This is a golden treasury of over one hundred English folktales captured in the form they were first collected in past centuries. Read these classic tales as they would have been told when storytelling was a living art – when the audience believed in boggarts and hobgoblins, local witches and will-o’-the-wisps, ghosts and giants, cunning foxes and royal frogs. Find “Jack the Giantkiller”, “Tom Tit Tot” and other quintessentially English favourites, alongside interesting borrowings, such as an English version of the Grimms’ “Little Snow White” – as well as bedtime frighteners, including “Captain Murderer”, as told to Charles Dickens by his childhood nurse. Neil Philip has provided a full introduction and source notes on each story that illustrate each tale’s journey from mouth to page, and what has happened to them on the way. These tales rank among the finest English short stories of all time in their richness of metaphor and plot and their great verbal dash and daring.

A comprehensive and entertaining collection of urban legends from around the world, with a history and analysis of the origin of each tale, compiled by a leading authority in the field. A rich and unique collection of folktales and urban legends from around the world. Each story comes with an accompanying brief note to provide context. Including new tales reflecting new concerns; old tales repurposed for new audiences and new ways of telling. The collection illustrates that these stories are now alive across many new media. This is the first such popular book to bring together stories with both traditional and digital media origins and to examine how the phenomenon of social media has affected both the spread of urban legends and their very nature. Features the uniquely modern manifestation of folk mythology and legend, now made ubiquitous by the internet; the conspiracy theory. Includes urban legends such as: The Pickled Hand, The Babysitter, The Sandman. Includes conspiracy theories such as: Wild Fires, Fifteen Minute Cities and Organ Theft. 40% of the stories originate in North America, 30% in Europe, 20% in Asia, 10% in Africa and elsewhere The book also shows how stories spread and change from the country of origin to become global.

From the famous Arthurian legends to monsters and faeries, The Little Book of Folklore explores the magical and mystical tales that have shaped the British Isles. Filled with stories of iconic characters like Robin Hood and Merlin, as well as lesser-known tales of giants and witches, this book is a beginner's guide to this world of myth and wonder.

Take a trip down a faery pathway and meet the folk of the Otherworld, the realm of the faeries in this charming and practical guide. Harmonia Saille will take you step by step along the faery pathway, teaching you all about faery culture on the way, and showing you how to connect and communicate with them.

This book addresses a variety of issues through the examination of heroic figures in children's popular literature, comics, film, and television.

Singers at the world's dawn--Masters of forbidden arts--The shadowy sisterhood.

'Diane Purkiss ... insists on taking witches seriously. Her refusal to write witch-believers off as unenlightened has produced some richly intelligent meditations on their -- and our -- world.' - The Observer 'An invigorating and challenging book ... sets many hares running.' - The Times Higher Education Supplement

Examining how we interpret Welshness today, this volume brings together fourteen essays covering a full range of representations of Welsh mythology, folklore, and ritual in popular culture. Topics covered include the twentieth-century fantasy fiction of Evangeline Walton, the Welsh presence in the films of Walt Disney, Welshness in folk music, video games, and postmodern literature. Together, these interdisciplinary essays explore the ways that Welsh motifs have proliferated in this age of cultural cross-pollination, spreading worldwide the myths of one small British nation.

Accurate and reliable biographical information essential to anyone interested in the world of literature TheInternational Who's Who of Authors and Writersoffers invaluable information on the personalities and organizations of the literary world, including many up-and-coming writers as well as established names. With over 8,000 entries, this updated edition features: * Concise biographical information on novelists, authors, playwrights, columnists, journalists, editors, and critics * Biographical details of established writers as well as those who have recently risen to prominence * Entries detailing career, works published, literary awards and prizes, membership, and contact addresses where available * An extensive listing of major international literary awards and prizes, and winners of those prizes * A directory of major literary organizations and literary agents * A listing of members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters