Egyptian Book of the Dead translated by turn of
the century Egyptologist, E. A. Wallis Budge. It should be noted that Budge's
translations have fallen out of favor in the Egyptological community in
recent years. While the gist remains the same, the serious scholar is advised
to seek out something more current.
-
Jimmy Dunn and Interoz also have a copy of Budge's translation of the Book
of the Dead, but this version has a table of contents page which makes
it more nicely segmented.
-
The Legend of Osiris and Isis as told by Christine Hobson for the Baobab
Project
-
Stephanie merry-Bast discusses the cat goddess in great detail in The
name of Bast.
-
Neith Preston's Mini-faq
about the goddess that is her namesake includes some prayers from Budge
and other sources.
-
Rebbecca Allbritton has a brief page on Sekmet,
which is her username. (Broken Link. 3/25)
-
This article briefly defines different classes of myths before describing
the Egyptian
Gods and briefly recounting some myths.
-
Mike and Chris Ward of Colorado's Social Science Data Lab have an Egyptian
Gods Description page because of their computer naming scheme.
-
The House of Netjer, a Kemetic Orthodox church - basicly an Egyptian group
which uses the whole of ancient Egyptian religion - has put together a
large collection of brief descriptions of the Egyptian deities in Netjer
- the One God of the Ancient Egyptians
Palestine & the Levant
-
Canaanite/Ugaritic
Mythology FAQ This page contains a description of the pantheon of the
people refered to as Canaanites in the Bible, as recovered from the city
of Ugarit in what is now western Syria. These people lived from at least
3800 years ago through 3000 years ago and were absorbed into neigboring
peoples including the Phoenicians and the Hebrews.
-
Biblical
Beginnings in Canaan As you can probably guess, this has a good bit
on Canaanite Mythology in a Biblical context.
-
Brandeis University maintains a number of Selections
from Ancient Near Eastern Texts including the Ugaritic myth of the
Dying
and Rising of Baal
-
Lilinah biti-Anat's Qadash
Kinahnu - A Canaanite-Phoenician Temple as well as being a site for
Canaanite neo-pagan information contains a extensive amount of mythological
information about those gods. She also continues to translate many of the
myths from Ugarit and some later sources.
-
Mike Santangelo has written an article on Anat entitled Ancient
Tomboy? Typo? / A new translation clears a goddess of cannibalism.
-
Salim George Khalaf's page on Phoenician
Religion describes the deities and religious practicies of the Canaanites,
primarily as witnessed by their neighbors, the Greeks and the Egyptians.
He also has a page describing their Ethnic
Origin, Language and Literature, delving into both Ugaritic and Greek
accounts, as well as a page giving the Background
to Religions in E. Mediterranean - which confines itself to the Aramaeans,
Canaanite/Phoenicians, Philistines, and Moabites.
-
Paul Brians et al. present an excerpt from their book Reading About
the World, Volume 1 discussing The
Hebrew Creation Narrative (Genesis 1-3) including a fair amount of
commentary. Genesis and the other books of the Pentateuch were assembled
in written form during the sixth century B.C.E., following the Babylonian
Captivity.
-
It's not to hard to find the Bible on-line - The King James translation
was one of the most widely distributed e-texts before the advent of the
web; however, if you want to find the books and stories that didn't make
it in (most of which were written after the canonical books - later than
200 B.C.E. for the Torah and later than 150 C.E. for the New Testament)
try the Wesley Center's Noncanonical
Homepage for Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha - books that might have gotten
you tortured during the inquisition. This is where you'll find stories
about the Nephilim, and seven or ten heavens and all kinds of escatological
stuff. New! 7/2
-
Renee Rosen's Lilith
Shrine has extensive links and information about the legendary first
wife of Adam.
-
This doesn't quite fit in this section, but it will do for now.
Kabbalah
and Jewish Mysticism explores some of the more legendary and esotaric
aspects of Judaism to spring out of the middle ages emphasizing the Kabbalah.
This site includes extensive discussion of the legend of the Golem of Prague.
-
Drawing on the legends of the fallen angels from Genesis 6 and various
extra-canonical sources, John Milton crafted his masterpiece Paradise
Lost in 1664 with a revision in 1667.
Anatolian
-
Hittite Mythology
REF This page contains a description of the pantheon, and history of
the Hittites, who drew heavily upon the pantheon of their neighbors the
Hurrians. These peoples lived primarily in the central and eastern portions
of Anatolia during the second millenium B.C.E.
-
Poems from the Turkish
Epic is a collection of Altaic poems a dapted by Gene Doty from Gulten
Yener's prose translation.
-
Handan Oz's Turkish
Mythology page contains Turkish myths (mostly in Turkish) as well as
myths set in Turkey (mostly Greek and written in English).
Miscellaneous Near East
-
Kephera claims to have assembled "the best collection of Middle Eastern
Mythology!" accessible from his Middle
Eastern Studies page. His ancient mythology page includes copies of
Stephanie Dalley's translations of four Akkadian language myths. He also
has a couple of Canaanite Myths, and five Egyptian myths. He also keeps
a dictionary of Sumerian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Hittite, and Hebrew gods
and assorted entities.
-
Well, it's archaeology, not mythology, but The
Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago has some interesting
stuff including ABZU
a guide to info on the Ancient Near East availible on the net.
-
Father James W. Reites' course on the Origins of Western Religion contains
a description and links concerning Religion
in the Ancient Near East: Myths and Gods. He deals with Egypt, Mesopotamia,
and the Canaanites.
-
A brief glossary of predominently Mesopotamian, Near Eastern deities explains
the Names
of the Computers at IIB.uam.es.
1001 Arabian Nights
-
Alf Layla wa Layla The
Thousand Nights and a Night translated by Sir Richard F. Burton. Early
versions of this collection of tales go back to the tenth century, but
the present collection includes material from as recent as the sixteenth.
It made its way to Europe, specifically France, in the early 1700's and
Burton's version was published in the late 1800's. The source tales come
from all over the Near East, as well as India. The frame story of Shaharazad
is Persian and if you're looking for Sindbad the Sailor, this book is his
home. Many of these tales feature the Caliph Harun al'Rashid, a historical
figure who ruled the Abbasids and was a correspondent of Charlemagne. This
is the 1850 version which is much less exhaustive and inclusive than his
famous 17 volume 1885 version. Nonetheless, the file is huge.
-
Andrew
Lang's version. of The Arabian Nights.
-
Aladdin
and the Wonderful Lamp - a story associated with the Nights, but not
included in the canonical collection.
-
Jinni,
Genie, Djinn, Richard F. Burton had a fair amount to say abouth them
in the footnotes to his translation of the Nights.
-
Burton also had a fair amount to say about Ghuls,
more commonly known as ghouls.
Indo-Iranian
Persian
-
The Zoroastrian religion contains much of what we know of the Persian mythology,
particularly in the Avesta,
a work attributed to Zarathustra, which likely preceeded him.
-
In the 800's CE, Ervad Zadspram compiled writings from the
Avesta and Zand, here translated by W. E. West for Exploring Ancient
World Cultures. This selection begins with a description of creation by
Ohrmazd and Ahriman.
-
Written around 1000 CE by Ferdowsi, the Shah
Nahmeh i.e. the Epic of the Kings, contains much of the balance of
known Persian myth and legend including tales of the Zal and of Rustram.
Hindu
-
Pomona's Ancient Cosmology site features three articles on India
which describe the creations, Deities, and structure of the Vedic universe.
-
Dating back to at least 1200 BC to 900 BC, the Hymns
of the Rig Veda collected at Washington State University provide insight
into creation, the devas, and the ashuras.
-
Sri Aurobindo focuses on the tradition of spirituality and mysticism found
in the Rig Veda, and translates those hymms relating to Agni,
fire, in Rig Veda
- Hymms to the Mystic Fire.
-
Shrikanth maintains a page discussing the
Vedas, with links to essays and translations.
-
John Smith maintains an archive of Hindu
epics in Sanskrit including the Mahabharata and the
Ramayana.
-
The government of India presents an essay entitled Hinduism:
An Eclectic Religious Tradition which, among other things, summarizes
the
Mahabharata and Ramayana.
-
The Library of Hindu History includes a collection of links to essays concerning
the
Mahabharat including some which find it to be more grounded in history
than legend.
-
Concerning events of 1000 BCE and written down between 400 BCE and 200
CE, the Ramayana tells of Rama, Sita, and the Rakshasha among others
and is attributed to Valmiki. Jean Johnson's Rama
and the Ramayana discusses the work and offers a synopsis.
-
This site also provides a summary of the Ramayana.
-
Mahesh Yadav has collected Sister Nivedita's retellings - Cradle
Tales of Hinduism as well as Aaron Shepherd's retelling of princess
Savitri's tale from the Mahabharata.
-
Hindu Mythology
on Beth Booth's page covers Vedic and Brahmanic gods.
-
This commercial site for indiaMystica
provides presents as a sample of their product, a brief history of Indian
religious practices, from pre-Vedic times through the Upanishads.
-
Mike Magee's and Jan Bailey's Tantrik
Home Page presents information and images of the gods, goddesses, and
practices of Tantra.
-
Here's a brief description of Bengali Folklore
from the West Bengal homepage.
East Asian
Chinese
-
Chinavista's The China Experience includes a description of Chinese
Myths and Fantasies from a historical perspective, brief retellings
of over a dozen Selected
Mythical Stories as well as descrpitions of some Deities
Worshipped by Farmers.
