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Folktales of Iraq
Polished by the streams of time, the oral traditions of Iraq encompass a rich variety of folktales, ranging from fanciful fables and heroic myths to stories derived from religions, sagas, and tribal customs. Countless waves of migration, conquest, and settlement—Sumerian, Chaldaean, Cassite, Assyrian, Persian, Arab, and Turkish—have surged across the region, along with merchant caravans, pilgrims, wandering gypsies, and other travelers. Each contributed fresh elements to the native folklore, infusing ancient Mesopotamia's traditional tales with vigorous new life.
As the first English-language collection of Iraqi fairy tales, this enchanting book dates from the transitional time between the world wars, when the cinema and gramophone were replacing traditional storytellers. Admirably translated by a longtime resident of the country who heard them in Arabic, the stories teem with the demons, witches, ogres, and other supernatural creatures who populate fairy tales the world over. Sixteen vintage photographs complement "The Fish That Laughed," "The Poor Girl and Her Cow," "The Three Dervishes and the Wonderful Lamp," "The Blind Sultan," and other compelling adventures. Recounted as they were told—by people from all walks of life, from cabinet ministers to housemaids—these authentic folktales will captivate readers of all ages.
As the first English-language collection of Iraqi fairy tales, this enchanting book dates from the transitional time between the world wars, when the cinema and gramophone were replacing traditional storytellers. Admirably translated by a longtime resident of the country who heard them in Arabic, the stories teem with the demons, witches, ogres, and other supernatural creatures who populate fairy tales the world over. Sixteen vintage photographs complement "The Fish That Laughed," "The Poor Girl and Her Cow," "The Three Dervishes and the Wonderful Lamp," "The Blind Sultan," and other compelling adventures. Recounted as they were told—by people from all walks of life, from cabinet ministers to housemaids—these authentic folktales will captivate readers of all ages.
368 pages, Paperback
First published December 20, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 1, 2019
This work is good. But this author’s translations of the Haran Gawaita and Secret Adam per the original, dispossessed, Nazari Mandaeans - whom Christ’s family lines, per Eusebius and Epiphanius, shared kinship with - are the most central and essential to understanding early Christianity and our ancient ancestors way of conceptualizing reality more fully (albeit so different from ours today).
Yet nowhere are these works found on this site; and out of print and hard found on the internet if at all. Truly earth can be a tower of babel where all that matters gets lost over the decades (or even within weeks). It is good this work is mentioned here at least, though but folk tales.
This problem with people becoming aware of what is most important in our past such as the complete works of this author here in question, a wise woman who lived among these peoples writing day and night...it reminds one of all the limited translations made available too of Giordano Bruno the Martyr for today: either they are just of his fantastically erudite astrological studies or of his math and science and never of *both* as the modern mind is too divided and not capable of seeing these are all part and parcel of the same One reality.
But try to show they are to people and you will see how things went even as they did for Giordano Bruno. The middle third brain between left and right and where the seat of consciousness can arise, topkapi as the Hopi call it, has still a long way to go it seems, if it will at all anymore.
Yet nowhere are these works found on this site; and out of print and hard found on the internet if at all. Truly earth can be a tower of babel where all that matters gets lost over the decades (or even within weeks). It is good this work is mentioned here at least, though but folk tales.
This problem with people becoming aware of what is most important in our past such as the complete works of this author here in question, a wise woman who lived among these peoples writing day and night...it reminds one of all the limited translations made available too of Giordano Bruno the Martyr for today: either they are just of his fantastically erudite astrological studies or of his math and science and never of *both* as the modern mind is too divided and not capable of seeing these are all part and parcel of the same One reality.
But try to show they are to people and you will see how things went even as they did for Giordano Bruno. The middle third brain between left and right and where the seat of consciousness can arise, topkapi as the Hopi call it, has still a long way to go it seems, if it will at all anymore.
December 31, 2017
"Now, finding Husain a pretty fellow, the s'iluwa (witch) did not eat him, but took him to her lair on the shore, where she made love to him, licking his legs so that they became thin and the bones lost their hardness and were like the wick of a candle."
~
E.S. Stevens' collection of folktales from Iraq was an absolute pleasure to read yesterday. The mad and mythical stories share ancestry with those from Grimm and Thousand Nights and One Night.
~
E.S. Stevens' collection of folktales from Iraq was an absolute pleasure to read yesterday. The mad and mythical stories share ancestry with those from Grimm and Thousand Nights and One Night.
March 14, 2017
الكتاب لطيف
ولو انه يؤخ عليه وجود بعض الفراغات التسلسلية في القصص
الا انه ممتع
ويحكي الأفكار الكلاسيكية المتغلغلين جميع الثقافات
ولو انه يؤخ عليه وجود بعض الفراغات التسلسلية في القصص
الا انه ممتع
ويحكي الأفكار الكلاسيكية المتغلغلين جميع الثقافات
March 3, 2015
Tales from Between the Rivers
Lady Ethel Drower (nee Stevens) accompanied her husband to Iraq in 1921 and lived there for many years. She collected these stories from the people who told them and translated them herself, recording them for anthropological rather than literary purposes. The copious footnotes shed further light on tales that had been told through the generations without ever being written down. The book was republished in 2006, presumably because there was a resurgence of interest in all things Iraqi, but although it contains some interesting and delightful gems, I would suggest it is for those with specialist interest rather than for the general reader.
Lady Ethel Drower (nee Stevens) accompanied her husband to Iraq in 1921 and lived there for many years. She collected these stories from the people who told them and translated them herself, recording them for anthropological rather than literary purposes. The copious footnotes shed further light on tales that had been told through the generations without ever being written down. The book was republished in 2006, presumably because there was a resurgence of interest in all things Iraqi, but although it contains some interesting and delightful gems, I would suggest it is for those with specialist interest rather than for the general reader.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews