Demonstrates that Scandinavian folklore has a range comparable to Shakespearean drama.

Trolls haunt the snowy forests, and terrifying monsters roam the open sea. A young woman journeys to the end of the world, and a boy proves he knows no fear. This collection of 16 traditional tales transports readers to the enchanting world of Nordic folklore. Translated and transcribed by folklorists in the 19th century, and presented here unabridged, the stories are by turns magical, hilarious, cozy, and chilling. They offer a fascinating view into Nordic culture and a comforting wintertime read. Ulla Thynell's glowing contemporary illustrations accompany each tale, conjuring dragons, princesses, and the northern lights. This special gift edition features an embossed, textured case and a ribbon marker.

A translated selection devoted to supernatural beings, ghosts, and magic practices.

Stephen A. Mitchell here offers the fullest examination available of witchcraft in late medieval Scandinavia. He focuses on those people believed to be able—and who in some instances thought themselves able—to manipulate the world around them through magical practices, and on the responses to these beliefs in the legal, literary, and popular cultures of the Nordic Middle Ages. His sources range from the Icelandic sagas to cultural monuments much less familiar to the nonspecialist, including legal cases, church art, law codes, ecclesiastical records, and runic spells. Mitchell's starting point is the year 1100, by which time Christianity was well established in elite circles throughout Scandinavia, even as some pre-Christian practices and beliefs persisted in various forms. The book's endpoint coincides with the coming of the Reformation and the onset of the early modern Scandinavian witch hunts. The terrain covered is complex, home to the Germanic Scandinavians as well as their non-Indo-European neighbors, the Sámi and Finns, and it encompasses such diverse areas as the important trade cities of Copenhagen, Bergen, and Stockholm, with their large foreign populations; the rural hinterlands; and the insular outposts of Iceland and Greenland. By examining witches, wizards, and seeresses in literature, lore, and law, as well as surviving charm magic directed toward love, prophecy, health, and weather, Mitchell provides a portrait of both the practitioners of medieval Nordic magic and its performance. With an understanding of mythology as a living system of cultural signs (not just ancient sacred narratives), this study also focuses on such powerful evolving myths as those of "the milk-stealing witch," the diabolical pact, and the witches' journey to Blåkulla. Court cases involving witchcraft, charm magic, and apostasy demonstrate that witchcraft ideologies played a key role in conceptualizing gender and were themselves an important means of exercising social control.

Thirteen-year-old Anya sets out to find her missing father but instead travels to Kiev, where she meets the tsar, dines with a rabbi, and rescues two brothers from a dangerous monster lurking beneath the city.

A beautifully illustrated and compelling collection of more than 30 ancient Norse myths for children. Exciting stories, extraordinary creatures, and compelling gods, goddesses, and heroes come together in this compendium of Norse myths--first told long ago by the Vikings. Perfect for children ages 7 to 9, this collection contains more than 30 enthralling new retellings. Read about Thor, the god of thunder and how he once disguised himself as a bride to seek revenge on a giant and retrieve his powerful hammer, Mjolnir; and how Sif, the goddess of fertility, had her long golden hair cut off by Loki, the trickster god. Each myth is told with thrilling immediacy, in language that is easy for children to understand, while retaining the awe, majesty, and intrigue of the original tales. Stunning illustrations by multi-award-winning artist Katie Ponder breathe new life into each story. Additional feature pages delve deeper into the mythical world, providing profiles of the featured gods and goddesses and giving the context behind the myths. The reference section provides key background information, such as Norse cosmology and facts about the incredible Norse characters, and comes complete with a pronunciation e-guide. Norse Myths is the perfect gift, featuring foil on the cover and beautiful illustrations throughout. Children will love exploring the tales by themselves or as bedtime stories. This stunning ebook will be treasured forever.

The #1 New York Times bestseller—a “gripping, suspenseful” (Washington Post) retelling of Norse myths—now with spectacular illustrations. In this dazzling, illustrated edition of the instant classic that has sold more than a million copies, award-winning illustrator Levi Pinfold brings Neil Gaiman’s bravura rendition of the Norse gods and their world to life. Bursting off the page with breathtaking, full-color art are tales of fierce battles with giants, storied quests for knowledge, and the gods in Asgard: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong, yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki—son of a giant—blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator. Gaiman fashions these primeval stories into a novelistic arc that takes us from the genesis of the legendary nine worlds to Ragnorak, the twilight of the gods and the rebirth of a new time. Through his epic storytelling and Pinfold’s enthralling images, these gods emerge with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to duping others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, breathing vivid life into these long-ago myths. “Who else but Neil Gaiman could become an accomplice of the gods, using the sorcery of words to make their stories new?” —Maria Tatar, translator and editor of The Annotated Brothers Grimm “Gaiman brings rakish mischief and severe glamour to the Norse canon.” —The New Yorker “Remarkable. . . . Gaiman has provided an enchanting contemporary interpretation of the Viking ethos.” —Lisa L. Hannett, Atlantic “A lively, funny and very human rendition of Thor the thunder god, his father Odin and the dark-hearted trickster Loki (plus countless other gods and monsters).” —Petra Mayer, NP

A collection of Palestinian Arab folktales which reflect the culture and highlights the role of women in the society.

The Nordic Storyteller: Essays in Honour of Niels Ingwersen consists of a set of nineteen research essays plus an introduction, written by colleagues and admirers of Niels and Faith Ingwersen, leaders in the field of Scandinavian Studies in North America for some four decades. A first section of seven essays, entitled “Songs and Tales in Oral Tradition,” presents research in the area of folklore studies, including balladry, saints’ lives, incantations, healing, legendry, and personal experience narrative. Articles take up such issues as classification, thematics, cultural and historical change, and the effects of technology on daily life. A closely related second section, “From Oral Tradition to Literature” includes three essays which examine the adaptation of oral tradition to literary forms, focusing on the works of P. Chr. Asbjørnsen, Esias Tegnér, Elias Lönnrot, F. R. Kreutzwald, and the illustrations of Arthur Rackham—all figures important in the rise of folklore as a key interest of Romantic nationalism. A further set of nine essays grouped under the title “Tales in Literary Form” examine aspects of the writings of some of the greatest storytellers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including H. C. Andersen, Herman Bang, Henrik Ibsen, Jóhann Magnús Bjarnason, Charles Dickens, Thomas Mann, Isak Dinesen, Martin Andersen Nexø, Billy August, Hans Scherfig, Peter Høeg, Klaus Rifbjerg, Leif Panduro, and Kjartan Fløgstad. Articles address topics including autobiography, source criticism, symbolism, personal and national identities, and the representation of political ideals. Together the essays of this volume demonstrate the unflagging salience of narrative—of storytelling—in the personal lives and social experiences of Scandinavians and their neighbors, past and present.

In Norway, the cold winds blow from the north. But when the wind blows away the flour carried by the baker’s young son, he sets out on a journey to insist it be returned. Themes: perseverance, intelligence.