-
U. C. Computer (Shanghai) maintains a large collection of Chinese Historic
Legends & Tales including how Pan Gu created the world, how Nv
Wa patched up the sky, as well as tales of historical figures such as Emperors
and Confusius.
-
Princeton ninth graders hav researched Chinese
Creation Myths.
-
Chad Gundarson's article on Ancient
Chinese Civilization includes the legend of Shen-nung's instruction
to man of the art of agriculture.
-
Galen Jang's Sword, Spirits and Romance;
The Legends of China features an English translation of Pu Sung-lin's
Liao Tsai Chi Yi, a 17th century collection of tales.
Korean
-
Myths and Legends
of Ancient Korea translated by Richard Rutt and Peter Lee.
-
The SsangYong motor company presents this summary of The
SsangYong Legend - the legend of the twin dragons.
-
Jeon Hong Kyu retells The
T'angun Legend and Ancient Choson, a talee of the founding of Korea,
as part a project at Sogang University.
-
As part of the same project, Song Ju Yeon retells The
Founding Myth of Koguryo.
-
A class at UIUC put together a collection of Fairytales
from east Asia - primarily from Korea, but with a couple from Japan and
one from Taiwan.
Vietnamese
-
Symbols
of Vietnam explains the legendary nature of those objects in its title.
-
A page on Vietnamese
Literature
Japanese
-
Pomona's Ancient Cosmology site includes an article by Mitch Stoltz on
Ancient
Japanese Culture and Cosmology. It includes a brief account of the
Shinto creation story.
-
Kimiyo
Tanaka's intro page tells briefly of the creation of Japan and, more
germain to the rest of her site, the haiku.
-
A brief telling of the Myth
of Munakata-Taisha
-
Ayacko Adachi retells a handful of Japanese
Myths.
-
Myriam Dantois has nearly a dozen Japanese
Old Tales on her site, written in Japanese, as well as translated into
French, Spanish, and English.
-
The Astronomy in
Japan page contains, among other things, details of a few legends and
mythic starlore.
-
While geared for use in role-playing games (Torg, Shadowrun), Japanese
Legendary Lives by Gen-ichi Nishio, contains legitimate descriptions
of legendary creatures.
Greek and Roman
-
One of the first sites to offer information on the characters and stories
of Greek
Mythology is this one by John M. Hunt. Restored!
3/17
-
While Princeton's Greek Myth HQ is out, here's a direct link to one of
it's pages, Women in Classical
Mythology by Mark Woon.
-
Professor Ruth Webb, also at Princeton, has a comprehensive site on the
characters in Greek mythology for her Classics
Course CLA 212 Mythology Home Page.
-
Spyros Tyrakis' site features The
Hellenic Pantheon. While primarily a neo-pagan site, it also contains
information about the Greek deities and mythology related links.
-
Brandon's Mythology
is an overview of Greek mythology.
-
Carlos Parada's Greek
Mythology Link provides information about the gods and heroes in brief
list form as well as extended entries on the more major deities. It also
allows the user to poll entries from his CDrom -
Genealogical Guide
to Greek Mythology. Another useful feature here is the bibliography
of primary sources, indicating which myths they contain.
-
Hellas On Line provides information on The
Ancient Gods of Greece, including brief descriptions and a family tree.
-
Here is a brief description of The
Myth of Cheiron
-
The Perseus Project maintains
an extensive collection of hypertext annotated classical texts, as well
as a new encyclopedia and search
engine.
-
Another great resource of classical texts is found at the MIT Student Newspaper's
site The Tech's Classics Archive.
-
Baylor Classics
Page
-
The University of Victoria presents Classical
Myth: The Ancient Sources, which collects links to classical images
and texts and organizes them by Olympian deity.
-
Classical depictions of the most popular pantheon Mythology
in Western Art kept by the University of Haifa Library.
-
Mythology
101 From the people who bring you "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys".
Brief and flip but not inaccurate.
-
Ceres
A summary of the Persephone myth as a means of explaining the name of the
host machine.
-
From an astronomical perspective, here is the Mythology
of the Seven Sisters (Pleiades)
-
The Eliki site has this Circle
of Muses which describes those inspirational beings.
-
The Ecole Initiative keeps an article by Edward Beach on The
Eleusinian Mysteries which honored Demeter and Persephone.
-
Writing in the last half of the eighth century B.C.E. or perhaps the early
7th century B.C.E., Hesiod presents the earliest written works of Greek
Mythology. His Theogony
describes the creation of the world and the history of the titans and gods.
Works
and Days focuses more on the acts of man, while containing a synopsis
of the myth of Prometheus and Pandora and the myth of the five ages of
man.
-
Assembled in its present form by the sixth century B.C.E. The
Iliad is attributed to Homer and was probably composed around 750 B.C.E.
It tells part of the story of the Trojan War.
