The islands of Britain have been a crossroads of gods, heroes, and kings-those of flesh as well as those of myth-for thousands of years. Successive waves of invasion brought distinctive legends, rites, and beliefs. The ancient Celts displaced earlier indigenous peoples, only to find themselves displaced in turn by the Romans, who then abandoned the islands to Germanic tribes, a people themselves nearly overcome in time by an influx of Scandinavians. With each wave of invaders came a battle for the mythic mind of the Isles as the newcomer's belief system met with the existing systems of gods, legends, and myths. In Gods, Heroes, and Kings, medievalist Christopher Fee and veteran myth scholar David Leeming unearth the layers of the British Isles' unique folkloric tradition to discover how this body of seemingly disparate tales developed. The authors find a virtual battlefield of myths in which pagan and Judeo-Christian beliefs fought for dominance, and classical, Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, and Celtic narrative threads became tangled together. The resulting body of legends became a strange but coherent hybrid, so that by the time Chaucer wrote "The Wife of Bath's Tale" in the fourteenth century, a Christian theme of redemption fought for prominence with a tripartite Celtic goddess and the Arthurian legends of Sir Gawain-itself a hybrid mythology. Without a guide, the corpus of British mythology can seem impenetrable. Taking advantage of the latest research, Fee and Leeming employ a unique comparative approach to map the origins and development of one of the richest folkloric traditions. Copiously illustrated with excerpts in translation from the original sources,Gods, Heroes, and Kings provides a fascinating and accessible new perspective on the history of British mythology.

A classical guide to the role both Greek and Roman mythology played in European art during the Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassical ages. Includes more than four hundred illustrations.

Meet the Original Superheroes. Before there was Batman, Wonder Woman, or Black Panther...there was Indra, Hindu king of gods, who battled a fearsome snake to save the world from drought. Athena, the powerful Greek goddess of wisdom who could decide the fate of battles before they even began. Okuninushi, the Japanese hero who defeated eighty brothers to become king and then traded it all for a chance at immortality. Featuring more than 70 characters from 23 cultures around the world, this A-to-Z encyclopedia of mythology is a who's who of powerful gods and goddesses, warriors and kings, enchanted creatures and earthshaking giants whose stories have been passed down since the beginning of time—and are now given fresh life for a new generation of young readers. Plus, You'll Learn All About: Dragons: The Hydra, St. George's Dragon, and the Australian Rainbow Snake Giants: Grendel, Balor of the Evuil Eye, Polyphemus, and the Purusha with the thousand heads Monsters: Manticore, Sphinx, Minotaur, Thunderbird, and Echidne, mother of the Nemean lion that nearly killed Heracles Underworlds: Travel to Hades, Valhalla, and the Elysian Fields

The last thing Christopher saw was a golden hawk. Then, he was centuries away from home. At eleven years of age, Christopher Nikitas thought his greatest challenge would be convincing his parents to allow him to walk to and from school without his yiayia, his Greek Cypriot grandmother. What he didn't count on was being thrust back in time, when Cyprus was divided into kingdoms, to carry out the legends of his ancestors: King Evagoras I, King Nicocles and King Pnytagoras II. Through this journey of self- discovery, Christopher will uncover what it means to live a legacy and begin to question the meaning of life ...

A collection of African myths, legends and fables about gods, spirits, ghosts, heroes, and animals.

Profiling the most notable of the Mythological Kings of Greece

Combining entertainment and education, India's most beloved comic book series, Amar Chitra Katha, or "Immortal Picture Stories," is also an important cultural institution that has helped define, for several generations of readers, what it means to be Hindu and Indian. Karline McLain worked in the ACK production offices and had many conversations with Anant Pai, founder and publisher, and with artists, writers, and readers about why the comics are so popular and what messages they convey. In this intriguing study, she explores the making of the comic books and the kinds of editorial and ideological choices that go into their production.

The islands of Britain have been a meeting ground of peoples and myths for thousands of years. The Ancient Celts displaced the earlier indigenous peoples, only to find themselves displaced in turn by the Romans, who then abandoned the islands to Germanic tribes that were themselves nearlyovercome by an influx of Scandinavians. Each of these groups brought distinctive legends, rites, and beliefs; with each succeeding wave of invasion, new mythic systems came into contact and conflict with previously established beliefs. In Gods, Heroes, and Kings, Christopher Fee and veteran myth scholar David Leeming explore the sources of Britain's variegated folkloric tradition to discover how this body of seemingly unrelated tales developed. Fee and Leeming uncover a virtual battlefield of myths in which pagan andJudeo-Christian beliefs fought for dominance and classical, Anglo-Saxon, German, and Celtic narrative threads became tangled together. The resulting body of legends became a strange but coherent hybrid, which featured Christian heroes who exhibited distinctly pagan behavior. These myths continue tointerest a broad range of readers: alternative spiritual groups embrace the pagan traditions and folklore of the British Isles, while the Arthurian legends inspire countless fictions, role-playing games, and historical romances. Fee and Leeming have availed themselves to the most recent scholarshipto render an accessible examination of the mythologies of Britain that will be engaging and informative to scholars and general readers alike.

"Features more mythological sagas from Apollodorus' Library and additional excerpts from his other work, including the stories of Deucalion, Dionysus, Bellerophon, Kadmos, and Tiresias" -- Publisher's website