July Travelkit: Myths and Legends across the world

It is tempting to think that the gods are certainly angry with humans from all over the world. As we hunker down and attempt to avoid Covid 19 and help to 'flatten the curve' finding books for July's Travelkit may be challenging. The original thought had been to search for the myths and legends from various corners of the world. I have attempted to read as widely as I could- but the list is by no means exhaustive. I certainly will be interested to see what other members have to contribute to this thread.
Some potential reads:

Myths re-visited, or retold from alternative viewpoints:

Circe by Madeline Miller (Greek)
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood (Greek)

The Classics:

The Iliad by Homer (Greek)
The Odyssey by Homer (Greek)
Beowulf (Scandinavia)
1001 Arabian Nights (Middle East)

Modern Context and/or reinterpretations:

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (Dracula-Eastern Europe)
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips (Greek Gods- Britain context)
Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis (Greek Gods- Canadian context)
Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King (First Nations Canadian)
Mythos by Stephen Fry (Greek)
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaimon (Scandinavia)
American Gods by Neil Gaiman (world wide- USA context)
The Deep by Rivers Soloman (African - Underwater)

Collected Tales

American Indian Myths and Legends by Richard Erdoes, Alfonso Ortiz (North American Indian)
Early Irish Myths and Sagas by Jeffrey Gantz (Translator) (Ireland)
Japanese Tales by Royall Tyler
Kojiki by Ō no Yasumaro (Japan)

Thanks for posting this! I will take a look at my shelves.

I already have Orphans of Eldorado by Milton Hatoum down for the GeoCAT, and it would fit here.

Generally, can I suggest the Canongate Myth series? https://www.librarything.com/nseries/1654/The-Myths

I think I'll be doing a sort of continuation of this month as I believe I'll be sticking with the same theme: Robin Hood.

Outlaw / Angus Donald

I am going to be reading The Foretelling by Alice Hoffman, it is based on the mythology of the Amazons, a women-only tribe of warriors who were supposedly based in the Anatolia region of southwest Turkey.

I am going to read a book of Romanian fairy tales, Basme Romanesti by Petre Ispirescu (I think nobody else has this on LT, so the touchstones are going to get a bit complicated!). It has the English version on the left hand page and the Romanian version on the right, so hopefully it will help my language retention/learning too!

I'm wondering if The Museum of Hoaxes, a non-fiction "collection of pranks, stunts, deceptions..." might fit in here as it contains, giants, martians and crop circles.

>3 Robertgreaves:
Thank you so much for the link. There are many choices there- I especially enjoy the fact that there are selections reflecting the myths and legends from areas of the world that I am less familiar with.

>5 DeltaQueen50:
Alice Hoffman's book certainly fits the bill. Let us know how you enjoy it.

>6 Jackie_K:
You sound like an ambitious reader! I do not have a second language- but this does sound like a great way to bolster your skill.

>7 mstrust:
You just took me on an internet rabbit hole tour! This looks very interesting.

>4 LibraryCin:
Robin Hood certainly fits the legend category. There was a brief reference to him in Mythos. Funny how many retellings of his antics there are. Enjoy

I am thinking about Two Old Women which is based on an Alaska legend. I bought it in Alaska a few years ago when we were there.

>13 HelenGress: Yes, it worked out nicely! Robin Hood himself fits legend for next month, and Sherwood Forest is the legendary place for this month!

I have The Odyssey on my bookshelf.

I have these four on my shelf: The Golden Ass, Fifteen Dogs, Norse Mythology and American Gods; not sure what it will be yet.

>17 LisaMorr: I really enjoyed Fifteen Dogs - it was unlike anything I'd ever read before.

Outlaw / Angus Donald
4.25 stars

A minor character in the Robin Hood tale, Alan Dale, tells this story. When only 13 “summers” old, he manages to escape his sentence of a hand being chopped off (as a thief), and ends up with Robin Hood and his men in the forest. He is given training in fighting and music, and is with them on many of their adventures, including saving Marie-Anne from having to marry the sheriff.

This was surprisingly violent and quite unlike any other Robin Hood story I’ve read or seen. Granted, I’ve not read very many, but still. Robin Hood. himself, is portrayed quite differently from what I expected. I really liked this one, though. Interesting that I often am not all that interested in war/fighting scenes, but the big one in this book really had me engaged. I don’t know if it was something with the story itself that I was more interested, or if it’s the way the author writes, or something else, but this was really really good for me.

It is a series and I will continue. Hopefully I’ll like the next one, though. It does concern me that it seems to be about the Crusades – again, we have that war/fighting bit that often I end up skimming and being bored by, so hopefully it holds up as this one did.

>12 HelenGress: Hope it didn't waste too much time!

Re: The Museum of Hoaxes: It's a collection of hoaxes, deceptions and liars from around the world. This includes crop circles, aliens, bat men, infamous April Fool's Day pranks, Bigfoot and Nessie, radio tricksters and frauds who cheated to win competitions such as The Boston Marathon. An interesting look at how far some people will go.

I've just finished Romanian Fairy Tales by Petru Ispirescu. Three traditional Romanian fairy tales, all involving much-loved sons of emperors going on quests.

August TravelKIT is here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/322360

COMPLETED Orphans of Eldorado by Milton Hatoum, based on a legend from the Amazon of a city under the river

I read She: A History of Adventure by H. Rider Haggard which is a fantasy, aventure story into the lost world of Africa. The white queen is a legend but also the the name of the underground civilization in She, known as Kôr, is derived from Norse mythological romance, where the "deathbed" of the goddess Hel is called Kör and means "disease" in Old Norse. In She, a plague destroyed the original inhabitants of Kôr.

I have completed my read of The Foretelling by Alice Hoffman. This was a mystical story about the legendary Amazons that was both descriptive and lyrical.

Cuentos míticos latinoamericanos contains a few creation myths and other tales from South and Central America, modernised too much.

>25 DeltaQueen50: You are on an Alice Hoffman roll. She is a good author. I haven't read The Foretelling but perhaps I will. Thanks

>24 Kristelh: I had not heard of She: A History of Adventure. The premise is timely. Did you enjoy the book?

>27 HelenGress: Yes, I am doing very well with my Alice Hoffman reads - I only wonder why it took me so long to try this author! I hope you do read and enjoy The Foretelling.

>28 HelenGress:, it was okay, I decided that I really don't enjoy Rider Haggard's style but the book did contribute to the evolution of the novel in many ways.