-
The Odyssey
also by Homer, here translated by S. Butler, tells of the wanderings of
Odysseus following the capture of Troy, on his way home to his family in
Ithaka.
-
David Camden's Forum
presents retellings of a number of Roman and Greek myths, as well as other
Roman cultural information and, of course, the requisite link pages.
-
Religio
Romana is a Roman pagan reconstructionist site which includes some
brief information on the dieties of Rome and promises to offer more information
on Roman legends.
-
Publius Vergilius Maro wrote his sequel to Homer's epics, The
Aeneid in 29 B.C.E. bringing Trojan glory to the ancient Latins in
the form of Aeneas.
-
Alan Dyck presents John Dryden's verse translation of Book
I of
The Aeneid.
-
sci.classics
Norse/Teutonic
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Nicole Cherry's Norse
Mythology page Excellent, with more being added.
-
The
nordic mythology... A recounting of Snori's Edda, possibly with more
to come.
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Sverre Moe's Viking
History Web includes a good deal of information on Norse mythology
and deities. He's also working on a multi-lingual text archive of sagas
and Edda poems, but the primary focus of the site is on history.
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The Viking Home
Page which has some info on the history and religion of the Northmen.
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Some students in Iceland have been putting together Fornfraedi
a Vesturlandi which has or will have info. on some a couple of sagas
as well as Snorri's Edda. That link will get you to the English version,
from which the more comprehensive Icelandic
version is also reachable.
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Nicky Page provides a collection of translations on The
Norse Classics Page, including Paul Taylor and W. H. Auden's translation
of the Elder Edda, a translation of the Prose Edda, excerpts from a number
of sagas, and an essay or two on Norse Mythology.
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The
Poetic Edda translated into English by Stephan Grundy. Also known as
Edda Saemundar and as the Elder Edda, the oldest written copy of this work
dates to 1270 in Iceland, about 30 years after the publication of Snorri
Sturlason's Prose Edda. Still, this work is often judged to be closer to
the source than Snorri's work and less colored by his clerical perceptions.
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Within its extensive archives, Project
Runeberg offers The
Poetic Edda, both in modern Swedish and in Old Norse.
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Composed around 1200 for an Austrian court wedding, the Nibelungenlied
tells of the Burgundians Gunther and Kriemhild, her lover, Siegfried, Gunter's
wooing of Brunhild, the treachery of Hagen, and the court of Etzel aka.
Attila the Hun.
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The story of Sigurd, Gudren, Grimhild and Brynhild is found in the 13th
century work Volsunga
Saga, a story which is also told in the Poetic Edda and the
Nibelungenleid.
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The Germanic
Heritage Page, by Arlea Anschütz, includes a page of links to
and essays about Germanic folklore and mythology as well as Asatru, history,
and literature.
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A rise in the spirit of German unity, partially triggered by a rising French
influence during the reign of Napoleon inspired linguists Jacob and Wilhelm
Grimm to assemble a collection of Märchen
- most often translated as 'Fairy Tales', but also meaning 'Fables' or
'Legends', from across the German countryside, publishing them between
1812 and 1815.
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Also in the 1800's, Richard Wagner composed Der
Ring des Nibelungen, an opera in the tradition of Nibelungenleid
and the
Volsungsaga. This page by Erik Tempel contains a plot summary
and character descriptions of the cycle - in Dutch.
Finno-Ugric
Suomi (Finnish)
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FINFO: The
Ancient Religion of the Finns. An extensive examination of ancient
Finnish religion, including the precursors to the Kalevala.
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Reijo Nenonen and Luca Piotto present The
Ancient Finnish Myths home page which describes the history, deities,
cults, and spells of the Suomi and of course includes the appropriate links.
New!
6/18
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FINFO:
Kalevala An examination and summary of the Kalevala and its role as
myth and national symbol.
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Finnish Mythology A brief
introduction to the topic by Pirjo Joki.
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Kalevala
by Elias Lönnrot (in Finnish/Suomeksi). Lönnrot spent the years
from 1828 to 1845 collecting folk songs from the Karelia regions of Finland
and Russia and assembled and edited them into what became the Finnish national
epic. An early version was released in 1835, with the final version being
completed in 1849.
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Another copy of the Kalevala
can be found at Project Runeberg.
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Ritva Raesmaa's Kalevala
page contains many links on the work.
-
Aaron Shepard retells part of Vainamoinen's battle of song with the young
Joukahainen from Canto 3 of the Kalevala in A
Hero Tale of Finland
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Keith Bosley's English translation of Canto 15 from the Kalevala - a Lemminkainen
episode - is provided by Interspecies
Communication.
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In
a Finnish Sauna begins with a long exceprt from Canto 18 of the Kalevala
in which Ilmarinen makes some gifts for his sister Annikki, while she in
return prepares a sauna for him.
