Mythology & Folklore

Story: The Master And His Pupil Story source: English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890). Pupil and the Demon, Source Once upon a time, there was a very learned man. He knew about almost everything in the world including magic and knowledge of the beyond. He had a book that had information about Angle and all that they did, and also about Demons, their names, what they do, and how to summon them. The master had a pupil who was very foolish. One time, while the master was away, the pupil decided to go to the master's room. He looked at all of the amazing artifacts within the book. He saw a mirror where he could see all that was passing in the world. A shell, that when he put it to his ear he could hear the words spoken by anyone his master desired. The lad tried to turn copper and lead into gold and silver like his master, but all was in vain.  He didn't do how to work anything. He saw a big book in the middle of his des

Story: Nursery Rhymes - Tales Story Source: The Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897). The Lion and the Unicorn,  Source For the nursery rhymes readings, there are a lot of them. I thought that I would post a collection of some of my favorite ones from the readings. This one is really dark: ( Wikipedia: Babes in the Wood ) MY dear, do you know, How a long time ago, Two poor little children, Whose names I don't know, Were stolen away on a fine summer's day, And left in a wood, as I've heard people say. And when it was night, So sad was their plight, The sun it went down, And the moon gave no light. They sobbed and they sighed, and they bitterly cried, And the poor little things, they lay down and died. And when they were dead, The robins so red Brought strawberry-leaves And over them spread, And all the day long They sung them this song: "Poor babes in the wood! Poor babes in the wood! And don't you

Story: The Shee An Gannon and the Gruagach Gaire Story Source: Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892). Gruagach Gaire The Challenge The Shee An Gannon went to the King of Erin to ask for his daughter in marriage. The king said that he would give him his daughter if he brings the information that he wants. He tells him that he wants to know how why the laughing of the Gruagach Gaire stopped. Before this, the Gruagach Gaire laughed always and laughed so loud that the whole world heard. The king mentioned that no one was able to tell him what stopped the Gruagach Gaire from laughing. He also told Shee An Gannon that he was to fail, the king would kill him. The Gruagach Gaire Shee An Gannon went to work for the Gruagach Gaire who took him into his service. He told Shee to drive his five golden cows into the pasture but to be careful not to let them go near the land of the giant. The Land of the Gigant The new cowboy took the ca

Story: Connla and the Fairy Maiden Story Source: Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892). Source Summary Plot: Prince Connla of the Fiery Hair, when he saw a maiden that no else could see except for him. She said she was from the Plains of the Ever-Living. She told him that in that land, there is neither death nor sin. They keep a holiday all of the time, not walking away from joy. In their pleasure, there is no strife.  The King saw the Prince talking to a maiden he could not see. He asked the Prince to whom he was talking about. Even though he could not see her, he could hear her voice. She asked the Prince to come away with her to the Plain of Pleasure. The King feared the maiden and called to his Druid, Coran to come. The King told Coran, of the unseen maiden who talked to the Prince. Coran the Druid stood forth and chanted his spells toward the spot where the maiden's voice had been heard. Her voice was heard no lon

Blue Jay Blue Jay bird, Source: Pixabay Blue Jay was a wise bird who lived in a forest with his sister Ioi. Blue Jay and Ioi were both very happy and sang beautiful songs every morning. One day, when Blue Jay returned home for the day, he could not find his sister. As the days passed and Ioi did not return, Blue Jay became more and more worried about her. He asked all of the birds where she had gone, but none answer. At last, the Eaglehawk told him that Death had taken her. Blue Jay, desperate to find his sister, asked all the birds, "Where do people go when they die?" They did not answer. At last, Blue Jay asked the Wind, who told him to ask the Night. Night said, "Oh Blue Jay, I have heard from the Wind that you have a beautiful voice. There are no birds that sing for me though. If you sing for me, I will tell you." Blue Jay sang for her and Night took him on a journey. They arrived at a large village, and there Blue Jay found Ioi. However, she was sur

Story: Coyote Tries to Make His Children Spotted Story source:  Jicarilla Apache Texts  edited by Pliny Earle Goddard (1911). Fawns I really enjoyed all of the Apache coyote stories. It looks like Coyote was very busy and always in some kind of mischief. However, there was one story where the Coyote was tricked into killing his young, and I thought it was pretty sad. Plot Summary: A Coyote encountered a deer in the Arroyo among the willows. Seeing the spotted fawns, the Coyote asked, "How do you make your little ones so spotted?" The deer told him that they are born that way. The Coyote did not believe it and said that he must do something to them to make them that way. The deer then told him that he digs a hole in the top of the hill where the wind blows and pile a lot of cedar wood in from, and set fire to it. The sparks that fly out makes them spotted. The Coyote went home eager to make his children spotted. He did as the deer told him. They climbed ove