The Red Swan: Myths and Tales of the American Indians

by John Bierhorst (Editor)

An introductory essay on the interpretation of native American literature and the study of myth in general supplements sixty-four tales representing over forty Indian cultures

Genres: Mythology, Reference, Folk Tales, Native American

386 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

John Bierhorst is the author, editor, or translator of more than thirty books on Native American lore, including Latin American Folktales, The Mythology of South America, The Mythology of North America, and The Mythology of Mexico and Central America.

Reviews

[Gog · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suoi pensieri malvagi divennero serpenti che germogliavano dal suo cranio e, ondeggiando in una massa aggrovigliata, sibilavano veleno.

[Elis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I popoli originali dell'America mi hanno sempre affascinato, come in generale le culture antiche o rimaste primitive. Trovo che ci sia qualcosa di fortemente affascinante nello stretto e intenso legame che hanno con la spiritualità e la natura. Non nego che il progresso e le tecnologie siano dei fattori importanti per la vita dell'uomo e la sua storia, ovviamente, ma leggendo questi miti e leggende mi sono spesso ritrovata a pensare come sarebbe il mondo, adesso, se un po' tutti avessimo conservato il rispetto per la natura di queste culture, riverendola e non deturpandola.

I miti di questa raccolta sono tanti (è bella fornita, sono sessantaquattro racconti) e pieni di storie curiose in stile fiaba / favola, più che di gesta eroiche e grandiose. Sono storie semplici ma con una morale e degli insegnamenti ben chiari, facilmente comprensibili e quindi assimilabili da chi li legge. Al tempo stesso, alcune frasi hanno uno stile e una scelta di parole talmente aggraziate da sembrare estratti da una poesia o una prosa poetica.

I nomi complicati sono, ovviamente, presenti in ogni storia e ad ogni riga, ma non ostacolano la lettura (d'altronde, quanti nomi assurdamente complessi e impronunciabili siamo abituati a leggere, per esempio, nei fantasy?) anche se personalmente mi hanno incuriosito e un po' distratto. Per una comprensione migliore dei vari miti, sono presenti numerose note: per quanto possa essere "scomodo" interrompere il flusso delle vicende per andare a consultarle con gli occhi, sono necessarie e interessanti, e in fin dei conti non troppo invadenti.

Infine la copertina. Ricordo che è stata proprio quella ad attrarmi quel giorno nella biblioteca scolastica. I colori caldi, la rappresentazione scelta per accompagnare il titolo e la texture del tipo di carta usata: tutti dettagli che rendono bene l'idea delle culture che si incroceranno durante la lettura, e che quindi attraggono.

[Cassie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Because so much of the Native American culture is based around an oral tradition, it's tricky to compile those into a written narrative. A lot of these stories are hard to follow and tend to be very cyclical in their voice. If you get the chance, read one aloud and it should give you a better sense of the how the flow of the text should read.

That being said, I didn't enjoy very many of the these myths. It has a good variety of tribes, both of North and South American, but the stories weren't very fun to read. If I was doing a research paper on symbolism and archetypes, this book would have been a gold mine. But an enjoyable, light read...it is not. My favorite section is the "Jaguar and Fox", which recounts all of the bawdy and scandalous stories--ones that normally be traditionally told in mixed company.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this as someone who is part Native American and perhaps that clouds my judgment. Despite that I found the myths and stories to be inscrutable and found the read to be boring. I was expecting more linear writing--A and B happened therefore C occured--instead it was "random occurrence A meets not-clearly-explained B which results in C which has nothing to do with either A or B." Giving it the benefit of the doubt perhaps there could have been details lost in translation and perhaps being outside the culture, things that are confusing to me make perfect sense to the storytellers and the listeners in context. I would not recommend this to anyone who is not a Native American studies scholar

[Dusty Deal · Rating 4 out of 5]

The introduction to this book is well worth the read, even if you don't 'get' the stories.
In my opinion, the real drawback to this book for most readers is that these stories are literally translated from oral tales which were told against the traditional & historical backdrops of the various tribes. Some of them are not going to make a lot of sense without that background. They also don't adhere to western expectations that A leads to B which results in C.
I think the book is an excellent slice of a variety of stories from AmerInd mythologies for someone studying the cultures; I don't think it's suitable for most readers as a quick introduction to AmerInd myths & tales.

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not so much that this wasn't a great book, it's just that to truly appreciate American Indian Myths, you apparently need to study them out and learn lots of background. Without that, they just seem to meander and have no theme or purpose. I read some of the commentary and that helped but, in the end, it wasn't worth muddling through. I only read a third of it.

[Madeleine]

Jaguar and the Fox stories are some quite... interesting tales.