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Aaron Shepard again retells part of the Kalevala this time reworking the
contest between Vaino and Ilmarinen for the hand of Louhi's daughter in
The
Maiden of the Northland
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A little bit on the Sampo.
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Another project that Lönnrot compiled was the Kanteletar,
here also in Finnish. The Kantele is a stringed intstrument and this work
is a collection of lyrics to folk songs, some with mythic material.
Sami
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Glenn Jakobsen's page on Sami
Culture contains sections on the folklore and religion of the people
from arctic Scandinavia.
Estonian
-
Commentary on the Kalevipoeg,
the Estonian national epic.
Hungarian
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Fred Hamori's extensive Hungarian
Heritage Page has been relocated and expanded. His section on mythology
includes links to his accounts of legends and with detailed linguistic
traces.
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Dr. Josef Vegvari's Hungarian
organic culture page "does not contain any myths or legends in the
strict sense of the word - it presents original and largely unpublished
research relating to the origins of, and the ancient knowledge underlying,
all Hungarian folklore. This knowledge is cosmic in its origins and astrological
in its structure." - Dr. Vegvari.
Slavic and Baltic
British and Celtic
Miscellaneous Celtic
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Cerridwen's (Angela Thornberry's) Celtic
Page contains a lot of mythic and cultural information with a slight
neo-pagan tint.
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Dalriada
Celtic Heritage Society - for Irish and Scottish culture, myths, and
folklore.
-
Gaelic languages,
culture, and life.
-
The Celtic
Encyclopedia contains entries from myth, legend, literature and history.
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Jonathan Kaufman archived the Celtic section of Mark de la Hey's
Guide
to the Gods version 1.0 before the Guide vanished. It contains dictionary
style listings of Celtic deities from both the British Isles and the Continent.
-
Jenny Sposito has
Celtic
and Arthurian
pages.
-
Lars Nooden presents a paper entitled Animal
Symbolism in Celtic Mythology
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Allen Wright (Puck) has developed his Pook's
Hill site around the deeds of the English faerie, Robin Goodfellow,
aka Puck. New! 6/3
Irish
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Anniina Jokinen presents an enormous collection of links to Irish
Literature, Mythology, Folkore, and Drama
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Here is concisely presented the mythic History
of the Irish Race from the Milesians to the Tuatha De Danann and links
to take you beyond.
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Lady Augusta Gregory retells The
Fate of the Children of Lir.
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This synopsis of Irish
Mythology is courtesy of Paddynet.
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From the Ulster cycle, it's
The
Story of MacDatho's Pig. Steve Taylor's site also contains a character
glossary/index and a collection of links to related sites.
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Also found on Steve Taylor's pages is the culmination of the Ulster cycle,
the Tain
Bo Cualnge, (The Cooley Cattle-raid). It is Cuchulain of Muirthemne's
triumph and tragedy, here translated by L. Winifred Faraday.
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Crystal Miller's Celtic
Myth and Lore page contains a number of tales of the Fianna and some
other Irish legends.
-
Richard Marsh's Legendary Tours
in addition to promoting their services recounts some Irish legends, broken
down by region of origin.
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Tony and Suzy's Celtic
Tales and Epic Journeys presents Irish folklore and tales, organized
geographically.
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William Butler Yeats wrote many poems and short stories which retold or
recast Irish legends, including Cuchulain's
Fight Against the Sea
Welsh
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Lady Charlotte Guest's 1848 translation of The
Mabinogion is that which Thomas Bulfinch sumarized in The Age of
Chivalry. It is a collection of tales containing Celtic myth, pseudo-historical
romance, and Arthurian legend with resonances of Chretien de Troyes. While
doubtlessly derived from pre-twelfth centrury oral antecedants, the earliest
written fragments of these tales date to the thirteenth century with more
complete versions appearing in The White Book of Rhydderch (1325)
and The Red Book of Hergest (1400). This is where to find tales
of Pwyll, Arwan, Annwvyn, Math, Rhiannon, and cauldrons which raise the
dead.
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Saros' British Mythology
page focuses on the Welsh Mabinogi.
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Dave D. retells the Pwyll stories from the Mabinogeon in Cfarwydd
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Rhiannon Kerins also retells the Pwyll stories after giving a history of
and introduction to The
Mabinogion.
Cornish
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Bill Rowe's page on Cornish
Folklore contains stories of Jack the Giant Killer, and excerpts
from Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain among
other things.
Scottish
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Scotts Gaelic
Culture. Among other things, this page includes essays on religion,
heroes, legends, and folklore. This includes information on brownies and
faeries and the tales of the Sons of the North Wind and of Thomas the Rhymer.
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From the on-line zine Thirteen comes this feature on Scottish
Myth
and Legend which includes stories of the King of the Fairies, the Brownies,
Prince Ian, and the Black bull of Norroway.
