Hall has captured the true spirit of the ancient age through her vibrant portrayal of voyage in this book. It includes historical explorations of unknown Islands. These adventurous tales, including the discovery of America (named Vinland) by the Norse, are a gripping chronicle of the human desire for exploration and a tantalizing glimpse of what would many centuries later become the New World.

Twenty-six classic fairy tales are supplemented by extensive literary, cultural, and historical commentary.

“I have used this textbook for four courses on children’s literature with enrollments of over ninety students. It is without doubt the most well organized selection of literary fairy tales and critical commentaries currently available. Students love it.” —Lita Barrie, California State University, Los Angeles This Norton Critical Edition includes: · Seven different tale types: “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Snow White,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Cinderella,” “Bluebeard,” and “Tricksters.” These groupings include multicultural versions, literary rescriptings, and introductions and annotations by Maria Tatar. · Tales by Hans Christian Andersen and Oscar Wilde. · More than fifteen critical essays exploring the various aspects of fairy tales. New to the Second Edition are interpretations by Ernst Bloch, Walter Benjamin, Max Lüthi, Lewis Hyde, Jessica Tiffin, and Hans-Jörg Uther. · A revised and updated Selected Bibliography.

Father Brown, an ordinary priest whose unremarkable exterior conceals extraordinary crime-solving ability, is celebrated for his solutions to metaphysical mysteries, a genre perfected by his creator, G. K. Chesterton. More than lighthearted comedies built around puzzling crimes, these superbly written tales contain deeply perceptive philosophical reflections. The Innocence of Father Brown (1911) was the first collection of stories featuring the ecclesiastical sleuth and is widely considered the best. In this annotated edition of the collection, the Chesterton scholar Martin Gardner provides detailed notes and background information on various aspects of such stories as "The Blue Cross," "The Secret Garden," "The Invisible Man," "The Hammer of God," "The Eye of Apollo," and seven more, as well as an informative introduction and an extensive bibliography. Included also are eight illustrations reproduced from the first edition. The result is an indispensable companion for all Chesterton enthusiasts and a perfect introduction for anyone who has yet to meet the incomparable Father Brown.

Containing 40 stories in new translations by Tatar this celebration of the richness and dramatic power of the legendary fables also features 150 illustrations, many of them in color, by legendary painters.

Compiled by an unknown scribe in Iceland around 1270, and based on sources dating back centuries earlier, these mythological and heroic poems tell of gods and mortals from an ancient era: the giant-slaying Thor, the doomed Völsung family, the Hel-ride of Brynhild and the cruelty of Atli the Hun. Eclectic, incomplete and fragmented, these verses nevertheless retain their stark beauty and their power to enthrall, opening a window on to the thoughts, beliefs and hopes of the Vikings and their world.

The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda (Icelandic: Snorra Edda) or simply Edda, is an Old Norse work of literature written in Iceland in the early 13th century. Together with the Poetic Edda, it comprises the major store of Scandinavian mythology. The work is often assumed to have been written, or at least compiled, by the Icelandic scholar and historian Snorri Sturluson around the year 1220.It begins with a euhemerized Prologue, a section on the Norse cosmogony, pantheon and myths. This is followed by three distinct books: Gylfaginning (consisting of around 20,000 words), Skáldskaparmál (around 50,000 words) and Háttatal (around 20,000 words). Seven manuscripts, dating from around 1300 to around 1600, have independent textual value. Sturluson planned the collection as a textbook. It was to enable Icelandic poets and readers to understand the subtleties of alliterative verse, and to grasp the meaning behind the many kenningar (compounds) that were used in skaldic poetry.