From the Amazon to the Arctic, the world is teeming with diverse cultures. There's no better way for students to explore the world's cultural diversity than through its folktales. Presenting tales from the foundations of the world's traditions, literature, daily life, and popular culture, The Greenwood Library of World Folktales: Stories from the Great Collections gathers together a vast array of folktales and arranges them according to region or cultural group, thus allowing students to quickly and conveniently learn about the tales of particular cultures. Some of these stories have been told for centuries, while others have emerged only in recent times. The four-volume set includes introductory essays in addition to explanatory headnotes, and provides bibliographies on particular regions as well as a selected, general bibliography. The most comprehensive work of its kind, this set gives students and general readers a guided tour of the world's folktales. Each volume of the set is devoted to a particular broad geographic region: Volume 1: Africa, The Middle East, Australia and Oceania Volume 2: Asia Volume 3: Europe Volume 4: North and South America Accessible, informative, and entertaining, this book will help literature students learn how to analyze texts and understand the traditions at the heart of many of the world's literary masterpieces. It will also help social studies students learn about the world's cultures and respect ethnic diversity.

A novelist, poet, literary critic and anthropologist, Andrew Lang is best known for his publications on folklore, mythology and religion; many have grown up with the ‘colour’ Fairy Books which he compiled between 1889 and 1910. This three volume set presents a selection of his work in these areas. The first volume covers the general and theoretical aspects of Lang’s work on folklore, mythology and anthropology along with the tools and concepts which he used in his often combative contributions to these inter-related disciplines. As a companion to the first volume, the second is comprised of various case studies made by Lang, ranging from ‘The Aryan Races of Peru’ and ‘The Folk-lore of France’ to ‘Irish Fairies’ and ‘The Ballads, Scottish and English’. The third volume arranges his literary criticism, first by geo-cultural context and then chronologically. It begins with Lang’s views on the nature and purpose of fiction, then presents samples of his work on some of the most important authors in the respective canons of French, American, Scottish and English literature including Victor Hugo, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Burns and Charles Dickens among many others, mainly of the nineteenth century. Collectively, the General Introduction to the set and the Introductions to the individual volumes offer a thorough overview of Lang’s work in an astonishing variety of fields, including his translation work on Homer and his contributions to historiography (particularly Scottish). The Introduction to Volume III sets Lang within the context of the literature of his times, comparing and contrasting him with significant contemporaries. Headnotes to the individual items are of varying length and provide more detail on specific topics, and explanatory notes supply unique intellectual comment rather than merely factual information.

Africa south of the Sahara is a land of wide-ranging traditions and varying cultures. Despite the diversity and the lack of early written records, the continent possesses a rich body of folk tales and legends that have been passed down through the strong custom of storytelling and which often share similar elements, characters and ideas between peoples. So this collection offers a hefty selection of legends and tales – stories of the gods, creation and origins, trickster exploits, animal fables and stories which entertain and edify – from ‘Obatala Creates Mankind’, from the Yoruba people of west Africa, to ‘The Girl Of The Early Race, Who Made Stars’, from the San people of southern Africa, all collected in a gorgeous gold-foiled and embossed hardback to treasure.

One of the most important collections of African folklore ever published. "Mr. Dayrell's "Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria" appeal to the anthropologist within me, no less than to the lover of what children and older people call "Fairy Tales." The stories are full of mentions of strange institutions, as well as of rare adventures. I may be permitted to offer some running notes and comments on this mass of African curiosities from the crowded lumber-room of the native mind. "The most striking point in the tales is the combination of good humour and good feeling with horrible cruelties, and the reign of terror of the Egbos and lesser societies. European influences can scarcely do much harm, apart from whisky, in Nigeria. As to religion, we do not learn that the Creator receives any sacrifice: in savage and barbaric countries He usually gets none. Only Ju Jus, whether ghosts or fiends in general, are propitiated. The Other is 'too high and too far.'" -Andrew Lang INTRODUCTION I. THE TORTOISE WITH A PRETTY DAUGHTER II. HOW A HUNTER OBTAINED MONEY FROM HIS FRIENDS THE LEOPARD, GOAT, BUSH CAT, AND COCK, AND HOW HE GOT OUT OF REPAYING THEM III. THE WOMAN WITH TWO SKINS IV. THE KING'S MAGIC DRUM V. ITUEN AND THE KING'S WIFE VI. OF THE PRETTY STRANGER WHO KILLED THE KING VII. WHY THE BAT FLIES BY NIGHT VIII. THE DISOBEDIENT DAUGHTER WHO MARRIED A SKULL IX. THE KING WHO MARRIED THE COCK'S DAUGHTER X. THE WOMAN, THE APE, AND THE CHILD XI. THE FISH AND THE LEOPARD'S WIFE; OR, WHY THE FISH LIVES IN THE WATER XII. WHY THE BAT IS ASHAMED TO BE SEEN IN THE DAYTIME XIII. WHY THE WORMS LIVE UNDERNEATH THE GROUND XIV. THE ELEPHANT AND THE TORTOISE; OR, WHY THE WORMS ARE BLIND AND WHY THE ELEPHANT HAS SMALL EYES XV. WHY A HAWK KILLS CHICKENS XVI. WHY THE SUN AND THE MOON LIVE IN THE SKY XVII. WHY THE FLIES BOTHER THE COWS XVIII. WHY THE CAT KILLS RATS XIX. THE STORY OF THE LIGHTNING AND THE THUNDER XX. WHY THE BUSH COW AND THE ELEPHANT ARE BAD FRIENDS XXI. THE COCK WHO CAUSED A FIGHT BETWEEN TWO TOWNS XXII. THE AFFAIR OF THE HIPPOPOTAMUS AND THE TORTOISE; OR, WHY THE HIPPOPOTAMUS LIVES IN THE WATER XXIII. WHY DEAD PEOPLE ARE BURIED XXIV. OF THE FAT WOMAN WHO MELTED AWAY XXV. CONCERNING THE LEOPARD, THE SQUIRREL, AND THE TORTOISE XXVI. WHY THE MOON WAXES AND WANES XXVII. THE STORY OF THE LEOPARD, THE TORTOISE, AND THE BUSH RAT XXVIII. THE KING AND THE JU JU TREE XXIX. HOW THE TORTOISE OVERCAME THE ELEPHANT AND THE HIPPOPOTAMUS XXX. OF THE PRETTY GIRL AND THE SEVEN JEALOUS WOMEN XXXI. HOW THE CANNIBALS DROVE THE PEOPLE FROM INSOFAN MOUNTAIN TO THE CROSS RIVER (IKOM) XXXII. THE LUCKY FISHERMAN XXXIII. THE ORPHAN BOY AND THE MAGIC STONE XXXIV. THE SLAVE GIRL WHO TRIED TO KILL HER MISTRESS XXXV. THE KING AND THE 'NSIAT BIRD XXXVI. CONCERNING THE FATE OF ESSIDO AND HIS EVIL COMPANIONS XXXVII. CONCERNING THE HAWK AND THE OWL XXXVIII. THE STORY OF THE DRUMMER AND THE ALLIGATORS XXXIX. THE 'NSASAK BIRD AND THE ODUDU BIRD XL. THE ELECTION OF THE KING BIRD (THE BLACK AND-WHITE FISHING EAGLE)

"Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria" appeal to the anthropologist within me, no less than to the lover of what children and older people call "Fairy Tales." The stories are full of mentions of strange institutions, as well as of rare adventures. I may be permitted to offer some running notes and comments on this mass of African curiosities from the crowded lumber-room of the native mind.