Customer Reviews (1)

Transfixed
This book was about traditional story tellers using the English language and what happened to them relative to their counterparts in the Irish tradition.It casts a cold eye on ideas about the relationships betweenfolklore collectors and their collaborators.It is very worthwhile foranyone interested in the impact of selective attention on performers. ... Read more

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This enthralling anthology of Irish legends and tales of the occult is composed of three classic collections--"The Celtic Twilight, The Secret Rose", and "Stories of Red Hanrahan"--and reflects Ireland's greatest poet's deep and abiding interest in preserving and celebrating Irish history and culture. ... Read more

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A Fascinating Collection from Ireland's Mythical Tradition.
_Mythologies_ by Irish national poet, William Butler Yeats, is a fascinating collection from the writings of Yeats featuring various stories and legends which reveal Ireland's mythical and spiritual tradition.W. B. Yeats was regarded as Ireland's greatest poet and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.But, Yeats was also an occultist who belonged to the secret society, the Golden Dawn, as well as an Irish nationalist and promoter of the Celtic renaissance.This book is a very interesting collection from his writings featuring tales of Gaelic magic, fairies, demons, curses, banshees, ghosts, and mysticism.It represents an excellent introduction to the writings of Yeats and to his mystical thought.

The first section of this book contains extracts from _The Celtic Twilight_, first published in 1893.There are in total forty separate tales presented from _The Celtic Twilight_.These include stories featuring fairies and ghosts and various elements of Irish folklore.Yeats states that most of the tales in this book were told to him by Paddy Flynn, an old Irishman.In particular, Yeats is influenced by the poetry of Dante, as he traces out the role of the afterlife in heaven, hell, and purgatory for souls trapped between the two.Yeats also emphasizes the roles of the Sidhe, fairies, and banshees.

The second section of this book contains extracts from _The Secret Rose_ published in 1897 along with _The Stories of Red Hanrahan_ and _Rosa Alchemica_._The Secret Rose_ contains nine separate chapters, many of them featuring bizarre tales including a tale of crucifixion._The Stories of Red Hanrahan_, emphasizing a schoolmaster and a mysterious game of cards, rewritten with the help of Lady Gregory in 1907, contains six tales.

The next section of the book contains the following parts:_Rosa Alchemica_, _The Tables of the Law_, and _The Adoration of the Magi_, published in 1897.These include discussions of alchemy and the occult as well as Yeats' discussion of Christianity.Finally, the book ends with extracts from _Per Amica Silentia Lunae_, published in 1917.This section includes five chapters.Mention is made of various alchemical and occult traditions including mention of the medieval mystic Joachim of Fiore who proposed three world ages, an Age of the Father, an Age of the Son, and an Age of the Holy Ghost.Throughout these sections the occult development of Yeats can be seen as he deals with various occult figures who further his spiritual understanding.

This book provides an excellent introduction to the writings of W. B. Yeats, Irish national poet and occultist.The book contains important extracts from his beautiful writings which serve to illuminate various components of the Irish/Celtic tradition.

Irish lore and legends
In this volume you get The Celtic Twilight (1893), 34 Irish stories about the supernatural, where little people, faeries, ghosts (some of them headless) abound; most of them have been collected from the people who remember this old lore, but a few of them, like A Voice, and The Old Town, are from Yeats' own experience.
The second part is The Secret Rose (1897), 9 legends that are perhaps my favorite section of this book, with stories like The Wisdom of the King, of a lonely hero who as a baby was given a "grey as the mist" drop of hawk crone blood, and whose hair was mixed with feathers.
Stories of Red Hanrahan (1897 and rewritten in 1907), is the life and death of a wandering poet, "the learned man and the great songmaker", which includes a number of poems.

Rosa Alchemica, Tables of the Law, and The Adoration of the Magi (1897) are on esoteric mysticism; glimpses into heaven and hell.
The final part is Per Amica Silentia Lunae (1917), essays on spiritualism, Christianity, poetry and its writers, and more.
Written with much beauty by the man many consider to be Ireland's greatest poet (and Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923), this unique collection of tales will enchant anyone interested in Irish history and its legends; legends whichwill, like the little creatures, last "until God shall burn up the world with a kiss". ... Read more

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The author studies the interaction between poetry and mythology. In discussing the poetry of Yeats he uses the term mythology in an extended sense as describing a process as well as an object. ... Read more

