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Mythology, Legends & Folklore — page 7
413 public-domain mythology, legends & folklore books, summarised. Page 7 of 9.
Helen of Troy
Andrew Lang
The ancient myth of the woman whose beauty sparked a war is retold here as a lyrical journey, transforming a figure of legend into a portrait of human endurance and divine sorrow.
Psyche
Louis Couperus
A winged princess flees her high castle in pursuit of an elusive flying beast, embarking on a tragic, transformative journey across earthly desires and spiritual trials.
The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Volume III
John Payne
A world of endless invention awaits inside a book that moves seamlessly from the quick wit of talking beasts to the heavy, heartbreaking trials of secret lovers.
The Golden Helm, and Other Verse
Wilfrid Wilson Gibson
A holy hermit's quiet routine is shattered by a tragic shipwreck, casting a grieving maiden into his sea-scourged sanctuary.
Legends of Longdendale
Thomas Middleton
These tales of the Longdendale valley capture the echoes of ancient stones, forgotten skirmishes, and the enduring shadows of the Cheshire countryside.
The Hidden Servants and Other Very Old Stories
Francesca Alexander
A collection of traditional Italian folk tales rendered in simple verse, where hidden acts of mercy outshine visible piety.
Seven Icelandic Short Stories
Unknown
The endurance of a culture is etched into these pages, where the quiet, unyielding rhythms of island life meet the sudden, sharp disruptions of fate and migration.
The Story of Nefrekepta, from a Demotic Papyrus
Gilbert Murray
The hubris of a scholar meets the vengeance of the ancient dead in this cautionary tale of forbidden knowledge. A high priest’s obsession with a legendary book leads him through a gauntlet of phantoms, illusion, and divine retribution.
Aino Folk-Tales
Basil Hall Chamberlain
HOOK This collection captures the vanishing oral traditions of a culture living on the fringes of the Japanese archipelago, preserving a world where gods and humans mingle in the forest.
Myths and Tales from the White Mountain Apache: Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History Vol. XXIV, Part II
Pliny Earle Goddard
These narratives offer a rare, direct window into the spiritual and cultural landscape of the White Mountain Apache, preserved through the voices of elders at the turn of the twentieth century.
The Laughing Prince: Jugoslav Folk and Fairy Tales
Parker Fillmore
A collection of spirited Balkan folklore, these tales pulse with the clash of empires and the endurance of ancient, magical spirits. They offer a vivid window into a world where peasants and princes trade places.
A Fleece of Gold
Charles Stewart Given
This motivational tract uses the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts as a scaffolding to argue for the necessity of purposeful action, self-discipline, and industry in the life of a young man.
The Frithiof Saga
Esaias Tegnér
The son of a commoner finds his heart caught in the gears of fate, struggling to balance his fierce pride and love for a princess against the rigid laws of kings and gods.
Old Testament legends
M. R. (Montague Rhodes) James
Ancient narratives woven from the fringes of sacred history explore profound questions of human suffering, divine justice, and the moral consequences of our choices. These stories offer a timeless window into how early traditions sought to explain the mysteries of the soul.
The Valkyries
E. F. (Edward Frederic) Benson
A retelling of a legendary drama, where gods and mortals collide, explores the heavy price of defiance and the enduring, dangerous power of love.
Tlingit myths and texts
Unknown
Raven tricks the world into form, humans battle bears and land-otters, and chiefs host lavish peace ceremonies across the misty bays of the Pacific Northwest coast.
Blackfeet Indian Stories
George Bird Grinnell
These tales offer a window into the ancient world of the Blackfeet, blending creation myths, heroic quests, and the practical wisdom of a people deeply attuned to the rhythms of the North American plains.
Patrañas
Rachel Harriette Busk
A tapestry of Spanish folklore weaves together chivalric romance, Moorish legends, and rural trickster tales into a spirited portrait of Iberian history.
Myths and Legends of the Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes
Unknown
A collection of Native American myths and legends from the Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes regions, offering a glimpse into the rich oral traditions of various tribes.
Round the year with the stars: The chief beauties of the starry heavens as seen with the naked eye
Garrett Putman Serviss
No specialized optical gear or complex equations are required to unlock the deep wonder of the night sky; it calls only for open eyes, a reflective spirit, and an appreciative guide to point out its shifting seasonal treasures.
Swedish fairy tales
Herman Hofberg
A landscape of mist, dark woods, and hidden valleys comes alive through tales of vengeful noblemen, crafty trolls, and stubborn peasants.
Plays of Near & Far
Lord Dunsany
A collection of six singular plays captures the ridiculous, tragic, and magnificent ways human beings invent rules, chase illusions, and mistake their own narrow horizons for the universe.
Gawayne and the Green Knight: A Fairy Tale
Charlton M. (Charlton Miner) Lewis
A knight’s oath, a phantom’s axe, and a maid raised by fairies converge in a lighthearted, witty retelling of an Arthurian classic.
The Indian Fairy Book: From the Original Legends
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft
These legends offer a window into the cosmology of the Great Lakes tribes, blending the practical realities of survival with the supernatural workings of manitoes and ancient magic.
Tales from the Lands of Nuts and Grapes (Spanish and Portuguese Folklore)
Charles Sellers
These collected tales preserve the oral traditions of Spain and Portugal, weaving together legends of enchanted Moors, miraculous saints, and the cunning of common folk.
The Arabian Nights, Volume II of IV
Antoine Galland
A masterclass in narrative momentum, these interconnected tales weave a tapestry of sudden reversals, where a single bone or a shattered basket can pivot a life from prosperity to the brink of the executioner’s blade.
