World Mythology
Gods, tricksters and heroes from India, Egypt, West Africa, Japan, China and the Slavic forests: the stories people told to explain the world.
- mythology
- folklore
- epics
Some of the stories included
BeowulfThe epic of Beowulf was preserved only because a scholar copied the fire-damaged manuscript in 1786 before its pages crumbled away.
The RamayanaThe ancient Indian epic of Prince Rama's 14-year exile, his quest to rescue his wife Sita, and his return to Ayodhya, which is celebrated today as Diwali.
Anansi the SpiderTo win all the world's stories, the trickster Anansi must capture four 'impossible' creatures for the sky god Nyame.
The Legend of the Holy GrailHow the Holy Grail grew from a mysterious dish in Chrétien de Troyes's unfinished poem of about 1190 into the cup of the Last Supper, and why a chalice in Valencia is claimed to be it.
Susanoo and the Eight-Headed SerpentThe exiled storm god Susanoo battles an eight-headed serpent, finding a divine sword in its tail that became one of Japan's Imperial Regalia.
King Arthur: The Making of a LegendHow King Arthur grew from a battle leader named in a 9th-century Welsh chronicle into a king with a Round Table, Excalibur and the Grail, one writer at a time.
The Bhagavad GitaThe Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu scripture set on a battlefield: Prince Arjuna's crisis and Krishna's teaching on duty, the self and action.
Jason and the Golden FleeceJason lost one sandal in a flooded river, and it sent him and the talking ship Argo after a golden fleece.
The Origins of DiwaliDiwali, the Hindu, Jain and Sikh festival of lights: the stories behind it, from Rama's return to Ayodhya to the release of Guru Hargobind.
Osiris and IsisThe Egyptian myth of Osiris: his murder, Isis's quest to restore him, and his final role as eternal judge of the dead.
Amaterasu and the CaveHow Japan's sun goddess plunged the world into darkness and founded a divine imperial line leading to the first emperor, Jimmu.
Baba YagaThe witch of Slavic folklore travels in a mortar, lives in a hut on chicken legs, and tests all who enter her forest domain.
The Green ManThe name Green Man dates only to March 1939, when Lady Julia Raglan coined it for medieval carvings of faces made of leaves.
Sun Wukong, the Monkey KingThe Monkey King of the Chinese novel Journey to the West: born from a stone, he wages war on heaven, then guards a monk on the road to India.- The Epic of GilgameshThe Epic of Gilgamesh, the world's oldest surviving great story: a Mesopotamian king, the wild man who became his friend, and a search for eternal life.
How Ganesha Got His Elephant HeadIn the Shiva Purana, Shiva beheads the boy guarding Parvati's door, then replaces the head with an elephant's.
Thor Dressed as a BrideThor wore a bridal veil and housewife's keys to win back a hammer a giant had buried eight leagues deep.
The Popol VuhThe K'iche' Maya creation story of gods, heroes, and the first people made from maize, a text that survived the Spanish conquest.
The Death of BaldurIn Snorri's Prose Edda, Baldur dies when blind Hodr throws a mistletoe shaft that Loki handed him.
The Valkyries, Choosers of the SlainThe story of the warrior maidens of Norse myth who decided who lived and died in battle, escorting fallen heroes to Valhalla.
Sundiata: The Lion King of MaliA boy who could not walk until age seven became the founder of the Mali Empire, according to the Epic of Sundiata.
Durga and the Buffalo DemonDurga was made from the combined radiance of the gods to defeat a buffalo demon that no man or god could kill.
The MahabharataThe Mahabharata is the world's longest epic poem, chronicling a devastating war between two families of royal cousins, the Pandavas and Kauravas.
The Wendigo's Eternal HungerThe Algonquian legend of the Wendigo, a spirit of greed whose insatiable hunger grows with every victim it consumes.
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