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Introduced by Jenni Calder and Roderick Watson. Kidnapped - Catriona - The Master of Ballantrae - Weir of Hermiston: These four great novels take us deep into Robert Louis Stevenson's imaginative and bitter-sweet relationship with his native country. Kidnapped, and its sequel Catriona, are renowned the world over as supreme stories of adventure and romance. On another level they also explore the subtle divisions of Scottish history and character in the eighteenth century, and (some would say) the present day. The Master of Ballantrae takes a darker and more disturbing turn, with its tale of rival brothers caught in a webof hatred, obsession, love and betrayal which draws them to their end in the frozen wastes of North America. Stevenson's fascination with the divided nature of the human self (most obviously demonstrated in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde) appears again in the Weir of Hermiston with its terrible confrontation between a father and his son. With an unsurpassed combination of physical adventure and psychological insight, The Scottish Novels have moved and thrilled readers and writers from Stevenson's contemporaries to the present day. ... Read more

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This text is designed as a companion volume to "Discovering the Greeks". It provides an account of the major Greek and Cretan myths, and the text is suitable for a wide range of pupils. The first part of the book introduces the main Olympian gods and those in the second rank, and tells the story of Persephone, Narcissus, Pandora, and Orpheus and Eurydice. The second part of the book covers Theseus' adventures and the Trojan wars, and the third part of the book recounts the exploits of Odysseus, Jason, Perseus and Hercules. At the end of each chapter, there are suggestions for a variety of activities. ... Read more

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Edited and introduced by Andrew Lownie. This is the first ever complete collection of all Buchan's shorter Scottish fiction. Set largely in his beloved Borders, these stories and novellas show the full range and depth of Buchan's writing. Featuring shepherds, poachers, gamekeepers and drovers, they are worlds away from the tales of aristocratic adventure with which he is so often associated.Shot through with characters and places he returned to in his full-length fiction, the Buchan that emerges from this collection is a very different and much more complex writer than he is often held to be. ... Read more

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These myths draw you into the world of the Celts, and their history and traditions that have resonated through the ages to the present day. ... Read more

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Armchair Reading
An excellent way to become familiar with Celtic stories but a more avid Celtophile will not find their thirst quenched! ... Read more

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CHAPTER I.

Alexander Crawford sat reading a book which he studied frequently with a profound interest. Not the Bible: that volume had indeed its place of honor in the room, but the book Crawford read was a smaller one; it was stoutly bound and secured by a brass lock, and it was all in manuscript. It was his private ledger, and it contained his bank account. Its contents seemed to give him much solid satisfaction; and when at last he locked the volume and replaced it in his secretary, it was with that careful respect which he considered due to the representative of so many thousand pounds.
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Arranged in an A-Z format, this is a collection of Scottish proverbs, old and new, with an introduction which aims to provide an insight into the role of proverbs in Scottish language and culture. ... Read more

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Classical Mythology in English Literature brings together a range of English versions of three classical myths, allowing readers for the first time to explore the ways in which they have been reinterpreted and reinvented by writers throughout history.

Beginning with a concise introduction to the principal Greco-Roman gods and heroes, the anthology then focuses on three stories: Orpheus, the great musician and his quest to free his wife Eurydice from death; Venus and Adonis, the love goddess and the beautiful youth she loved; and Pygmalion, the master sculptor who fell in love with his creation. Each section begins with the classical sources and ends with contemporary versions, showing how each myth has been used/abused or appropriated since its origins. ... Read more

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I loved this book!
I first read this book when I was in college. I was browsing the library shelves for Medieval English literature when I came across some Arthurian texts. I had always loved King Arthur tales and Ashe's books piqued myinterest even further. Then, by accident I came upon The Mythology of theBritish Isles--it is such a wonderful book! Full of myths and their basisesin history, lots of color pictures and drawings, and plenty of easy toread, easy to follow references.

This book will appeal to both amateursand academics looking for more information on British Mythology. It goesbeyond Arthur, delving into lesser known tales (Like that of Vortigern, OldKing Cole, Prince Powyll of Powis and Rhiannon, etc.) and it gives richhistoric details to fill in the gaps. Very reader friendly. A must have forthose interested in these myths. For those familiar with Ashe's otherworks, this is true to form. A keeper! ... Read more

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This volume, originally published in 1937, is reissued with a new preface and a few small corrections. A brilliant study of the continuing and changing uses of classical mythology in English poetry, it treats most of the major and many of the minor English poets since 1680 and includes a chapter on the use of myth in American verse. It provides an illuminating overview of English poetry since the end of the Renaissance.

