Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook: July 2017

Project Ideas Index

Here's an idea at random... press reload for more:

Below is a list of the Project Idea posts with research tips and links, and these ideas are just a few out of the infinite possibilities! You are not constrained in any way by this list; in fact, one of the most exciting things that happens each semester is when people do projects that no one has ever done before.

Looking for more ideas? Every book in the Freebookapalooza could be the starting point for a project. Here's a book at random; press reload for more.

Every unit here in the UnTextbook is also a potential project topic, so you can browse the units in the sidebar for more stories and ideas to ponder.

Project Idea: Children Raised by Animals

The phrase "feral children" refers to children who are raised by wild animals, from the Latin word fera, meaning "wild animal." There are mythological stories of this type that you can find around the world involving all different kinds of animals.

Research Tip: The place to start your research is the Wikipedia article on Feral Children, and the list of Feral Children Legends, where you will find stories going back to ancient times. One of the most famous legends is that of Tarzan, and you can find that book at the Freebookapalooza: Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Past Project:

Children of the Wild

Project Idea: Stories from China

You can find all kinds of fairy tales, folktales, and hero legends from China.

Research Tip: Start with the Chinese units at the UnTextbook, and then start exploring the Chinese books at the Freebookapalooza. Here are just a few of them: Chinese Fables and Folk Stories by Mary Hayes Davis and Chow-Leung, Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio by Songling Pu, Stories of Old China by Brian Brown, The Chinese Fairy Book by Richard Wilhelm, and Myths and Legends of China by E.T.C. Werner.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Irish Mythology

Irish mythology begins with the legends of the mighty beings known as the Tuatha Dé Danann, along with the adventures of epic heroes like Cuchulain.

Research Tip: You can get an overview at the Wikipedia article on Irish mythology and the epic Táin Bó Cúailnge (the links will take you to all kinds of related articles). Then you can start exploring the Irish mythology books at the Freebookapalooza: The High Deeds of Finn by T. W. Rolleston, Tuatha De Danaan and of the Fianna of Ireland by Lady Augusta Gregory, and Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts (see the Ossianic legends) by Patrick Kennedy, along with the Tain books: The Cattle-Raid of Cualnge by L. Winnifred Faraday, Heroic Romances of Ireland by A. H. Leahy, Cuchulain of Muirthemne by Lady Augusta Gregory, and The Ancient Irish Epic Tale: Táin Bó Cúalnge by Joseph Dunn.

Past Project:

What it is to Love Oisin

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Project Idea: Australia

The indigenous people of Australia have been telling stories for a very long time, probably very different from any stories you have read or heard before.

Research Tip: Start with some background on the Aboriginal Australians at Wikipedia, and then start exploring these online books: Australian Legendary Tales and More Australian Legendary Tales by K. Langloh Parker, and Australian Legends by C. W. Peck.

Past Project:

Stories from Australia

Project Idea: African Traditions

There are so many great storytelling traditions in Africa, and those stories have also become an important part of storytelling in the Americas too.

Research Tip: You can start by looking through the African units at the UnTextbook, and then browse through the many books of African stories at the Freebookapalooza, along with the Caribbean and African-American books too.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Giants

You will find stories about giants in cultures around the world, so the first thing you need to think about is whether you want to zoom in on giants in a specific cultural tradition, or imagine a project where you bring together giants from different traditions.

Research Tip: You can start with the List of Mythological Giants at Wikipedia and go from there. You can also look for stories with giants in the UnTextbook and the search the Freebookapalooza for story titles with giants.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Lions in Aesop's Fables

The lion is found in many of Aesop's fables, including the fable that gives us the phrase "the lion's share."

Research Tip: You will find all the Aesop's fables in English at the Aesop's Books website, with an index to help you find the fables with lions in them.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: The Land of Oz

If you have only seen the movie The Wizard of Oz, you are in for a lot of surprises in the book; most importantly, Oz is real, not just Dorothy's dream! Frank Baum published a whole series of Oz books, all of which are now in the public domain, copyright-free, which means you can mix-and-match, using the characters to create your own Oz legends.

