Be transported into the enchanting world of Slavic mythology with this collection of two classic books.
(Annotated) with a historical introduction to the Slavs.In "Fairy Tales of the Slav Peasants and Herdsmen," Alexander Chodzko takes us on a journey through the rich and vibrant folklore of Slavic peasants and herdsmen. It features a collection of 20 fairy tales from the Slavic nations and territories, which was first released in French. It was a compilation of the well-known fairy tales that had been passed down from one generation to the next. Chodzko had gathered the tales for posterity. In 1896, Emily Harding published her translation in English.
Albert Wratislaw, an English priest and Slavonic scholar, wrote the second book in this collection called Sixty Folk-Tales from Exclusively Slavonic Sources. The book was first published in 1890, and it is a collection of sixty folk tales. The stories are divided into Bohemian, Moravian, Hungarian-Slovenish, Upper and Lower Lusatian, Kashubian, Polish, White Russian, Little Russian Stories (from Galicia), Little Russian Stories (from South Russia), Great Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Serbian Stories From Bosnia, Serbian Stories From Carniola, Croatian, and Illyrian-Slovenish. The stories in this book were taken from "One Hundred Slavic Folk Tales and Legends in Original Dialects" by Karel Jaromir Erben, which came out in 1865.
Together, these books offer a fascinating glimpse into the world of Slavic mythology, with its unique blend of fantasy, folklore, and ancient wisdom. Whether you're a mythology enthusiast, a lover of fairy tales, or simply looking for an immersive read, this collection is sure to delight.
Don't miss out on this captivating collection of Slavic mythology. Order now and discover the magic of these timeless tales for yourself!
Massive collection with very little (more like nothing) in terms of annotation or analysis, very wild choice of stories (closer to TV Fairy tale classics than trying to get deeper in any topic) and, well, some stories that are outright repeating themselves: Twelve Months are in at least two times with no change, same with Goldenhair.
Honestly, this was a let down. There is so much treasure in Slavic mythology, from bogatyr tales and bylinas to tamer West Slav things or some Balkan fusions and there is much to tell about those stories. This is just a massive copy paste of what feels like wikipedia re-reads without any editing work.
Also, the audiobook version suffers from some simply horrible pronunciations, really underlining the "hot mess put together quickly" kind of vibe.
One star - especially because I believe that a week of editors time and some cutting and actual annotations would make massive difference.
Although many of the stories contained in this collection were familiar to those collected in other mythologies there were some great, unique stories in this collection that I really enjoyed.