In his Preface to the new printing, Bush briefly surveys the various approaches to classical myth over the centuries. "During the last two generations," he observes, "most of the leading British and American poets (not to mention Rilke and others) have renewed the mythic or mythological tradition with fresh power. Thus, in spite of the accumulated pressures and threats of our time, the vitality and the necessity of myth remain." He also reminisces engagingly about the writing of the book and acknowledges that after three decades he does not find a great deal in it that he would wish to change.

Customer Reviews (2)

Mythology of Middle-Earth
I found this shallow and brief in its analysis and written in an annoyingly choppy style. It didn't appear to have been produced by a serious scholar of folklore/mythology.

There have got to be better studies out there.

Good stuff, if you are starting your search here
This book is a good start for those interested in the basics of Tolkien's mythological influences.It is simply written and easy to understand for the average reader.However, for those who are looking for a more in-depth analysis of Tolkien's use of myth and relation to the more obscure texts the Professor worked with, this very well might be a rehashing of already known material.Some attention is, appropriately, given to the universality if certain mythic themes, characters, and occurences. ... Read more

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NOTE: This edition has a linked "Table of Contents" and has been beautifully formatted (searchable and interlinked) to work on your Amazon e-book reader or iPod e-book reader.

A collection of German tales and legends, including the Nibelungen stories.

Written by Lewis Spence, a Scottish journalist, whose efforts as a compiler of Scottish folklore have proved more durable than his efforts as a poet and occult scholar.

Spence's researches into the mythology and culture of the New World, together with his examination of the cultures of western Europe and north-west Africa, led him almost inevitably to the question of Atlantis. During the 1920s he published a series of books which sought to rescue the topic from the occultists who had more or less brought it into disrepute.

A must-have for classic mythology fans! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Hero Tales and Legends of the Rhine
I grew up with these tales in Germany, and was looking for a good summary/translation in English. The selection gives a great overview over the tales, covers all the well known ones and also gives some useful historical back ground information.
It will be necessary to make some stylistic changes though, in order to bring some of them into a format to be read at a presentation. This is something I would have liked to have known beforehand.

Hero Tales from the Rhine
My wife and I are planning a river cruise along the Rhine.This book is the perfect accompanyment for a romantic trip.

Rhineland Legends
Perhaps the reviewer below should learn his German well enough to find and read the German sources, rather than criticise that stuffy Brit who wrote this book. Let him also consider that the Brits are cousins of the Germans and that these legends are as much a part of British tradition as German. As for the stuffy British style, the author was writing in the early 20th century when such language was considered proper, rather than the modern American travesty of the English language. Lewis Spence deserves great respect as a scholar. He is a most interesting writer.

Okay. Needs a New Working.
This would be a very good book if it were not written in boring, stuffy and stilted British English. Then again it was written in 1915, and by a Brit. This book first introduced English readers to the legends of the Lorelei, the Mouse Tower, the Wild Hunt. If only someone can come along and retell these stories as if a real Rhinelander was speaking and not some tedious British aristocrat this would be a marvelous book!!

Good book
Very good book of stories from the Rhine. It first came out in 1915 but the stories are time less, it not only deals with the German part of the Rhine but also the tales from France. ... Read more

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"Scottish Myths and Legends" is an entertaining taste of the feast of stories that Scotland has to offer. Fairy folk, witches, giants, monsters, tales of heroic princes, magic and miraculous feats - all are the stuff of the myths and legends of Scotland. Scotland is a nation made up of many peoples and cultures. This diversity of cultural influence is reflected in Scotland's vast store of myths and legends. This book contains a fascinating selection of these; some recent, some ancient, some obscure in origin and others based (however loosely) on fact. We invite you to revel in engaging tales of selkies, kelpies, glaistigs, fairy queens and changelings; wonder at the mysteries that may be hidden in the depths of Scottish lochs; and, shiver at tales of supernatural disappearances, deadly creatures and grisly deeds, and if you ever meet someone called Sawney Bean, who lived in a cave with his family and ate people - run for your life! ... Read more

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From The Inside Flap:
Scottish Myths and Legends is a dazzling collection of the most enthralling of classic tales, vivdly retold and illustrated by an intriguing array of paintings, etchings and illustrations. Celebrating the compelling appeal of the fiery Scottish tradition, this book gathers together the legends and sagas of both bygone cultures and more contemporary interpretations, in a powerful tribute to the heroism, romance and mystery of the Scottish people.
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