Research Tip: You can start with the Wikipedia article about the Land of Oz books. Start with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. More? Use the Wikipedia summaries of the Oz books to make your pick and keep on reading! There are also free Oz audiobooks at LibriVox for your listening pleasure.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Sea Monsters

The world underwater is a place of mystery and mythology, with all kinds of sea creatures, natural and supernatural, that you could include in your project.

Research Tip: See the tips for researching legendary creatures; many of the creatures you will find on those lists are creatures who lives in seas, lakes, and rivers. You will also find some good leads in the Sea Monsters article at Wikipedia, along with lists in the Sea Cryptids and Aquatic Mythology categories.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Buddhist Jataka Tales

The jatakas are "birth stories" told by Gautama Buddha as parables for the members of his community. There are hundreds of them, and they are one of the oldest folktale collections in the world. As you work with the jatakas you will want to find a theme or topic to help you choose three or four stories to put in your collection. That might be stories with a similar moral or lesson, or stories about a particular animal, etc.

Research Tip: Start with some background about the jatakas at Wikipedia. Then start exploring; there are some wonderful jataka collections online. Some are retellings for children, like the books by Babbitt, Rouse, and Inayat Khan. There is also a nice collection by Shedlock and Varma. You can find literal translations from the ancient Pali texts in the editions by Rhys Davids, Francis and Thomas, and Cowell. If you like comic books, you will enjoy the jataka comic books on reserve in Bizzell Library.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Horses

There are horses of mythology (including flying horses) and also horses of legend, and they are all stories you could retell for your project.

Research Tip: You can zoom in on the horse stories from a particular culture, or you can combine stories from different cultures; your research will depend on which approach you want to take. A good place to start is Wikipedia's list of mythological horses, along with this list of horses in folklore and mythology; there is even a list of winged horses. Starting with those lists, you will find articles on all kinds of horses and horse stories!

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Frogs

Frogs or toads: you will find stories about them all over the world, including the famous Frog-Prince.

Research Tip: The Wikipedia article about Frogs in Culture is a great place to start, For frogs in folklore, you can do a search for frog at the UnTextbook, and that will take you to the frogs in the different units; and you can also search for frog in the story titles at the Freebookapalooza. And of course there are also Aesop's fables about frogs.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Ballads

Since music and singing were invented, people have been telling stories in song, and the English ballad tradition is an amazing resource to draw on for a project.

Research Tip: The definitive collection of ballads is by Francis Child, online at Sacred Texts, and you can find out more about Child and the ballads at Wikipedia. Many of the ballads have articles at Wikipedia, and you can find a list of those here: List of the Child Ballads. There are also some great books at the Freebookapalooza: Stories From the Ballads by Mary MacGregor, A Collection of Ballads by Andrew Lang, The Book of Old English Ballads by George Wharton Edwards, and A Book of Old Ballads by Beverley Nichols.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Shakespeare

Shakespeare is one of the great storytellers in the English tradition, and you can find stories in his plays that are perfect for a project in this class.

Research Tip: Wikipedia provides synopses (plot summaries) for each of Shakespeare's plays, so that is always a good place to start; you can find links to all the plays here: Shakespeare's Plays. There are many different electronic editions online, but my favorite is this one: OpenSourceShakespeare.org. There are also some good resources at the Freebookapalooza: Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb, and Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare by Edith Nesbit. Finally, you might also enjoy this fascinating book: Folklore of Shakespeare by T.F. Thiselton Dyer.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Saints

The stories of the saints in both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions provide all kinds of legends you can use!

Research Tip: You can learn about the Calendar of Saints at Wikipedia, and then you can browse through the General Calendar, where you will find links to articles about all the major saints. There are also some books at the Freebookapalooza which you can browse and explore: Leaves from the Golden Legend by H. D. Madge, Stories of the Saints by Grace Hall, The Seven Champions of Christendom by F. J. Harvey Darton, The Book of Saints and Heroes by Leonora Lang, and more yet more books about the saints.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Stories from Vietnam

Although it is a tiny country, Vietnam has a rich storytelling tradition which you could use for a project.

