Medieval Folklore: A Guide to Myths, Legends, Tales, Beliefs, and Customs

by Carl Lindahl (Editor), John McNamara (Editor), John Lindow (Editor)

Over a decade in the making, Medieval Folklore offers a wide-ranging guide to the lore of the Middle Ages--from the mundane to the supernatural. Definitive and lively articles focus on the great tales and traditions of the age and includes information on daily and nightly customs and activities; religious beliefs of the pagan, Christian, Muslim, and Jew; key works of oral and written literature; traditional music and art; holidays and feasts; food and drink; and plants and animals, both real and fantastical.

While most books on medieval folklore focus primarily on the West, this unique volume brings together an eclectic range of experts to treat the subject from a global perspective. Especially remarkable are the surveys of the major medieval traditions including Arab-Islamic, Baltic, English, Finno-Ugric, French, Hispanic, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Jewish, Scandinavian, Scottish, Slavic, and Welsh.

For anyone who has ever wanted a path through the tangle of Arthurian legends, or the real lowdown on St. Patrick, or the last word on wolf lore--this is the place to look.

The

Ulrich Marzolph -- Arab-Islamic
Thomas A. DuBois -- Baltic
John McNamara & Carl Lindahl -- English
Thomas A. DuBois -- Finno-Ugric
Francesca Canadé Sautman -- French
Samuel G. Armistead -- Hispanic
Éva Pócs -- Hungarian
Joseph Falaky Nagy -- Irish
Giuseppe C. Di Scipio -- Italian
Eli Yassif -- Jewish
Stephen A. Mitchell -- Scandinavian
John McNamara -- Scottish
Eve Levin -- Slavic
Elissa R. Henken & Brynley F. Roberts -- Welsh

Genres: History, Folklore, Nonfiction, Medieval, Mythology, Medieval History, Reference

470 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2000

Reviews

[Tommy]

I liked it, though I'm an idiot who didn't understand that when I bought it online, it was not a book that told the story of folklore in Europe but was an encyclopedia of folklore in Europe, so it became a bit of a struggle to get through certain entries at times. That being said, I still found it fascinating and informative. It helped me to understand why certain elements of medieval culture have such staying power in popular culture today and why certain things were popular and important back then. I also learned more about King Arthur and his knights than I had in any other book I have ever read. I'd recommend certain entries.

[Carl]

Haven't read the whole book, obviously, but it has been helpful for the occasional reference. None of these articles will be a sufficient source unto itself if you are writing a paper on one of these subjects, but no encyclopedia article ever is. There is a longer, 2 volume version which I believe has more thorough references for each article. Obviously the longer version would be better for those using the book for advanced research, but the paperback is more affordable!

[Stephen Simpson]

Not a guide (at least not as I understand that word), but rather an encyclopedia. It's rather wide-ranging, and that's good and bad - it includes a lot of entries that are only peripherally related to folkore, and it actually skimps a lot on the "myths, legends, tales, beliefs, and customs" it is supposed to include. Although the quality of the entries is good, it could have used a more strict editor/editing process to keep it more on the stated subject.

[John Majerle]

The book consists of numerous essays on topics presented encyclopedia style, in alphabetical order, each written by a historian expert in that topic. Although the essays averaged only a page or two each the information presented was so dense it took me a couple of a few months to read instead of my normal couple of weeks for a typical history book.

This is now my all time favorite history book. I highly recommend it to anyone interesting in the medieval period.

[Alan]

For the better part of a year, this has been on my bookshelf.

[Sarah Yoon]

Always a helpful reference when I'm brainstorming for stories.

[Zhelana]

This book was more of a dictionary of folklore than a collection of folklore. It didn't seem like the kind of book you'd just sit down and read - indeed it has "see also" after each alphabetical entry to talk about where else in the book you can find related information. But because it was alphabetical it didn't always connect with what you were just reading, and it wasn't organized in terms of importance or anything that would seem reasonable.

[Nathan]

You have to read printed words on pages? Icky.

[Ogopogo]

Useful reference book.