The man who married the moon, and other Pueblo Indian folk-stories
Charles Fletcher Lummis
This collection of Pueblo Indian folk-stories brings to life a world where animals speak, magic hums in the landscape, and every natural wonder has a name and a history.
Andromeda, and Other Poems
Charles Kingsley
The natural world and the weight of history pull equally at the heart of this collection. Through rhythmic verse, the familiar English countryside and the deep, mythic past are woven into a singular, earnest inquiry.
Lucky Pehr
August Strindberg
A restless soul leaves the safety of his sanctuary to chase glory, only to discover that the world is a maze of vanity, shifting allegiances, and hollow power. He must lose everything to understand that the path to fulfillment is not found in controlling others, but in the quiet, transformative act of loving…
Life and Death, and Other Legends and Stories
Henryk Sienkiewicz
This collection of allegories and tales weaves together the mystical and the mundane, exploring the weight of human suffering and the enduring power of memory.
Legends of Switzerland
H. A. (Hélène Adeline) Guerber
High in the jagged peaks and verdant valleys of the Alps, ancient spirits and heroic patriots dwell in a landscape where nature’s fury meets the human heart. These collected tales capture the enduring soul of a nation shaped by both miracle and mountain storm.
The Aran Islands
J. M. (John Millington) Synge
The Aran Islands are a stark, treeless expanse of limestone and sea, where life is lived on the edge of the Atlantic and the brink of modernity. This narrative captures a vanishing world through the eyes of an outsider who finds himself drawn into the intimate, rhythmic cycles of an ancient, resilient people.
Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 15
Unknown
The Border lands of Scotland serve as the stage for this expansive collection of human experience, where love of home battles the harsh realities of history, duty, and betrayal.
Myths and Legends of British North America
Unknown
In long winter tepees across snow-swept northern lands, traditional storytellers explained how the world was carved, why animals carry their unique shapes, and how human life copes with the elements.
Scots proverbs, ancient and modern, selected from Allan Ramsay and others
Allan Ramsay
A community's sharpest wisdom rarely lives in long treatises; it survives in the crisp, rhythmically turned phrases passed across hearths and livestock pens.
Stranger Than Fiction: Being Tales from the Byways of Ghosts and Folk-lore
Mary L. Lewes
Spectral hands floating in bedrooms, phantom hearses rolling through dark valleys, and warning bells tolling without human touch form the fabric of this collection. Mary L. Lewes preserves the haunting folk-lore of Wales and the British Isles.
The Legends of Saint Patrick
Aubrey De Vere
The life of Ireland’s patron saint is reimagined as a cycle of legendary poems, blending the rugged landscape of the early medieval West with the mystical devotion of a poet.
Cerberus, the dog of Hades: The history of an idea
Maurice Bloomfield
A single cosmic image underpins one of classical mythology's most terrifying monsters. By tracing the hell-hound back to its Vedic origins, this concise study transforms a terrifying infernal guardian into a luminous symbol of time itself.
A Collection of Kachári Folk-Tales and Rhymes
J. D. (James Drummond) Anderson
Tricksters, foolish villagers, talking animals, and ancient gods wander through a rustic landscape of rice fields and dense jungle, showing how a community makes sense of its world.
Hawaiian Historical Legends
W. D. (William Drake) Westervelt
An ocean voyage yields to royal battles, broken taboos, and a newly hoisted flag as an island nation transforms across generations.
In The Seven Woods: Being Poems Chiefly of the Irish Heroic Age
W. B. (William Butler) Yeats
In quiet glades where ancient legends linger, human hearts break under the weight of lost youth, impossible loves, and the cruel interference of the gods.
A Syrup of the Bees
F. W. (Francis William) Bain
A fairy tale written for adults, this melancholy Indian legend explores how human beings ruin their own happiness by chasing ideal dreams while ignoring the genuine love already in their hands.
Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 03
Unknown
A small boy stands on his knees at a shop door, cramming a handful of marbles into his pockets when his name is called.
Montezuma: An Epic on the Origin and Fate of the Aztec Nation
Hiram Hoyt Richmond
This epic poem chronicles the sweeping, mythical migration of the Aztec people from the ancient cradle of civilization in Egypt to their tragic downfall in the New World. It serves as both a historical reimagining and a moral meditation on the costs of empire, religious fervor, and the inevitable clash of cultures.
The Cambrian Sketch-Book: Tales, Scenes, and Legends of Wild Wales
R. Rice Davies
The hills and valleys of Wales hold centuries of hidden history, where ancient legends and personal struggles intertwine beneath the shadow of the mountains.
The Unpublished Legends of Virgil
Charles Godfrey Leland
This collection of Italian folklore offers a window into a hidden, oral tradition where the Roman poet Virgil is reimagined not as an epic author, but as a benevolent, humorous, and powerful magician. It serves as a bridge between the formal, written history of antiquity and the living, breathing myths preserved by…
Pilgrim Sorrow: A Cycle of Tales
Carmen Sylva
Life is a journey through an intricate, often melancholic landscape where the borders between reality, allegory, and myth are perpetually porous. This cycle of tales maps the human experience not as a linear progression, but as a series of encounters with elemental forces—Sorrow, Strife, Peace, and Truth—that shape…
Longhead: The Story of the First Fire
C. H. (Charles Henry) Robinson
A flash of lightning transforms a primitive ancestor’s world, sparking the first human mastery of fire and the slow, inevitable birth of civilization. This imaginative narrative explores how a single, accidental discovery reshaped the trajectory of early humanity.