Research Tip: The best collection of stories online is Legends of Annam by Clotilde Chivas-Baron. Annam is one of the old names for the country now called Vietnam; you can find out more about the names of Vietnam at Wikipedia. There are also some useful articles at Wikipedia about Vietnamese mythology and legends: Vietnamese folk religion, Vietnamese Dragon, Thánh Gióng, Liễu Hạnh, etc. You will also find a useful collection of stories at Vietspring.org.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Italian Tales

Italy has a rich tradition of fairy tales and folktales, with some wonderful books online you can use for finding stories.

Research Tip: You can start with the Italian unit at the UnTextbook, and then there are these wonderful books at the Freebookapalooza: The Italian Fairy Book by Anne Macdonell, Italian Popular Tales by Thomas Frederick Crane, Stories from the Pentamerone by Giambattista Basile, Fables and Folklore of Rome by R. H. Busk, and Legends of Florence by Charles Godfrey Leland.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Urban Legends

Urban legends are the mythology of the modern age, and sites like Snopes.com provide a great research tool for finding and studying the most popular tales.

Research Tip: For general background, read the Wikipedia article on Urban Legends. Then, to find stories, Snopes is always the best place to start, zooming in on the specific category you will focus on: Cars - College - Crime - Food - Horrors - Love - Medical - Sports - Weddings, and many more general categories, plus subcategories for all those general categories too! There are probably thousands of legends now that the Snopes.com team has researched and documented over the years.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Celtic Creatures

The Celtic tradition abounds with supernatural creatures that you can weave into a story collection of your own.

Research Tip: Wikipedia is the place to go for articles on leprechauns, banshees, kelpies, pookas, merrows, selkies, brownies, knockers, to name just a few. You will also find stories in the books at the Freebookapalooza, including general Celtic collections along with books of stories from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and more Celtic traditions.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Native American Traditions

For this type of project, you can zoom in on the traditions of a specific tribe, or you could find a theme (tricksters, ghosts, warriors, etc.) to bring together stories from different tribal traditions.

Research Tip: The best place to start is with the different Native American books at the Freebookapalooza. You can then use Wikipedia to get important background information about the tribal tradition you want to study. There are also many Native American units here at the UnTextbook that you can browse and explore.

Note: It is important to work with reliable sources because of the "fakelore" online, like the so-called "Native American" or "Cherokee" story of the two wolves; if you are unsure about good sources to work with, let me know, and I will be glad to help!

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Werewolves

There are werewolf legends that date back to ancient Greece and Rome! You can use this project as a chance to broaden your werewolf awareness.

Research Tip: Start with the Wikipedia article on Werewolves, and then take a look at this online book: The Book of Were-Wolves by Sabine Baring-Gould.
There are also some chapters about werewolves in Human Animals by Frank Hamel. For the German werewolf tradition, Dan Ashliman has published some translations here: Werewolf Legends from Germany.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Tigers

Tigers are amazing creatures, and you will find stories about tigers in the parts of the world where tigers live: India and elsewhere in South Asia, in Southeast Asia, and in China.

Research Tip: I created a big anthology of tiger stories that you can browse and use here: Tiger Stories. You will see that many of the stories come from India, but there are also stories from other countries. Altogether, there are over 30 different tiger stories to explore!

Tigers are an endangered species, and there are only about 4000 tigers left in the wild. In addition to learning about tiger folklore and mythology, you might also want to learn about tiger preservation efforts today; the World Wildlife Fund is one place to start: WWF Tigers.

Project Idea: Foxes

The fox is a rich, complex folklore figure in many different cultural traditions, and the fox is also the arch-trickster of Aesop's fables; that is why I usually use some kind of fox as my avatar online.

Research Tip: You can find some leads in the Wikipedia article about Foxes in Popular Culture, along with related articles: Reynard the Fox, Kitsune, Fox Spirits, etc. For fox stories, you can do a search for fox at the UnTextbook, and that will take you to lots of different kinds of stories; and you can also search for fox in the story titles at the Freebookapalooza. There are also lots of Aesop's fables about foxes.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Cats

If you want to do a story collection about cats, you can find cat tales in cultures all over the world.