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Jason Webb retells the tale of Angus
McDougal for Tall Tales on the Web, a storytelling society.
Breton
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The Other Side features
ghost stories and Breton folktales.
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Eric Kemper's Legends
pages tell of the Kingdom of Ys and Arthur in Breton among other tales.
This page is in English and French.
Northumbrian
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Ned Ramm presents some pages on the History,
Legends and Flags of Northumbria.
Anglo-Saxon
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Translated from the Old English by Francis B. Gummere, Beowulf
was probably composed around 750 AD in Northumbria, although some of the
events it mentions occured over 200 years earlier on the continent and
features the titled hero's contests with Grendel, his mother the troll-wife,
and a dragon.
Arthurian
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King
Arthur - Avalon Chris Thornborrow's excellent site on Arthurian legends.
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Oxford Arthurian Society
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Celtic Twilight
is an excellent site on the Matter of Britain. It includes an infopedia
of Arthurian characters and a collection of translations of the major Arthurian
works, including Lady Charlotte Guest's translation of the Welsh Mabinogion.
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Sources of
British History excerpts from many early documents relating to Arthur
including:
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Gildas
a 6th century monk who mentions Aurellius Ambrosius and the battle at Badon.
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Jordanes' Gothic
History a sixth century work which describes a battle led by Riothamus,
who may have been the historical King Arthur.
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Elegy for
Geraint, a sixth century Welsh poem, here in translation presents its
subject as dying among Arthur's heroes.
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The ninth century Welsh historian, Nennius authored some of the earlier
written references to Arthur in his Historia
Brittonum
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The Annales
Cambriae - written in Wales circa 970, this text mentiones Arthur at
Badon and Arthur's and Mordred's (Medraut's) deaths.
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Under the patronage of Marie de Champagne from 1159 to 1191, Chretien de
Troyes composed the some of the earliest Arthurian romances. His first
work, Eric
and Enide was proably written in 1169. It corresponds to the Welsh
tale of Gereint and Enid, found in the
Mabinogion.
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Chretien's second work, Cliges,
dates to 1176.
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His La Chevalier de la Charrette
is the earliest written work about Lancelot, composed in the late 1170's
or 1180.
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Chretien's The Knight
with the Lion was probably written at the same time as or shortly after
La Chevalier de la Charrette and focuses on the deeds of Yvain. This story
closely parallels that of Owein, or the Countess of the Fountain
from the Welsh Mabinogion.
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Layamon's Brut
was written around 1200 AD, drawing heavily from the tradition of Geoffrey
of Monmouth and Wace.
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The High
History of the Holy Graal is one of a number of continuations of Cretien's
The
Story of the Grail, (Percival). This one was composed in the early
1200's.
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Gawain
and the Green Knight by the anonymous author of The Pearl, this
work was written around 1370 in West Midland Middle English.
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The Alliterative Morte
Arthure was written around 1400 AD, making use of the ending section
of the French Prose Lancelot-Grail Cycle, 'Le Mort le Roi Artu'.
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In the late 15th century, Sir Thomas Malory composed what is probably the
definitive work of Arthurian literature based on several sources, including
the French prose Lancelot. In 1485, it was published after having a good
deal of editting done by William Caxton under the title Le
Morte D'Arthur(large file). Also found at Virginia is the second
volume (large file) of that work.
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The library at the University of Rochester maintains a large variety of
Arthurian texts at their Camelot
Project
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Alfred, Lord Tennyson published his poetic novel, The Idylls of the
King in 1859. Lancelot
and Elaine is one episode from that work.
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In the late ninteenth century, Richard Wagner composed his opera Parzival
based heavily on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parsifal, a thirteenth century
work, which in turn draws on Chretien de Troyes' Percival (1187) and centers
on that knight's quest for the Sangraal.
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Arthurian Booklist
grown from the old Camelot mailing list and maintained by Cindy Tittle
Moore.
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Tyagi Nagasiva's Merlin
Archive via ftp.
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Adam Levin's thesis on The
Death of King Arthur in history and literature.
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alt.legend.king-arthur
Robin Hood
-
You've got to love the University of Rochester. In the same vein as their
Camelot collection listed above, is the Robin
Hood Project - a huge text archive of early works on Prince John's
bane as well as a collection of artwork featuring that character.
-
Sir Walter Scott's work Ivanhoe
has Robin as a feature character.
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Allen Wright (Puck) is putting together his own Robin
Hood site. It has a great deal of information about the history of
the outlaw of Sherwood, as well as a bunch of links to other Robin Hood
sites and some historical information about Nottingham castle.
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Another exhaustive list which Cindy Tittle Moore maintains is the Robin
Hood booklist.
Frankish, French and Carolingian
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The Matter of France begins with The
Song of Roland, here translated by Charles Scott Mancrief.
