Storytelling is an ancient practice known in all civilizations throughout history. Characters, tales, techniques, oral traditions, motifs, and tale types transcend individual cultures - elements and names change, but the stories are remarkably similar with each rendition, highlighting the values and concerns of the host culture. Examining the stories and the oral traditions associated with different cultures offers a unique view of practices and traditions."Storytelling: An Encyclopedia of Mythology and Folklore" brings past and present cultures of the world to life through their stories, oral traditions, and performance styles. It combines folklore and mythology, traditional arts, history, literature, and festivals to present an overview of world cultures through their liveliest and most fascinating mode of expression. This appealing resource includes specific storytelling techniques as well as retellings of stories from various cultures and traditions.

More Than 1,000 Goddesses & Heroines from around the World Groundbreaking scholar Patricia Monaghan spent her life researching, writing about, and documenting goddesses and heroines from all religions and all corners of the globe. Her work demonstrated that from the beginning of recorded history, goddesses reigned alongside their male counterparts as figures of inspiration and awe. Drawing on anthropology, folklore, literature, and psychology, Monaghan’s vibrant and accessible encyclopedia covers female deities from Africa, the eastern Mediterranean, Asia and Oceania, Europe, and the Americas, as well as every major religious tradition.

"This monumental work has now become... the indispensable tool of all folk narrative scholars." --Southern Folklore Quarterly "A work of this kind can never be quite complete, but in this work Stith Thompson has approached perfection." --Volkskunde "An invaluable aid to students and scholars... " --Reference & Research Book News Indiana University Press, with the generous support of the L. J. and Mary C. Skaggs Foundation, is pleased to announce the republication of this folklore classic, in honor of the centenary of the American Folklore Society.

This database is an electronic edition of the Motif-Index of Folk-Literature, revised and enlarged by Stith Thompson, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1955).