Research Tip: For cats in mythology, Wikipedia has a list of Mythological Felines, and there is also an article on Cultural Depictions of Cats. For cats in folklore, you can do a search for cat at the UnTextbook, and that will take you to lots of different kinds of stories; and you can also search for cat in the story titles at the Freebookapalooza. There are also lots of Aesop's fables about dogs.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Dogs

You will find legends about dogs from many traditions which would be perfect for a Storybook project.

Research Tip: For dogs in mythology, Wikipedia has a List of Mythological Dogs, and there is also an article on Cultural Depictions of Dogs. For dogs in folklore, you can do a search for dog at the UnTextbook, and that will take you to lots of different kinds of stories; and you can also search for dog in the story titles at the Freebookapalooza. There are also lots of Aesop's fables about dogs.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Tricksters

You will find trickster figures, both human and animal (and even some trickster gods) in the myths and folklore of cultures around the world. For this project, you could zoom in on a specific trickster (Brer Rabbit, for example), or the tricksters of a region (tricksters in India), or a project that brings together tricksters from completely different traditions.

Research Tip: Start with the Wikipedia article about Tricksters, which has a list of tricksters (scroll on down for the list); those links will take you to individual articles about some of the most famous trickster figures like Reynard the Fox, Till Eulenspiegel, Nanabozho, etc. Here in the UnTextbook, look at the Anansi from West Africa and from Jamaica. For Brer Rabbit, check out the two Brer Rabbit units. For the Coyote trickster of Native American legend, check out the Apache unit, the Pacific-Northwest unit, and the Southwest unit. You can also search the UnTextbook for trickster and find lots of stories you might like!

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Heroes of Myth and Legend

You will find hero legends in cultures all over the world, so for this project, you need to figure out how you want to proceed: zoom in on just one hero or the heroes of just one cultural tradition, or else something across cultures, where you find a way to bring the hero stories of different cultures together in your project.

Research Tip: Wikipedia has all kinds of lists that will be helpful; here are just a few of them: list of culture heroes, folk heroes (scroll down for list in the article), list of Greek mythological heroes, list of Irish mythological figures, heroes in Norse myth and legend, etc. If you are having trouble getting started, let me know what kind of hero stories you are looking for, and I will see if I can find some good jumping-off points at Wikipedia or elsewhere.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Heroines of Myth and Legend

You will find heroines in many mythological stories, along with famous women whose lives are part-history and part-legend. Put three or four stories together, and you have a Heroines project.

Research Tip: Wikipedia is a great resource for both mythological and legendary women. There is a long list of warrior women in folklore, and if you want to zoom in on Greek mythology, see the list of notable Greek women, and you will find similar lists for the folklore and mythology of other countries, sometimes with the women separated out, sometimes with the heroines mixed in with the heroes. For example, the list of Irish mythological figures lists heroines along with the heroes.

And you might also want to check out the heroes research section: after all, you could do a gender-flip project where you take hero stories, and turn them into heroines!

Past Project:

Diaries of Four Courageous Women

Project Idea: Fairy Tale Villains

Most fairy tales have a villain; sometimes the villain is a mere mortal, but sometimes the villain has supernatural powers. Like in the popular Wicked series where Gregory Maguire gives us a new take on Oz by revising the "wicked witch" character, you can also focus on the villains to come up with new versions of the old fairy tales.

Research Tip: As with any fairy tale project, the key decision to make is whether you want to zoom in on a specific cultural tradition or whether you want to compare across traditions. See the Fairy Tales project page for research tips that will work for both approaches.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Fairy Tale Princes

Just as you might think of "princesses" when you think of fairy tales, you might also think of the princes, and you will find that a prince is often the hero in fairy tales from around the world. Focusing on the prince can help you choose the three or four stories you need for a project, either from inside a single culture, or comparing princes from the fairy tales of different cultures.

Research Tip: As with any fairy tale project, the key decision to make is whether you want to zoom in on a specific cultural tradition or whether you want to compare across traditions. See the Fairy Tales project page for research tips that will work for both approaches.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Fairy Tale Princesses

You might think immediately of "princesses" when you think of fairy tales, and this is true not just for Disney: you will find fairy tale princesses in the fairy tale traditions all over the world. Focusing on the princess as a character is a way to help you choose which stories you want to tell, either working inside a single culture, or by comparing princess fairy tales across different cultures.

