MY CURRENT BOOKS
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"Rosalind Kerven, connoisseur of myths and folktales" – The Independent. I’ve worked with world myths, legends + folk tales for 40+ years and written numerous books in the genre. Scroll down through blog posts to explore books (click on 'older posts' at the bottom to continue), or go straight to the bottom of this web-page for a list of subject headings. There are also general notes about traditional stories and the craft of the reteller. Contact: E. roskerven@hotmail.com. Twitter @MythsandTales
Buy from an independent bookshop
"A compendium of shapeshifters, tricksters, ill advised bargains and arduous quests... Giants and wicked kings find themselves outsmarted by a courageous young girl or an ardent lover. People change into animals and back again. Challenges are issued and lessons are learned about the importance of kindness and forgiveness and the virtue of self-sacrifice. An inexhaustible supply of handsome princes and beautiful princesses are on hand...There are hours of enjoyment to be had in reading these time-honoured tales... with the power to move modern, sophisticated readers"
– The Herald
Enter a word of Celtic enchantment and adventure!
Visit mysterious Otherworlds inside the hills and under the sea.
Meet witches, fairies, heroes, talking animals, dragons, giants and strange underwater beings.
Witness magical transformations, guard a magic cauldron, glimpse a sleeping king inside a mountain and discover the most ancient creature in the world.
Here are sixteen unforgettable tales drawn from the ancient storytelling traditions of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
With fascinating background notes and vintage illustrations from vintage artists such as Arthur Rackham.
"Rest for a while! The night is young
Time is short and the road is long
Tell me a story and I'll sing you a song
For tomorrow the road will be calling us on"
– Traditional Celtic song
STORIES
The Sorceress and the Poet (Wales)
The Swan Woman (Ireland)
Mally Whuppy and the Giant (Scotland)
The Devil, the Witch and the Fairies (Wales)
Fionn mac Cumhaill and the Magic Drinking Horn (Ireland)
Kate Crackernuts (Scotland)
The Red Dragon (Wales)
The Twelve Wild Geese (Ireland)
The Secret World of the Seals (Scotland)
The Most Ancient Creature in the World (Wales)
King Cormac and the Golden Apples (Ireland)
The Bogle of the Murky Well (Scotland)
The Sleeping King (Wales)
The Merrows' Song (Ireland)
The Black Bull of Norroway (Scotland)
The Daughter of King Under-Wave (Ireland and Scotland)
"Under the white mist lie the green hills. Within the green hills stand the stone doors. Behind the stone doors lie the sidh, castles of the Otherworld. They illuminate the underground realms just as the full moon brightens the night; for within them stand the dazzling courts of the Tuatha Dé Danaan, the gods of ancient Ireland."
– From The Swan Woman (Ireland)
☆
"There was once a miller's wife who gave birth to a beautiful baby girl; but on the very night the little one came into this world, she vanished.
How did it happen? No one knew, but what a terrible to-do there was as they all peered into the empty cradle!
Then the old grandmother said, 'She's been stolen by the faeries, I'm sure of it."
– From The Bogle of the Murky Well (Scotland)
☆
"There was once a youth who was the seventh son of a seventh son – which meant he was blessed with uncanny luck.
One evening in the village inn, he met a man who told him that the streets of London were paved with gold, adding, 'A lucky lad such as you is bound to make your fortune there.'
So the youth packed his bags and set off."
– From The Sleeping King (Wales)
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"This book of fairy tales is lovely...all perfect in the way they are told. This is the kind of book you would want to read to others around a campfire/ bonfire... They are from different regions of the world, but still represent the various ways strong women stand up for themselves and others... A must-read for lovers of fairy tales and strong female protagonists!"
– Reader review on Goodreads
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The Curtains are drawn and the candles are lit; the fire's banked up to a warmth of glowing embers. Come inside, come inside to dream. Everyone is welcome! Take a seat, put aside your work, shrug off your love pangs and family worries. For grandmothers and wise women, old wives and young wanderers, have all gathered here from around the globe to share their wonderful stories.
Are you comfortable? Do you yearn for a world in which magic exists, hope wins and every woman's heart is alive with courage? Then let us begin!
CONTENTS
Welcome!
