Treasury of Magical Tales from Around the World

Treasury of Magical Tales from Around the World — page 1
Introduction This is a collection of tales from around the globe tied together by the thread of magic All have their origins in oral storytelling that is storytelling through voice and gestures including poems and chants and songs Many scholars of cultural evolution believe that human beings have been telling stories around evening campfires or in the dark of night for tens of thousands of years Storytelling can fill time that might otherwise feel lonely or frightening Unlike myths the magical stories offered here are rarely meant to praise gods or otherworldly spirits They are not minding a religious code They do not aim to tell you how best to live your life And they usually do not try to explain natural phenomena They are grounded in the traditions of their time and place yes but in a way distinct from many other kinds of traditional tales Often when we speak of traditions we intend religion language music food clothing housing things we can easily point to and identify and things that are often tightly bound to a specific place and time Traditions in these tales however include the hopes and fears of generations ephemeral things that defy easy definition and that belong more to our common humanity than to any particular culture In a sense then magical tales give us a record of the history of the human spirit I often retell traditional tales that are myths or religious stories and when I do I tend to stay as close to the original details and tone of the story as I know how to do In the present volume however I stray from that because I want to keep the focus on how the stories here deal with hopes and fears a tradition that can belong to any place and 8