Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook: british1

Showing posts with label british1. Show all posts

Myth-Folklore Unit: Beowulf

Overview. Beowulf is the hero of an Old English (Anglo-Saxon) epic poem that was composed in England around the eighth or ninth century, but which narrates legendary events that took place in Scandinavia hundreds of years earlier, perhaps around the fifth century. As the story begins, we meet Beowulf as a young man, ambitious but untested in battle. He hears of a monster, Grendel, that is devastating the lands of Hrothgar, King of the Danes, and he resolves to go forth and defeat that monster. Grendel is not the only monster that Beowulf must face, as he also battles Grendel's mother, and a fire-breathing dragon also! The version you will read here — The Story of Beowulf by Strafford Riggs — is a prose adaptation in modern English. You get to read the complete book (it was just the right length for a reading unit in this class!), and I think you will find that Riggs's style is very lively and easy to read.

Language. This is a modern prose adaptation of the ancient poem, easy to read.

Story Length. This is the entire story of Beowulf; the book was the exact right length for a reading unit in this class (15,000 words).

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total: Beowulf. Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.

READING A:

READING B:

Myth-Folklore Unit: Mabinogion - Pwyll and Taliesin

Overvew. The Mabinogion (or, more correctly, The Mabinogi) is a collection of Welsh stories that were preserved in manuscript form in the 14th century but which date back many centuries earlier to the oral storytelling traditions of the Welsh people. The version you will read here is a pioneering 19th-century English translation of The Mabinogion by Lady Charlotte Guest. Out of the many story cycles that make up Lady Guest's edition of the Mabinogion, I have chosen for this unit the story of Pwyll, Prince of Dyved, and his mysterious wife Rhiannon. As you will see, theirs is a story of supernatural magic and also of love and loyalty. In addition, you will also get to read the story of the Taliesin, a comical bard and mystical prophet who was later associated with the legends of King Arthur (as, for example, in the novel Taliesin which begins Stephen Lawhead's modern series of Arthurian fantasy fiction, The Pendragon Cycle).

Language. This is a prose version of the original Welsh which attempts to give you a feel for the original oral storytelling style, and the Taliesin stories contain the poems of Taliesin translated into English.

Story Length. This unit consists of two long stories: the first half of the unit contains the story of Pwyll and Rhiannon, and the second half contains the story of Taliesin.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on a single page: Mabinogion.

READING A:

READING B:

(from the Medieval Welsh Prose page,

a very useful resource!)

Myth-Folklore Unit: King Arthur

Overview. This collection of Arthur legends falls into two main categories: there are stories about Arthur (how he became king, how he obtained Excalibur and the Round Table, and his enmity with his own sister Morgan le Fay), and those Arthur stories are then followed by stories about Arthur's knights and their quest for the Holy Grail (focusing on Sir Galahad and Sir Lancelot). Then, at the very end of the unit, the focus shifts back to Arthur, and the tragic events that marked the end of his reign. The source is King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang. While Lang does use a rather lofty style of English to convey the grandeur of the legend, his writing is still very lively and readable. Especially if you are interested in the mystical and mysterious aspects of Arthurian legend, full of magic and dreams, I think you will enjoy these stories very much!

Language. Andrew Lang has retold the medieval Arthur materials in modern literary prose; it should not be too difficult to read.

Story Length. The unit consists of one continuous story, divided into separate episodes, with the second half focused on the search for the Holy Grail.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total: King Arthur. Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.

READING A:

READING B:

Myth-Folklore Unit: Ballads of Robin Hood

Overview. The Robin Hood stories in this unit are in the form of ballads as found in The English and Scottish Popular Ballads collected by Francis James Child. The ballads are oldest sources for the Robin legends, some of them dating back to the Middle Ages. You will see Robin at the start of his outlaw career, a young man with a furious temper who murders fourteen of the king's foresters, leaving just one alive to tell the tale. In addition to his skill with the bow, Robin is a trickster too, often disguising himself as someone unexpected — a butcher, a beggar, a monk, and even an old woman. You will meet the Merry Men, such as Little John, Will Scarlett and Allen a Dale, and you will also meet Robin's sworn enemies, such as the Bishop of Hereford and the Sheriff of Nottingham. And yes, Maid Marian will make an appearance, as will King Richard. Plus, some of the ballads have YouTube recordings where you can listen to the song as well as reading the lyrics!

Language. All the readings in this unit are ballads. For some of the ballads you have just the lyrics; for some ballads, you can listen to a performance of the song at YouTube. The ballads are quite old, so the language is quite old-fashioned, but good for singing out loud!

Story Length. Each ballad is a single page in length.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total: Robin Hood. Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.

