Books in Myths and Legends from Around the World series

Here are the stories that everyone knows - Robin Hood, Anaigi the Spider man, George and the Dragon - alongside a golden hoard of lesser known myths and legends from Ethopia, Mexico, China and many other countries. No one can tell a tale better than Geraldine McCaugherean. Her colourful, always readable prose sweeps you along and gives each of these 25 stories its own special magic.

The Bible tells of a remote time when men journeyed from the East and found a plain in the land of Shinar..."And they said to one another, 'Come, let us build us a city, and a tower whose top may reach heaven.'" Centuries after the building of the Tower of Babel, an Arab poet, El Deraoui, wrote of another tower, the Pharos, the great lighthouse off the northern coast of Egypt, "On its height a dome enshadowed me and thence I saw my friends the stars. I thought the sea below me was a cloud and that I had set up my tent in the midst of the heavens." Since ancient times towers have made a poetic appeal. Towers of many kinds, in all ages and in all countries, have met varying needs. There have been watchtowers, cathedral towers, clock towers, bell towers, towers to commemorate victories, towers to honour the living and towers to celebrate the dead. Around many of the towers, legends have clung - some of these legends are very well known. Towers will always stand midway between fact and poetry, the legends relating to them, more often than not, look in these two directions. This book has brought together 11 such legends with a desire to record some of the characteristic tales that blend with a few of the noble towers of the earth. A percentage of the net sale from this book will be donated to charities which sponsor educational scholarships. Abela Publishing - Republishing Yesterday's Books for Tomorrow's Educations.

It is a widely held belief, especially amongst the peoples of English-speaking nations, that the Irish have the gift of the gab. Samuel Lover's Irish Stories and Legends shows the utter truthfulness of this conviction. After a recitation by Samuel Lover of a few tales at a dinner party, he was subsequently convinced to publish two of them in the Dublin Literary Gazette. The favourable reception of these tales resulted in Irish Stories and Legends, an exquisite and exceptional volume of Irish folklore. Prepared and collated with very few changes, Samuel Lover wanted to stay true to the original stories, so that the written story would enchant readers as though it were being presented in the vernacular. So curl up with this unique piece of Irish folklore, not seen in print for over one hundred and seventy years, and let the Gift of the Irish enchant and captivate you. Samuel Lover (1797-1868) was an Irish novelist, a songwriter, and a painter of portraits. So famous was this son of Ireland that a memorial to him stands in St Patrick's Cathedral, in Dublin. Less well-known is the fact that he was the also the grandfather of Victor Herbert, a famous Broadway composer. Renowned for his clever twist of phrase, Samuel Lover once said, "When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen". We're grateful that he never stopped "itching"! Later in life, Samuel moved to London and joined with Dickens in founding Bentley's Magazine. Dickens was the magazine's first editor, and Oliver Twist its first serial. Lover certainly kept illustrious company. The memorial in St Patrick's Cathedral summarises Lover's achievements thusly: Poet, painter, novelist and composer, who, in the exercise of a genius as distinguished in its versatility as in its power, by his pen and pencil illustrated so happily the characteristics of the peasantry of his country that his name will ever be honourably identified with Ireland. A percentage of the sale of this book will be donated towards the education of underprivileged youth in Ireland.

Joseph Jacob's first volume-English Fairy Tales [1890]-did not exhaust the scanty remains of traditional English folktales. Most of the forty-four tales that appear in More English Fairy Tales had never before appeared in print. In compiling More English Fairy Tales [1894], Joseph Jacobs flouted the Florklorist's creed, choosing to present stories that would fill children's imaginations "with bright trains of images". Vividly painted princesses, Pied Pipers, pots of gold, giants, speaking cats, Kings, Hoybahs, wise men, washerwomen, and more overflow from the pages of this volume, all bound by the common threads of basic moral lessons. Many of the tales were recorded verbatim from storytellers. They are by no means in an authorised form, and even touch on the "vulgar" using archaic and colloquial English. In the times following Jacob's original printing, the literary establishment objected to the use of such archaic colloquialisms. These tales were told for generations in a form that used these dialects and "vulgar" words for effect. However, the traditional form makes these stories all the richer in a modern setting. We invite you to curl up with this volume and be transported back in time to when England had a hundred or more local dialects-a time when the words Lawkamercyme and noddle were commonplace. A percentage of the net sale from this book will be donated to the Prince's Trust for educational scholarships for the underprivileged.

THE EVENTS described in the saga of Gisli the Soursop reach from about the year AD930 to AD980. In a time when the law of Iceland had not yet been established, when men were ruled by their conscience, Gisli, a champion of Iceland, was outlawed for murder by the Chieftain Bork at the Thorsness Thing (council). But besides his sentence he was doomed, even before his birth. He and his kin were under a curse, for they had kept the broken bits of "Graysteel", the thrall's good sword, which came with a withering spaedom. So under sentence and under a curse Gisli went on the run. For fourteen years with the help of family, friends and those who really knew the truth, he managed to evade Bork's men and bounty hunters alike. As with many champions through the ages, Gisli was also a true poet and his verses have genuine thought and feeling lying underneath, as you will frequently find in this volume. To the end Gisli fought hard, taking with him eight of the fourteen who eventually cornered him one snowy night on the crags. It has been said by many that there never was a more famous and honourable defence made by one man in times of which the truth is known. Even as death approached Gisli managed to compose and sing one final verse to his wife who stood nearby. It has also been said that this is one of the finest, if it be not the very finest, of the lesser Sagas. When translating it is difficult to grasp the full spirit of the story, but here it has been accomplished with the detail of scenery and costume thoroughly mastered. 33% of the net profit will be donated to charities for educational purposes.

The Sagas, of which this tale is one, were composed for the men who have left their mark in every corner of Europe. There is no page of modern history in which the influence of the Vikings and their conquests have not had an effect--Russia, Constantinople, Greece, Palestine, Sicily, the coasts of Africa, Southern Italy, France, the Spanish Peninsula, England, Scotland, Ireland, and every rock and island round them, have been visited at one time or another by the men of Scandinavia, and their influence is still being felt today. This saga paints a picture of Icelandic society. But the society presented is not one of pastoral simplicity and repose. The actors within were real men and women and the events portrayed actually occurred - for this is a true story. Bloodshed and violence are common and Viga-Glum, or "Murdering Glum," the hero of this story, is not by any means a perfect character, even when measured by the standards of the time in which he lived. A time when a man's standing in the community was dictated by courage and his wealth, the author tells us that for twenty years he was the first man in Eyjafirth, and for twenty years more there was no better man there. Viga-Glum is described as one who was naturally indolent, shy, and moody; but when he could be brought to act, his courage and determination were indomitable. When he had to achieve a purpose he was thoroughly unscrupulous; neither blood nor false oaths stood in his way - just what one would expect from a Viking. The finishing touch to this part of his character is added by the peculiarity, that whenever he was intent on slaying a man, he was apt to be seized with a fit of uncontrollable laughter which ended in tears. So join us in this ancient tale of love, lust, honour, murder, Beserkers, romance and damsels in distress. 33% of the net sale will be donated to charities for educational purposes.