Skip to main content

Wednesday reading experience #15

Read a book of myths, legends and/or folk-tales of your country or culture and see if you can find some familiar stories. Think about how these stories have influenced the literary heritage of your country or culture.

On a related note - it's fun to see how modern authors have spun their own versions of the old yarns. A fantasy novel that I read some years ago was, for example, a great modern version of the Sleeping Beauty* myth, and many romances are twists on one or another of the happily-ever-after myths (e.g. Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty). Another example is that all the names of the dwarves in JRR Tolkien's books and some of the names of other characters come straight out of Nordic mythology, and many of the stories he tells have a basis in myths or folk-tales. And of course one shouldn't forget all the novels based on the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.


*Enchantment by Orson Scott Card
Labels:

Comments

Dorte H said…
As an English teacher I have come across a number of short stories inspired by the fall of sin or other biblical stories. Many of them are well-written and great for class discussion and analysis.
April 15, 2009 3:11 pm
Geetali said…
I grew up reading about the myths and folk-tales of India: the Ramayan, the Mahabharat, Jataka tales (which speak of Buddha's life in his other incarnations), the Panchatantra.... (the last set is an incredibly amazing: a treatise on human conduct plus politics!)
It was only when I grew up I realised how they seep into the collective unconscious! Our entire moral structure seems to have been raised on these stories.
April 16, 2009 3:32 pm
Bibliophile said…
Dorte, thanks for bringing up the Biblical stories. I am preparing a later entry about that subject and would love to get some suggestions from you to add to the list of literary works I am planning to use as examples.

Gallimaufry, my experience of the Sagas, Eddas and Icelandic folk-tales is similar. We have, for example, a large number of everyday expressions and sayings that come directly from the Sagas and Eddas, and some current superstitions and beliefs have been traced back through the centuries through the folk-tales and myths.
April 16, 2009 10:11 pm
Dorte H said…
Tell me when you need them. I may be a bit busy the next few weeks, but if I don´t notice what is up here just come by my blog and jog my memory.
April 17, 2009 6:15 pm
Rose said…
I love this idea! I think I'll look into some folk-tales from the U.S. and read them to my daughter at night. I'll also have to pick up the book you mentioned by Orson Scott Card. I didn't realize he'd done a modern take on Sleeping Beauty, but I'm a huge fan of his work.

Besides to compliment you on your wonderful reading ideas, I was hoping you would check out a new site I have published about Random Facts (linked to my name) and see if you might refer your readers to it. It would really be a great resource for all types of readers, and I'm trying to get the word out through blogs like yours. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me: rbaron@randomhistory.com.

Thanks,
Rose
April 17, 2009 6:39 pm
Bibliophile said…
Thanks, Dorte. I will not be adding the Bible entry for at least a couple of months yet. It's going to be a reading suggestion and a list of reading materials in English. I already have a number of books and some poems on my list, but I would appreciate any additions you can think of. My email is icenetla at gmail.com (replace the " at " with @).
April 17, 2009 10:12 pm
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to make a simple origami bookmark

Here are some instructions on how to make a simple origami (paper folding) bookmark: Take a square of paper. It can be patterned origami paper, gift paper or even office paper, just as long as it’s easy to fold. The square should not be much bigger than 10 cm/4 inches across, unless you intend to use the mark for a big book. The images show what the paper should look like after you follow each step of the instructions. The two sides of the paper are shown in different colours to make things easier, and the edges and fold lines are shown as black lines. Fold the paper in half diagonally (corner to corner), and then unfold. Repeat with the other two corners. This is to find the middle and to make the rest of the folding easier. If the paper is thick or stiff it can help to reverse the folds. Fold three of the corners in so that they meet in the middle. You now have a piece of paper resembling an open envelope. For the next two steps, ignore the flap. Fold the square diagonally in two. Yo...
25 comments
Read more

Book 40: The Martian by Andy Weir, audiobook read by Wil Wheaton

Note : This will be a general scattershot discussion about my thoughts on the book and the movie, and not a cohesive review. When movies are based on books I am interested in reading but haven't yet read, I generally wait to read the book until I have seen the movie, but when a movie is made based on a book I have already read, I try to abstain from rereading the book until I have seen the movie. The reason is simple: I am one of those people who can be reduced to near-incoherent rage when a movie severely alters the perfectly good story line of a beloved book, changes the ending beyond recognition or adds unnecessarily to the story ( The Hobbit , anyone?) without any apparent reason. I don't mind omissions of unnecessary parts so much (I did not, for example, become enraged to find Tom Bombadil missing from The Lord of the Rings ), because one expects that - movies based on books would be TV-series long if they tried to include everything, so the material must be pared down ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Icelandic folk-tale: The Devil Takes a Wife

Stories of people who have made a deal with and then beaten the devil exist all over Christendom and even in literature. Here is a typical one: O nce upon a time there were a mother and daughter who lived together. They were rich and the daughter was considered a great catch and had many suitors, but she accepted no-one and it was the opinion of many that she intended to stay celebrate and serve God, being a very devout  woman. The devil didn’t like this at all and took on the form of a young man and proposed to the girl, intending to seduce her over to his side little by little. He insinuated himself into her good graces and charmed her so thoroughly that she accepted his suit and they were betrothed and eventually married. But when the time came for him to enter the marriage bed the girl was so pure and innocent that he couldn’t go near her. He excused himself by saying that he couldn’t sleep and needed a bath in order to go to sleep. A bath was prepared for him and in he went...
Post a Comment
Read more