Slavic Myths

The World's Greatest Myths and Legends

by Jake Jackson (Editor), Ema Lakinska (Introduction)

Slavic mythology brought together with the legends, folkore and fairy tales of Eastern Europe in this intriguing new collection.

With a new introduction, this collection of Slavic tales is based on the oral storytelling traditions of the peoples of Eastern Europe, from the Polish and the Slovaks to the Macedonians, Czechs and Serbians, with roots in pagan folklore and influenced by the Viking traders who settled in Kiev in the early middle ages. Stories abound with mountains, magic palaces and temples and such incredible tales as 'The King of the Toads', 'Vassilissa the Cunning', and 'The Tsar of the Sea' and 'The Feather of Bright Finist the Falcon'.

FLAME TREE 451: From mystery to crime, supernatural to horror and myth, fantasy and science fiction, Flame Tree 451 offers a healthy diet of werewolves and mechanical men, blood-lusty vampires, dastardly villains, mad scientists, secret worlds, lost civilizations and escapist fantasies. Discover a storehouse of tales gathered specifically for the reader of the fantastic.

Genres: Mythology, Research, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

Published April 25, 2023

About the author

SF and dark fantasy author but also a writer/creator of practical music books - Beginner's Guide to Reading Music, Guitar Chords, Piano Chords, Songwriter’s Rhyming Dictionary and How to Play Guitar. Other publications include Advanced Guitar Chords, Advanced Piano Chords, Chords for Kids, How to Play the Electric Guitar, Piano & Keyboard Chords, Scales and Modes and Play Flamenco. Also editor of Mythology books 

Released EP Jakesongs on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, LastFM, etc and on CDBaby. Lifelong passion for fantastic worlds of any kind, from movies to fiction, art to music, posters, album and paperback book covers.

Jake Jackson is the artist name for Nick Wells, Publisher of Flame Tree Press / Flame Tree Publishing.

Reviews

[Edo Bosnar · Rating 2 out of 5]

First and foremost, the title is misleading, which is suggested to some extent in the introduction by Ema Lakinska - a researcher at the Macedonian Literature Institute, Ss. Cyril & Methodius University in Skopje. What this book actually contains is a collection of Slavic folk and fairy tales, and that’s mostly because there are hardly any surviving myths about the Slavic pagan deities, like there are for say, the Greek, Roman or Norse pagan pantheons. Mainly only their names and some of their qualities have been preserved. Anyway, a selection of Slav folk tales is not a bad thing, either (I remember when I was a kid in the 1970s/80s, all I could find in libraries were collections of Russian fairy stories and folk tales). And this book has a pretty broad selection of not only Russian, but also Polish, Czech, ‘Cossack’, Serbian, Croatian and Macedonian tales, as well as one from Belarus and one from Bosnia. However, there is nothing from Slovakia, Bulgaria, Slovenia or Ukraine (maybe that’s covered by the ‘Cossack’ category?), to say nothing of ‘stateless’ Slav groups like the Rusyns. Also, and even more troubling, is the fact that the three Croatian entries, “Reygoch,” “Fisherman Plunk and His Wife” and “Stribor’s Forest” are not, in fact, traditional folk/fairy tales. Rather they are from the early 20th-century book Croatian Tales of Long Ago by Ivana Brlic Mazuranic. All of the stories in that book, while based on and drawing inspiration from Croatian or general Slavic fairy tales and folk traditions, are very much Brlic Mazuranic’s own creations and thus do not really belong in this book –at least not without some kind of explanatory text as to why they were included. It would be similar to including excerpts from Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit in a collection of English or northern European fairy tales.

[Charles Hawes · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The King of Toads” is grade A, unhinged folktale material.

[Madeline McCrae · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a long time I’ve been interested in learning more about the Slavic pantheon since it’s a mythology that is rarely talked about. I was pumped to see this book being released just as I was getting interested in the subject. I ended up feeling a little let down because rather than focus on stories of the Slavic pantheon, it focused on folktales looking at everyday people and animals. I love folktales, but the title and description felt a little misleading. I wasn’t a fan of the stories selected for each part either, since they ended up being variations of the same story most of the time. Maybe there just isn’t a lot of surviving folklore from oral traditions? Hatred against women was really strong in these stories too. The women often ended up being burned or beaten in a lot of these stories, which made it hard to read. Patriarchy is usually instilled through folktales, so I wasn’t surprised. It just made for an unpleasant reading experience to find maybe one heroine who doesn’t meet a dismal fate out of the whole book.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun introduction into Slavic mythology. I enjoyed reading myths I'd never heard before, including the likely origin of some The Witcher TV show content. I think this book may inspire creativity in my own storytelling. The book could benefit from an edit. I suspect the translations may not be completely accurate. Not a source I'd cite, but worth the $5-$6 at Books A Million.

[Magdalena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid middle of the road 2.5/3. The title of “Slavic mythology” was absolutely a misnomer - it was simply a collection of folktales and fairytales. Ordinarily, this type of collection would have been fine if not for the absolute LACK of historical/sociopolitical/cultural commentary. I would have loved some sort of breakdown or discussion of each myth (even a FOOTNOTE good god). I don’t doubt the book was well researched but a motley and oddly categorized collection of folktales actually just felt lazy.

[Izabela Raittila · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very entertaining introduction to Slavic mythology and folklore. This anthology offers a good selection of myths from a variety of Slavic nations and a wide range of different styles. Each tale was easy to follow and a joy to read.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

More of a collection of folk tales rather than a dive into what can be learned about the mythology of the Slavic peoples. Entertaining, but ultimately a pretty shallow treatment of the mythological aspects.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is little information here that I did not already know. The stories have an odd translation that does not flow.

[Jessica Liang · Rating 1 out of 5]

preeeeetyyyy bad