Research Tip: As with any fairy tale project, the key decision to make is whether you want to zoom in on a specific cultural tradition or whether you want to compare across traditions. See the Fairy Tales project page for research tips that will work for both approaches.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Fairy Tales

There are fairy tales from cultural traditions all over the world, so the first decision you need to make is whether you want to zoom in on fairy tales from a particular culture or region (Japanese fairy tales, Brazilian fairy tales, Dutch fairy tales, etc. etc.), and whether you want to find a theme to explore, bringing together fairy tales from different cultures.

Research Tip: Just how you do your research depends on the approach you want to take. If you are zooming in on a particular culture, then use the Freebookapalooza to find the book(s) for that culture which contain fairy tales you can browse to find the ones you like best. If you are looking for a particular theme, try to find a good search term you can use, and then do a search at one of the websites that brings together fairy tales from across cultures: Andrew Lang, Baldwin Project, and Sur La Lune are good ones to try, and, for browsing, Dan Ashliman's FolkTexts site is fantastic for finding different themes across cultures.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Moon Stories

Not surprisingly, the moon is the subject of myths and legends around the world.

Research Tip: You could explore the list of Moon Gods and Goddesses at Wikipedia, along with the articles on the Man in the Moon, the Moon Rabbit, and other examples of Lunar Pareidolia. The book Moon Lore by Timothy Harley can point you in the direction of many more stories, as will a search of the Freebookapalooza for moon in the story titles.

Past Project:

Lunar Legends

Project Idea: Blackbeard the Pirate

Blackbeard is a good example of a pirate that you could do a whole project on, given that we know a lot about him historically... along with the legends told about him, like the legend of Blackbeard's skull.

Research Tip: Start with Wikipedia, and then explore the websites dedicated to Blackbeard: Blackbeard at History.org, Blackbeard's Realm, Walk in Blackbeard's Footsteps, etc.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Goddesses

There are ancient goddess traditions around the world, and for this project, you could zoom in on the goddesses of a specific culture, or you could find a way to bring goddesses from different cultures together.

Research Tip: There is a List of Goddesses at Wikipedia, but you will actually have better luck with the Lists of Deities, which will take you to lists of gods and goddesses, culture by culture, like the List of Japanese Deities — just use "Control-F" to find the goddesses on that page, and then click to go to the individual article about each goddess.

Past Project:

Desperate Goddesses: Life on Mythological Lane

Project Idea: Gods

You can find legends about different gods from cultures all around the world, and in one type of project you could find a way to combine those different gods into a single story collection.

Research Tip: A good place to start is Wikipedia, which has extensive articles on the gods of the world's cultures, and starting with a List of Gods, which is really a list of lists that then takes you to lists for different cultures: Aztec gods, Celtic gods, and on and on.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Greek History and Legend

In addition to Greek mythology, there are also many famous legends about Greek historical figures.

Research Tip: You can find articles about the main historical figures at Wikipedia (like Alexander the Great, for example, or Cleopatra), and these books can also be helpful: The Story of the Greeks by H. A. Guerber, Historic Tales of Greece by Charles Morris, The Story of Greece by Mary Macgregor, and Stories of the Ancient Greeks by Charles D. Shaw.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Zeus (Jupiter)

Zeus provides a great example of how you can build a project around a specific god, choosing your favorite stories about him.

Research Tip: You can find a good article at Wikipedia about Zeus, and lots of pages about him at Theoi.com: Zeus, Family of Zeus, Loves of Zeus (which continue on a second page... third page), Cult of Zeus, and Titles of Zeus.

Past Projects:

Project Idea: Greek Goddesses

A great way to develop a Greek mythology project is to focus on the goddesses or to zoom in on a specific goddess.

Research Tip: You can find detailed articles about all the goddesses at Theoi.com (each goddess has several pages of her own), and there are also detailed articles at Wikipedia: Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Hera, Leto, Rhea, Selene, Metis, and so on.

Past Projects:

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