Folk tales

[Emphyricist]

I can't find a forum that this quite fits, but this seems the closest since folk tales are often published in book form. How many people here like reading folk tales, and what sorts of folk takes do you like? When I was a kid I loved reading mythology and folk tales, and even as an adult I still do.

I remember as a kid boring through an old beastiary at the library (OK, it was a modern beastiary, but still published a couple decades before I was born), which I must have checked out countless times. I still remember how excited I was when Jane Yolen collected a bunch of mermaid folk tales (I'm not a fan of mermaids, but I am a fan of folk tales and Jane Yolen) back when I was a teenager.

When I visited Korea (as an adult) I visited a book store (because of course I did), and they had a bunch of childrens' books which were beautifully illustrated folk tales (which was evident because of maps showing where the folk tales came from) on remainder for about ninety cents each. Even though they were in Korean, a language I don't speak, I bought one of each, roughly a dozen in all. I brought them back, hoping to either learn Korean myself (at the time I planned to learn two dozen languages) or find someone who speaks Korean to translate them for me.

In Turkey, the gift shop to a museum was selling Nasreddin Hoca stories in English. I love wise fool stories, and a lot of the stories weren't ones I'd been able to find online. Most wise fool stories have even less of an online presence than Nasreddin Hoca, so I'm hoping that trips to places like Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Israel someday might net me similar English collections for their trickster characters.

I also have a strong love of Russian folk tales, for reasons I cannot explain. Perhaps the long, bitter winters lent themselves to more colorful storytelling than more temperate climates. As a kid, my favorite mythology was Norse and my favorite folk tales were still Russian.

So yeah, anyone here a fan of folk tales? I know a number of classic SF&F writers have been and incorporated them to various degrees into their work.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I've always collected old folk tale books wherever I find them -- yard sales, library book sales, book stores. I especially like the Japanese and Chinese ones, although it's amazing I don't have Korean ones, because I have a Korean sister-in-law. Guess I've just never run across any.

I'm not sure what I actually have, as most of my books are in boxes and layered in shelves and cabinets due to lack of space.

But yeah, I would buy them in languages I don't speak, too, because that's something I do. Because books.

 

[Emphyricist]

Ooh, I forgot to mention that I bought a book of Yiddish folk tales about two years ago. Also, several books of American tall tales and Uncle Remus stories from my childhood and one big book of American folklore, though all of those are still at my mother's house.

 

[Extollager]

These related threads could be revisited --

Kalevala -- Finnish myth and legend

Folktales: Grimm, Asbjørnsen and Moe, Jacobs, Afanasyev, & more

 

[BAYLOR]

Ive got some folk tale books

Kaiden Japanese Ghost stories

A Treasury of Irish Myth , Legend and Folklore by WB Yeats and Lady Gregory


Ive got others

 

[Emphyricist]

These related threads could be revisited --

...

Folktales: Grimm, Asbjørnsen and Moe, Jacobs, Afanasyev, & more

I searched this forum for relevant threads before posting, but not the literary fiction one.

 

[BAYLOR]

The Children of Odin Nordic Gods and Heroes by Padriac Colum

 

[Extollager]

I searched this forum for relevant threads before posting, but not the literary fiction one.

There are all sorts of good things tucked away there!

 

[Carolyn Hill]

I'm a fan. I studied folklore in my doctoral program, and one of my committee members was Alan Dundes. My favorite folk tales are the variants of "Beauty and the Beast." Recently I ran across an interesting compilation by Maria Tatar --
Beauty and the Beast: Classic Tales About Animal Brides and Grooms from Around the World .

 

[Extollager]

I'm a fan. I studied folklore in my doctoral program, and one of my committee members was Alan Dundes.

Well, I'm impressed. His would be one of just a few names I'd recognize, along with John Lindow, Richard Dorson, Jacqueline Simpson, et al.

 

[Extollager]

Perhaps this present thread is becoming the place for people to share their personal enjoyment of folk tales, while the other thread, namely

Folktales: Grimm, Asbjørnsen and Moe, Jacobs, Afanasyev, & more

is a place to identify what's out there -- to talk about which editions we like or, perhaps, don't like in the realm of folktales. It seems to me there was quite a flurry of folktale publication in paperback around thirty years ago.

 

[Extollager]

I've posted pictures of most of my folktale books beginning here:

Folktales: Grimm, Asbjørnsen and Moe, Jacobs, Afanasyev, & more

There were a few beat-up, dustjacketless books, etc. that I didn't photograph. If you'd like to post your folktale books there, I imagine some Chrons folk would like to see them.