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By the early renaissance, the Italians had picked up the story of Charlemagne's
peers. Matteo Maria Boiardo's Orlando Innamorato was first published
in 1482 or 1483. He left it unfinished at his death, so Ludovico Ariosto
continued the story in Orlando
Furioso.
-
see also the Breton section.
Spanish
-
Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, aka El
Cid was a Spanish
infanzon (baronet), who was put into exile
twice over politics in the late 1000's. While in exile, he fought for the
Moorish Emir Mu'taman of Saragossa and his exploits became legend with
the above romanticized poem being written around 1201-1207.
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Well, it's not really a legend but I'll put it here anyway: Don
Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, 1615; translated by John Ormsby.
Basque
Native American
General
-
Glen Welker's Indigenous
Peoples' Literature page. While its strength is in its info from the
cultures of what is now Mexico and the southwestern U.S., this page has
links to a wealth of literature from all over the Americas and the world.
-
Nativeweb keeps an
extensive Index
of Native American Short Stories Online.
-
Broken down by region, these Myths
and Legends for American Indian Youth are an extensive list with descriptions
of tales from throughout North America.
-
A new tale from a Native American group appears at StonE's
Weblodge every month. Old tales are archived here as well.
-
The Canadian Museum of Civilization presents a collection of stories from
the Algonquin, Abenaki, Inuvialuit, Metis-Cree, Mi'kmaq, and Nisga'a peoples
in it's exhibithion - Storytelling:
the Art of Knowledge.
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Kathryn Gabriel's Indian
Gaming Mythology sketches myths involving gambling from tribes across
North America as an introduction and teaser to her book, Gambler Way.
South American
-
Margaritta Barretto and Dr. Joaquin A. Barrio have put together a dictionary
of South American Mitos
y Leyendas en Espanol for the e-zine Noticias de Antropologia y
Arqueologia.
-
The Origin
of the Inca People tells just that.
-
Mythological
Chiloe Island presents legends from this island off the coast of Chile.
Most of this site is in Spanish.
Central American
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Part of Glen Welker's site mentioned above concerns the Indigenous
People of Mexico and relates some of the legends of the Aztecs.
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Wes Dunn tells of The
Formation and Structure of the Aztec Universe and The
Myth of the Fifth Sun.
-
Daniel Larsen presents Spence's retelling of the Aztec folktale,
The
Queen with One Hundred Lovers.
-
Stephen Booth's essay on The
Aztecs: A Tradition of Religious Human Sacrifice seeks an explaination
for this practice in the Aztec myths.
-
Princeton High School ninth graders have researched the Mayan
Creation Story
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Mayan
Folktales told by don Pedro Miguel Say and translated by Fernandon
Pe-alosa.
-
Maya Stories
excerpted from Tales and Legends of the Q'anjob'al Maya present
legends from the Maya of Quatamala.
-
This site gives brief information on some of the Mayan
Gods.
-
The Mayan Culture page presents an article on The
Legacy of the Ancient Maya, which includes cultural information in
addition to a description of Mayan gods and religion.
-
A brief article on The
Mythology of Maiz.
Southwest
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Al Mandell and The Pyramid Lake Paiute tribe present a tale of Stone Mother
and Origin of Man.
-
The
Hopi Information Network presents several Hopi stories.
-
This excerpt of Harry C. James's Pages
from Hopi History, tells of the Hurung Whuti's creation of the world.
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G. M. Mullet tells the Hopi tale of The
Children and the Hummingbird in this sample from her collection
Spider
Woman Stories.
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Anna Moore Shaw tells The
Legend of Eagleman in this excerpt from her book Pima Indian Legends.
Great Plains
-
The Lakota owned Redhawk Publishing presents
lore from the Lakota and others.
-
Marie L. McLaughlin collected Myths
and Legends of the Sioux completing her collection around 1913.
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Old
Indian Legends of Iktomi, Iya, and others; from the Dakotas, retold
by Zitkata-Sa.
Northwest
-
Bigfoot Legends
gathered from Native American sources.
-
Amy Lowell retells the story of Many
Swans: Sun Myth of the North American Indians based on the Kathlamet
legend, in a journal article from 1920.
Northeast
-
In 1898, Simon Pokagon, an Algonquin from Michigan, set down some Indian
Superstitions and Legends.
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The Monomini Indians
are native to what is now Northeastern Wisconsin. Their language is from
the Algonquin family. Here are collected seven tales.
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The Iroquois Legend
of Onarga
-
The Lenape Storytelling
page contains several stories, although most of them are currently under
construction.
-
Jason Belanger presents a collection of Mi'kMaq
Legendsand corresponding images from tapestries, both written and designed
by Michael Francis. Many of these tales feature Glooscap.
Southeast
-
The Cherokee Messenger provides James Mooney's telling of the Origin
of Disease and Medicine. This tells of the grievances of animals against
man and the Plants' alliance with man.