READING A:

READING B:

(Robin Hood statue in Nottingham)

Myth-Folklore Unit: Canterbury Tales

Overview. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are one of the most famous works of Middle English poetry, and this unit gives you a chance to enjoy the stories in modern English prose form, as retold in Eva March Tappan's The Chaucer Story Book. On a pilgrimage to Canterbury, a group of pilgrims decide to have a storytelling contest, and the "Canterbury Tales" are the stories that they tell. You will read stories from seven of the pilgrims, and the stories are as varied as the pilgrims themselves. The Wife of Bath tells a sort of fairy tale set in the court of King Arthur, while the Friar tells a story about the devil-as-trickster. From the Franklin you will hear a beautiful story of love and magic. From the Pardoner you will hear a parable about Death, while the Prioress tells a religious tale about the miracles of the Virgin Mary. The Nun's Priest story is a charming animal fable about Chauntecleer the Rooster, and the last story you will hear is a comical tale from the Canon's Yeoman about would-be alchemy. In the spirit of the original storytelling contest, you can decide who is the winner amongst these seven tales.

Language. This is a modern prose adaption of Chaucer's medieval poetry, and as such it should not be difficult to read.

Story Length. The stories in this unit vary in length, with some being a single page while others are two, three or four pages long.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on a single page: Canterbury Tales.

READING A:

READING B:

Myth-Folklore Unit: Faerie Queen - Britomart

Overview. Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene is an epic poem of the English Renaissance that features knights and their adventures. In this unit, you will read about the adventures of a virtuous lady knight, Britomart, who has seen the face of her destined lover in Merlin's mirror and sets out on a quest to find him, all the while disguised as a man. Although Spenser's poetry is very beautiful, I have used a prose version for this unit — Stories from the Faerie Queene by Mary Macleod — so that you can enjoy Britomart's adventure as a story in its own right. You will find magical weapons here, like Britomart's own enchanted spear, and mysterious settings, such as the "Castle Joyous of the Lady of Delight" or the even more weird "Castle of the Enchanter." Britomart's male disguise leads to several gender-bending dilemmas and, to add to the confusion, her beloved Artegall has disguised himself beyond recognition as a wild man called the "Savage Knight." If you are a fan of Arthurian romance and/or Shakespearean comedies of mistaken identity, I think you will enjoy Britomart's story!

Language. This is a prose adaptation of Spenser's Renaissance poetry, and it should not be too difficult to read.

Story Length. This unit consists of one continuous story, divided into different episodes.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on a single page: Britomart.

Free audiobook available!

READING A:

READING B:

Myth-Folklore Unit: Alice in Wonderland

Overview. In this unit, you will read most of Lewis Carroll's famous novel, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (first published almost 150 years ago, in 1865).There are a few chapters that I had to omit to keep the reading down under 15,000 words, but I'm guessing you will find all or most of your favorite episodes here: Alice's trip down the Rabbit-Hole as she chases the White Rabbit, her encounter with the Caterpillar, the surreal visit to the Duchess's kitchen (which is when she first encounters the Cheshire Cat), the Mad Tea-Party, the Queen's Croquet-Ground, and The Trial to determine "Who Stole the Tarts?" There is a LibriVox audio recording available too, which means you can listen to the novel while you read. I've included the famous illustrations by Sir John Tenniel along with illustrations by Arthur Rackham and others who have imagined Alice's Wonderland in visual form.

Language. Carroll's novel is written in a delightful prose style, and it also contains some original poetry as well.

Story Length. This unit consists of one continuous story, divided up into separate episodes. You will be reading most, but not quite all, of the original novel.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total: Alice in Wonderland. Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.

Free audiobook available!

READING A:

READING B:

(illustration by Sir John Tenniel)

Myth-Folklore Unit: Through the Looking-Glass

Overview. Lewis Carroll published Alice in Wonderland in 1865, and in 1871 he published a sequel: Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. While the Wonderland novel was inspired by a pack of playing cards, this novel features chess pieces: you'll meet the Red Queen and Red King, along with the White King and White Queen, and also the gentle but lunatic inventor, the White Knight. In addition to the chess pieces, this novel features some of Carroll's best known characters, such as Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Walrus and the Carpenter, and that most famous egg in all of world literature: Humpty Dumpty. Finally, this is the Alice novel which contains the epic nonsense rhyme, Jabberwocky. So, like Alice in Wonderland, this novel is full of delights, and there is a LibriVox audio recording available too, which means you can listen to the novel while you read.

Language. Carroll's novel is written in a delightful prose style, and it also contains some original poetry as well.

Story Length. This unit consists of one continuous story, divided up into separate episodes. You will be reading most, but not quite all, of the original novel.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total: Through the Looking-Glass. Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.

Free audiobook available!

READING A:

READING B:

(illustration by John Tenniel)

Pages