Riddles (Central Asia)
Fire Woman (Hawaii)
The Stolen Baby (Scotland)
The Flying Head (Native American)
Bandits! (India)
Destiny (Lesotho)
The Mountain of Enchantments (Iran)
The Troll (Iceland)
Revenge (Alaska)
The Dragon (China)
The Power of Stories (Arabia)
The Stone Giant (Argentina and Chile)
The Birds (Poland)
The Ghost (Nigeria)
Shining Bamboo (Japan)
Notes and Sources
'Want a bet?' said the young woman. 'All right then, you answer my riddle. Do you know what an invincible monster like you should fear most from a weak woman like me?
'Nothing,' said the ghoul disparagingly.
'Are you sure?' said the young woman. 'Well, my answer is my cunning. You obviously haven't seen enough of it yet.'
– From Riddles, Central Asia
The old woman hitched up her skirts, dodged the chief’s sled and ran straight past it, through the fumes to the mountain peak. Something unearthly was happening: she had become as hazy as the smoke itself, shifting, fading, reshaping ...
Thunder crackled. The top of the mountain tore right open. A stream of blood-coloured molten lava gushed out. ‘Aieee!’ An ear-splitting, eerie screech rent the air. The feeble crone was gone ... yet she was still there. For she had transformed into her true self, become what she really was: Pele, sacred goddess of volcanic fire – and she was pursuing Kahawali!
Flames darted from her eyes. Black, choking smoke swirled in her hair.
– From Fire Woman, Hawaii
After that, the ghost no longer tried to get rid of her. All through the horrible, hazardous places that he had warned of, she kept staunchly on his trail, until at last they reached his own country – which was the Land of the Dead. There at last the ghost stopped.
‘Well, well, well,’ he said, ‘I’ve never met any living being as obstinate as you. No doubt our long journey has made you hungry, eh? Well, I’ll take pity on you. We’ve been travelling for so long that this palm oil you sold me has gone stale. So make me a nice fresh batch of it, girl; and when you’ve finished, I’ll let you eat the stringy bits left over from the nuts.’
‘I’m not eating the nasty, stringy bits,’ protested the girl. ‘You eat them.’
– From The Ghost, Nigeria
On the third day, cowering in the midst of yet another freak storm, the fisherman promised his youngest daughter, Helga, to the troll. That night, after supper, he sent her out into the rain to fetch his oiled sea clothes, which he had deliberately left outside.
Now, Helga was shrewder and more valiant than her older sisters. She had already guessed that some terrible danger was afoot and had steeled herself to deal with it. She was not surprised to find the troll lurking out there. When he demanded a kiss, she stood on tiptoe and gave him a chaste peck on his repulsive cheek, to butter him up. As a result, he didn’t carry her away screaming and kicking, but took her hand in his own enormous paw, and led her, quite gently, over the hills to his cave in Gloom Valley where he ordered her to work as his servant.
– From The Troll, Iceland
"Billed as the most comprehensive book of its kind ever produced by a UK author, this fascinating sounding collection of Native American myths – including such extraordinary characters as Bear Woman, the Thunderbirds and the Keeper of the Brains of the Dead – is the result of three years' research in hundreds of archives. Also covers ten different American cultures and their histories."– The Bookseller
"Sensitive, well collected and written from the perspective of a trained anthropological interpretivist"
– 5-star review on amazon.com
"Myths and legends expert with a collection of 34 of the most important Viking myths, heroic legends and historical sagas... bring Viking people, culture and beliefs vividly to life...along with the odd dragon, ghost and valkyries" – The Bookseller
"Weaves together different versions of Norse sagas into highly readable and tellable renderings, that have also been carefully researched as the unobtrusive but informative notes show." - Gramarye, The Journal of the Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy at Chichester University
"In presenting her versions of stories from Scandinavian myth and legend, as well as extracts from Icelandic sagas, Rosalind Kerven... writes in a distinguished tradition. While many modern retellings of these stories are sanitized versions for children, Kerven's are aimed at adults and are better described as 'reimaginings', with copious endnotes explaining how her versions differ from their sources. The stories are short and lively, a few even successfully presented in vers. There is a strong focus on character and dialogue... Those who already know Kerven's sources will enjoy spotting her many re-interpretations. Other readers should first enjoy these stories and then seek out the originals, precisely for their differences of tone and emphasis." – Times Literary Supplement
“An excellent and informative book surrounding all the Viking myths and legends. The author’s writing style is so excellent and at a perfect pace so that it truly feels like you are sitting round a fire at camp being told a story… The range covered in this book is also exceptional, from all the places the Vikings travelled to, to the number of mythical creatures; gods, dragons, trees, trolls, all sorts. All in all, an excellent, insightful and informative book that I am very pleased to have discovered.” – 5-star reader review on both goodreads.com and amazon.