Summary
Praise for the previous edition:
"...a wide scope...Recommended."—Choice
"...a valuable addition to almost all library collections...a fun book to browse...a scholarly resource."—Reference Reviews
"Libraries...who can afford the new [edition] would do well to acquire it."—School Library Journal
The Facts On File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition is a complete revision that provides an even more extensive survey of myths, legends, and folklore from around the world. With assistance from a team of scholars, James R. Dow has revised and updated the entire text in this comprehensive resource. This edition boasts approximately 3,000 entries, 150 of which are new; a substantially updated bibliography; an overhauled art program, with hundreds of new images; and a new guide to Internet sources on world mythology and legend.
Entries include important scholarly terms, figures important in folklore and mythology, the historical figures that have inspired myths and folklore, and the authors who wrote down folktales or used folklore and mythology extensively in their work. Many new entries focus on the mythology and folklore of Cambodia, Tibet, Ukraine, and other areas.
New entries include:
- Cinderella
- Fieldwork
- Folklorism
- The Grimm Brothers
- Mayan Letter Gods
- Monogenesis
- Puss in Boots
- Saladin
- The Sun Snarer
- William Tell
- Trickster
- Eudora Welty.
Specifications
Black-and-white illustrations. Index. Appendix. Bibliography. Cross-references. In two volumes.
About the Author(s)
The late Anthony S. Mercatante was the author of several books on mythology, folklore, religion, and world literature, including Good and Evil: Mythology and Folklore and Zoo of the Gods: Animals in Myth, Legend and Fable.
James R. Dow is professor emeritus of German folklore and linguistics at Iowa State University. In 2003 he was honored with the title "Corresponding Member of the Viennese Folklore Association," and in 2004 he became a Fellow of the American Folklore Society. His many books include German Volkskunde, The Nazification of an Academic Discipline, The Study of European Ethnology in Austria, and German Folklore: A Handbook. He edited the Internationale Volkskundliche Bibliographie for 10 years and is a senior bibliographer for the Modern Language Association.