Award-winning editor Paula Guran presents a diverse reprint anthology collecting classic myths and legends, retold by today’s top fantasy writers. The Native American trickster Coyote . . . the snake-haired Greek Gorgon Medusa, whose gaze turned men to stone . . . Kaggen, creator of the San peoples of Africa . . . the Holy Grail of Arthurian legend . . . Freyja, the Norse goddess of love and beauty . . . Ys, the mythical sunken city once built on the coast of France . . . Ragnarok, the myth of a world destroyed and reborn . . . Jason and the Argonauts, sailing in search of the Golden Fleece . . . Myths and legends are the oldest of stories, part of our collective consciousness, and the source from which all fiction flows. Full of magic, supernatural powers, monsters, heroes, epic journeys, strange worlds, and vast imagination, they are fantasies so compelling we want to believe them true. This new anthology compiles some of the best modern short mythic retellings and reinvention of legend from award-winning and bestselling authors, acclaimed storytellers, and exciting new talent, offering readers new ways to interpret and understand the world. Adventure with us on these Mythic Journeys . . . TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: A Map or Maybe Not “Lost Lake” – Emma Straub and Peter Straub “White Lines on a Green Field” – Catherynne M. Valente “Trickster” – Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due “Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies” – Brooke Bolander “A Memory of Wind” – Rachel Swirsky “Leda” – M. Rickert “Chivalry” – Neil Gaiman “The God of Au” – Ann Leckie “Faint Voices, Increasingly Desperate” – Anya Johanna DeNiro “Ogres of East Africa” – Sofia Samatar “Ys” – Aliette de Bodard “The Gorgon” – Tanith Lee “Merlin Dreams in the Mondream Wood” – Charles de Lint “Calypso in Berlin” – Elizabeth Hand “Seeds” – Lisa L. Hannett and Angela Slatter “Wonder-Worker-of-the-World” – Nisi Shawl “Thesea and Astaurius” – Priya Sharma “Foxfire, Foxfire” – Yoon Ha Lee “Owl vs. the Neighborhood Watch” – Darcie Little Badger “How to Survive an Epic Journey” – Tansy Rayner Roberts “Simargl and the Rowan Tree” – Ekaterina Sedia “The Ten Suns” – Ken Liu “Armless Maidens of the American West” – Genevieve Valentine “Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream” – Maria Dahvana Headley “Zhyuin” – John Shirley “Immortal Snake” – Rachel Pollack “A Wolf in Iceland Is the Child of a Lie” – Sonya Taaffe About the Authors About the Editor Acknowledgements

We all tell stories about who we are, where we come from, and where we are going. These personal myths in turn shape who we become and what we believe—as individuals, families, and nations. This book offers readers the tools to detect the story line in their own lives and to write and tell it to others, opening up a hidden world of self-discovery and meaning. The numerous accessible exercises are followed by examples of personal stories and inspiring quotes to stimulate the journey to the center of one's purpose. "By the art of fantasy and imagination, story and image, these authors map the ways personal stories deepen into transpersonal mythic journeys." —David Miller, Ph.D., Watson-Ledden Professor of Religion, Syracuse University

Award-winning editor Paula Guran presents a diverse reprint anthology collecting classic myths and legends, retold by today’s top fantasy writers, including Neil Gaiman and Emma and Peter Straub. The Native American trickster Coyote . . . the snake-haired Greek Gorgon Medusa, whose gaze turned men to stone . . . Kaggen, creator of the San peoples of Africa . . . the Holy Grail of Arthurian legend . . . Freyja, the Norse goddess of love and beauty . . . Ys, the mythical sunken city once built on the coast of France . . . Ragnarok, the myth of a world destroyed and reborn . . . Jason and the Argonauts, sailing in search of the Golden Fleece . . . Myths and legends are the oldest of stories, part of our collective consciousness, and the source from which all fiction flows. Full of magic, supernatural powers, monsters, heroes, epic journeys, strange worlds, and vast imagination, they are fantasies so compelling we want to believe them true. This new anthology compiles some of the best modern short mythic retellings and reinvention of legend from award-winning and bestselling authors, acclaimed storytellers, and exciting new talent, offering readers new ways to interpret and understand the world. Adventure with us on these Mythic Journeys . Stories and authors include are: “Lost Lake” – Emma Straub and Peter Straub “White Lines on a Green Field” – Catherynne M. Valente “Trickster” – Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due “Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies” – Brooke Bolander “A Memory of Wind” – Rachel Swirsky “Leda” – M. Rickert “Chivalry” – Neil Gaiman “The God of Au” – Ann Leckie “Faint Voices, Increasingly Desperate” – Anya Johanna DeNiro “Ogres of East Africa” – Sofia Samatar “Ys” – Aliette de Bodard “The Gorgon” – Tanith Lee “Merlin Dreams in the Mondream Wood” – Charles de Lint “Calypso in Berlin” – Elizabeth Hand “Seeds” – Lisa L. Hannett and Angela Slatter “Wonder-Worker-of-the-World” – Nisi Shawl “Thesea and Astaurius” – Priya Sharma “Foxfire, Foxfire” – Yoon Ha Lee “Owl vs. the Neighborhood Watch” – Darcie Little Badger “How to Survive an Epic Journey” – Tansy Rayner Roberts “Simargl and the Rowan Tree” – Ekaterina Sedia “The Ten Suns” – Ken Liu “Armless Maidens of the American West” – Genevieve Valentine “Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream” – Maria Dahvana Headley “Zhyuin” – John Shirley “Immortal Snake” – Rachel Pollack “A Wolf in Iceland Is the Child of a Lie” – Sonya Taaffe

Greek gods, Norse heroes, Polynesian tricksters, and Native American warriors—they all have lessons to teach us. Since the beginning of time, human beings have relied on myths, fairy tales, and fables to explain life’s mysteries. Bringing a fresh perspective to these age-old tales, Liz Greene and Juliet Sharman-Burke reveal how seekers today can find comfort and support in the legends and lore of the past. The Mythic Journey explores the psychological themes of many mythical traditions, recounting stories from Greco-Roman, Hebraic, Egyptian, Celtic, Norse, and various Eastern civilizations. More than 50 myths are beautifully retold, and each is followed by a psychological overview explaining how we can apply the story to our own lives. The Mythic Journey is a handbook for human life, guiding readers from the conflicts of family and childhood, through problems of love, intimacy, and ambition, and ultimately to the point when we must face our own mortality. We discover that true self knowledge comes through facing life’s challenges with courage and strength; that beauty, talent, power, and wealth bring their own forms of suffering; and that in the darkness of loneliness, failure, and loss, we have always discovered new light and new hope.

The Writer's Journey is an insider's guide to how master storytellers from Hitchcock to Spielberg have used mythic structure to create powerful stories. This new edition includes analyses of latest releases such as The Full Monty.

On Literature, New Places, and the Sacred Sacred travel guide. First published in 1998 and updated with a new preface by the author, The Art of Pilgrimage is a sacred travel guide full of inspiration for the spiritual traveler. Not just for pilgrims. We are descendants of nomads. And although we no longer partake in this nomadic life, the instinct to travel remains. Whether we’re planning a trip or buying a secondhand copy of Siddhartha, we’re always searching for a journey, a pilgrimage. With remarkable stories from famous travelers, poets, and modern-day pilgrims, The Art of Pilgrimage is for the mindful traveler who longs for something more than diversion and escape. Rick Steves with a literary twist. Through literary travel stories and meditations, award-winning writer, filmmaker and host of the acclaimed Global Spirits series, Phil Cousineau, sets out to show readers that travel is worthy of mindfulness and spiritual examination. Learn to approach travel with a desire for spiritual risk and renewal, practicing intentionality and being present. Inside find: • Stories, myths, parables, and quotes from many travelers and many faiths • How to see with the “eyes of the heart” • More than 70 illustrations Spiritual travel for the soul. If you’re looking for reasons to travel, this is it. Whether traveling to Mecca or Memphis, Stonehenge or Cooperstown, one’s journey becomes meaningful when the traveler’s heart and imagination are open to experiencing the sacred. The Art of Pilgrimage shows that there is something sacred waiting to be discovered around us. If you enjoyed books like The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho or Unlikely Pilgrim, Zen on the Trail, and Pilgrimage─The Sacred Art, then The Art of Pilgrimage is a travel companion you’ll love having with you.

Joseph Campbell, arguably the greatest mythologist of our time, was certainly one of our greatest storytellers.

Although The Tin Drum has often been called one of the great novels of the 20th century, most critics have been baffled in attempting to draw its apparent chaos into a single literary framework. Here is the full-length study to penetrate the brilliance of Gunter Grass's style and uncover the novel's mythopoetic core. In A Mythic Journey: Gunter Grass's Tin Drum, author Edward Diller convincingly demonstrates the still valid relationship between modern and classical literary criticism. By reading The Tin Drum as both modern myth and historical epic, he provides a profound and sensitive interpretation of one of the masterpieces of 20th century literature.

Nearly 200 stunningly realistic paintings and drawings bring the greatest fantasy epic of all time to life. Classical realism unites with contemporary storytelling as artist Donato Giancola explores the mythic grandeur and the iconic characters of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings saga. Donato has made it his life's work to translate Tolkien's words into compelling visuals, with gorgeous oil paintings and drawings reminiscent of Rembrandt and Caravaggio. His interpretations of Middle-earth span his entire career, from private commissions to the 2001 edition of the graphic novel adaptation of The Hobbit, all collected in this massive compendium--a must-have for collectors of Tolkien and fantasy "What struck me about J.R.R. Tolkien's work was how he filled Middle-earth with a wealth of history," says Author Donato Giancola. "From the simple beginnings of Bilbo and the dwarves in The Hobbit, to the personal trials of Frodo and the Fellowship in The Lord of the Rings, to the epic tragedies in The Silmarillion, these tales are woven together by a grand fabric of unifying mythologies, bringing depth to the cultures and characters within." "Amazing work from an astounding talent." - George R.R. Martin

Plato, Aristophanes, and the creators of the "Orphic" gold tablets employ the traditional tale of a journey to the realm of the dead to redefine, within the mythic narrative, the boundaries of their societies. Rather than being the relics of a faded ritual tradition or the products of Orphic influence, these myths can only reveal their meanings through this detailed analysis of the specific ways in which each author makes use of the tradition.