Product Description
This collection of Slavic folktales at first glance appears to have all of the usual suspects of European Märchen. Evil stepmothers: check; plucky youths overcome impossible odds to marry kings' daughter: check; dimwitted peasants given magical gifts: check.

What makes this book special are some tales and motifs that hint at even older lore. Number 27 is for all intents and purposes identical to the Native American 'Earth Diver' creation myth. In 47, man is created from a drop of God's sweat. There are two tales of a global flood in 48 and 49. In 36 there is a very dark 'Abraham and Isaac' story which goes a bit further than the Bible. In 51, there is a story of a hundred-leaved rose bush which resembles images from the Kabbalah and Yogic lore. And number 59 is the tale of St. Patrick in a Balkan setting. All in all, a great anthology of eastern European folklore.--J.B. Hare ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

unusual book; great find
I was amazed to find a book containing the Slavic stories I'd been looking for! Great service. Just what I wanted. ... Read more

Product Description
None of the vampires believed that it would ever happen; it had been a story passed down for even longer then they could remember. It told about a being that would need their blood for nourishment in order to sing, which released its power to serve. But none of the many versions of the story agreed on what or who exactly would be served. The only way to know for sure was to see the original script that had been written long a go on three separate stones. It was Attila Szabo, the Hungarian King of the Vampires that still cared about the old legend. Attila felt certain that one day this prophecy would come to pass. He expected that this being would serve them and save their culture from eventual starvation. He and his brothers, Geza and Elek kept watch for this being, always assuming it would be a male with great knowledge and an amazing singing voice. What they got was Helena Gray and none of them were prepared for where her singing voice would come from or the chaos it was going to unleash.

... Read more

Product Description
This book is about the Sun that united and still unites the peoples of the world, shaping their ideas and their symbols. The six handsomely illustrated chapters of the book examine the ideology behind sun worship, the meaning and uses of that ideology, the myths of the Sun, the role of the cult that led to monotheism, and the continuous impact of the Sun on universal culture. ... Read more

Product Description
Trying to satisfy his nagging wife, a peasant catches a wagonload of fish, only to be relieved of them by a hungry fox. ... Read more

Product Description
A Druid protester casts a curseupon a group of archaeologists who are trying to excavate the famous Serpent Mound in southern Ohio. When a backhoe operator gets bit by a snake, Jake Kovacs, a freelance reporter, goes to the Mound to cash in on the story.

Jake doesn't believe in the curse of course, but as hearrives, the professor in charge of the dig turns up dead, bit multiple times by snakes.Lisa Lyons, his comely assistant confides to Jake that she's going to be next.

Jake becomes the protector as they both investigate and Lisa tries to continue the dig, taking a core sample from below the Mound.When Lisa's brakes are cut and she barely escapes a fatal crash, they're certain it's not a curse, that somebody doesn't want her to continue the dig.Who?

It could be the Druids, Goths or American Indians protesting the dig.Jake interviews them all to see what they have to slay. Or it could be a group ofPentecostal snake handlers they track down in the woods.Whoever it is, theyt try to bury Jake and Lisa alive in a pit created for the excavation. Lisa and Jake dig their way out and then find the real culprits and the real explanation for all the trouble, the secret that the bad guys didn't want them to know. It is both mundane and mystical and the bad guys get their just desserts. ... Read more