Books with author Padraic Colum

Once there was another Sun and another Moon; a different Sun and a different Moon from the ones we see now. Sol was the name of that Sun and Mani was the name of that Moon. But always behind Sol and Mani wolves went, a wolf behind each. The wolves caught on them at last and they devoured Sol and Mani. And then the world was in darkness and cold.In those times the Gods lived, Odin and Thor, Hödur and Baldur, Tyr and Heimdall, Vidar and Vali, as well as Loki, the doer of good and the doer of evil. And the beautiful Goddesses were living then, Frigga, Freya, Nanna, Iduna, and Sif. But in the days when the Sun and Moon were destroyed the Gods were destroyed too—all the Gods except Baldur who had died before that time, Vidar and Vali, the sons of Odin, and Modi and Magni, the sons of Thor.At that time, too, there were men and women in the world. But before the Sun and the Moon were devoured and before the Gods were destroyed, terrible things happened in the world. Snow fell on the four corners of the earth and kept on falling for three seasons. Winds came and blew everything away. And the people of the world who had lived on in spite of the snow and the cold and the winds fought each other, brother killing brother, until all the people were destroyed.Also there was another earth at that time, an earth green and beautiful. But the terrible winds that blew leveled down forests and hills and dwellings. Then fire came and burnt the earth. There was darkness, for the Sun and the Moon were devoured. The Gods had met with their doom. And the time in which all these things happened was called Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods.Then a new Sun and a new Moon appeared and went traveling through the heavens; they were more lovely than Sol and Mani, and no wolves followed behind them in chase. The earth became green and beautiful again, and in a deep forest that the fire had not burnt a woman and a man wakened up. They had been hidden there by Odin and left to sleep during Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods.Lif was the woman's name, and Lifthrasir was the man's. They moved through the world, and their children and their children's children made people for the new earth. And of the Gods were left Vidar and Vali, the sons of Odin, and Modi and Magni, the sons of Thor; on the new earth Vidar and Vali found tablets that the older Gods had written on and had left there for them, tablets telling of all that had happened before Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods.And the people who lived after Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods, were not troubled, as the people in the older days were troubled, by the terrible beings who had brought destruction upon the world and upon men and women, and who from the beginning had waged war upon the Gods.

Genies, wishes, thieves, and treasure abound in these classic stories of magic and adventure from master storyteller Padraic Colum.Every night for a thousand and one nights, Shahrazad begins to tell her husband the king a new tale but each night she stops before finishing. Why? Because the king has promised to kill her when the last one is over. However, her nightly stories—of Sinbad the Sailor, Ali Baba, and many other heroes and villains—are so enthralling that King Shahryar has to postpone her execution again and again... Padraic Colum brings together a selection of the most amazing of the over 600 stories which Shahrazad told. Full of genies, flying carpets, and daring adventures, The Arabian Nights will captive a new audience and leave readers asking for one more story.

Compiled by noted Irish author Padraic Colum, this treasury of time-honored tales from the fairy-haunted folklore of the Emerald Isle includes these favorite stories: "Fedelma, the Enchanter's Daughter," "When the King of the Cats Came to King Connal's Dominion," "The Sword of Light and the Unique Tale," "The Town of the Red Castle," "The King of the Land of Mist," "The House of Crom Duv," and "The Spae-Woman."Brimming with sly humor, whimsy and imagination, these delightful tales offer hours of enjoyable reading. Nine full-page illustrations and numerous other decorations by Willy Pogány further enhance the text with a mood of timeless enchantment.

The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy is the glorious saga of the events of the Trojan War and the wanderings of Odysseus. based on Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Padraic Colum's retelling of Homer's classic epics for children is still considered by many to be the finest introduction young readers will ever have to Homer. The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy combines the broad stories of both the Iliad and the Odyssey, weaving a fast-paced tale sure to enthrall children and adults alike.