-
J. C. High Eagle tells the Cherokee Tale
of the Rooster's Tail - a story of dancing, pride, and astronomical
objects.
-
Ken Masters's Cherokee
Images site opens with a story of how Old Woman Spider (A-ga-yv-li-ge)
developed the first piece of pottery.
-
Cherokees of California present a collection of eleven tales of
Cherokees
Mythology.
Arctic and Sub-Arctic
-
Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley presents Yupiaq
Education Revisited, a page which includes information on the traditional
beliefs and myths of the Yupiaq Eskimos, including a tale of the "Two Brothers".
-
Information about
Innu History and Culture includes several stories.
Australian Aboriginal
Polynesian
African (excluding Egypt)
-
Because of their close cultural association with the Near East, I have
included my links to Egyptian Mythology sites in the
Ancient Near East section of this page.
-
Bill Parades-Holt's world literature course pages include an essay on African
Mythology which draws from sources scattered about the continent.
-
Pomona's Ancient Cosmology site discusses African
Cosmology and Mythology in this brief article highlighting Mande and
Dogon ideas.
-
Cutting to
the Essence an art exhibit covering the religion and mythology of the
Yoruba people, a culture primarily from southwestern Nigeria and Benin.
-
Perhaps more properly considered a religion page than a mythology page,
Ijo
Orunmila describes the Cosmology and Creation story of the Yoruba and
also includes related stories and prayers.
-
In Louis Trichard, Thoyandou
- a cultural experience in a land of myths and legends Lynette Oxley
discusses several myths and legends in the VhaVenda culture of northern
South Africa.
Caribbean
-
This dictionary of Afro-Carribean
Deities is primarily draws from those of Yoruba origin.
-
Vodoun Creation
Mythology. Just what is the Voodoo view of the world anyway? Voodoun
is native to Haiti, but draws on West African and Christian sources.
-
Flavodoun presents his Haitian
Vodoun Culture page. Among other things, it includes a listing of the
deities and their families.
Gothic Horror
Early Fantasy & SF
-
Phantastes:
A Faerie Romance for Men and Women (1858), The
Light Princess and Lilith
(ZIP file, 1895) by George
MacDonald. "Most myths were made in prehistoric times, and, I suppose,
not conciously made by individuals at all. But every now and thenthere
occurs in the modern world a genius - a Kafka or a Novalis - who can make
such a story. MacDonald is the greatest genius of this kind whom I know."
- C. S. Lewis
-
"'Curiouser and Curiouser', said Alice." - Lewis
Carrol. Alice's Adventures began in 1865.
-
The
Well at World's End (1896), A
Dream of John Ball and a King's Lesson by William Morris
"Scholars and historians of fantasy, such as my friend L. Sprague de
Camp, agree that it was the English novelist, poet, and artisan William
Morris (1834-96) who founded the genre of the heroic fantasy laid in imaginary
Medieval lands or worlds where magic works." - Lin Carter
-
"These tales have been compared with the work of Jules
Verne and there was a disposition on the part of literary journalists
at one time to call me the English Jules Verne. As of mater of fact there
is no literary resemblance whatever between the anticipatory inventions
of the Frenchman and these fantasies. His work dealt with almost always
with actual possibilities of the invention and discovery, and he made some
remarkable forecasts.... He helped his reader to imagine it done and to
realise what fun, excitement or mischief would ensue.... But these stories
of mine collected here do not pretend to deal with possible things..."
- H. G. Wells
-
"Folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood through
the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instictive love
for stories fantastic, marvelous and manifestly unreal." - L.
Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz (1900), the first of
fourteen of his Oz tales.
-
Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Lord
Dunsany. Irish Lord and master of fantasy, Dunsany began publishing
in 1905 with The Gods of Pegana and kept churning out plays, poems,
and short stories until his death in 1957.
-
Dunsany's Pegana
tales are here presented by Ambrosius Aurelianus.
-
Charles Vess has collected a huge amount of Plunkett's tales, some of which
may have only appeared in magazines, in Dunsany's
Corner.
-
Edgar Rice
Burroughs' tales of fantastic adventure fiction have made a huge impact
on American culture. John Carter of Mars, the hero of his first novel A
Princess of Mars (1912), is said to be an inspiration for the creation
of Superman. His Tarzan stories have been made into numerous movies and
TV programs. Even this past summer has seen a movie spoof of the character.
-
A. Merrit's adventure novels, including The
Moon Pool, published in 1919, are full of elements of fantasy.
-
James MacDonald's Library
of the Fantastic is an archive of numerous public domain fantasy and
horror tales including some by the above authors, as well as Chalmers,
Lord Byron, Polidori, and others.
Medieval refs
index
Original Page Credited to Christopher B. Siren mailto:cbsiren@hopper.unh.edu
