Fantastic Creatures in Mythology and Folklore - by Juliette Wood (Paperback)

About the Book

Drawing on historical sources, myth and folklore, Fantastic Creatures in Mythology and Folklore explores the roles of fantastical beasts - particularly the unicorn, the mermaid, and the dragon - in a series of thematic chapters organised according to their legendary dwelling place, be this land, sea, or air. Through this original approach, Juliette Wood provides the first study of mythical beasts in history from the medieval period to the present day, providing new insights into the ways these creatures continue to define our constantly changing relationship to both real and imagined worlds. It places particular emphasis on the role of the internet, computer games, and the cyberspace community, and in doing so, demonstrates that the core medieval myth surrounding these creatures remains static within the ever-increasing arena of mass marketing and the internet. This is a vital resource for undergraduates studying fantastic creatures in history, literature and media studies.

Book Synopsis

Drawing on historical sources, myth and folklore, Fantastic Creatures in Mythology and Folklore explores the roles of fantastical beasts - particularly the unicorn, the mermaid, and the dragon - in a series of thematic chapters organised according to their legendary dwelling place, be this land, sea, or air.

Through this original approach, Juliette Wood provides the first study of mythical beasts in history from the medieval period to the present day, providing new insights into the ways these creatures continue to define our constantly changing relationship to both real and imagined worlds. It places particular emphasis on the role of the internet, computer games, and the cyberspace community, and in doing so, demonstrates that the core medieval myth surrounding these creatures remains static within the ever-increasing arena of mass marketing and the internet.

This is a vital resource for undergraduates studying fantastic creatures in history, literature and media studies.

Review Quotes

"Juliette Wood's authoritative survey is intelligent, thoughtful, and a pleasure to read." --Folklore

"Wood offers plenty of fresh analysis and modern readings of these creatures in a clear and readable style ... Fantastic Creatures in Mythology and Folklore goes beyond being a general guide on mythical beasts that grapples with how they reflect broad concepts of identity, otherness, and perception. It uses multiple critical lenses of environmentalism, globalism, national identity, and gender to interpret these beasts in innovative ways." --The Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts

"Juliette Wood combines extensive learning about classical and medieval cultural history with a fluent, absorbing language ... Undergraduate readers will especially appreciate the many references to contemporary culture, films, cartoons, and computer games. Her book convincingly proves that age-old fantasies about more or less monstrous creatures still make up a part of our cultural baggage." --Journal of Folklore Research

"Overall, the book can be a useful resource for students and researchers on this specialized topic of fantastic and mythical creatures." --Mythlore

"This delightful survey of fantastic creatures and the environments they populate is an excellent resource for students. Well-written and expansive in its coverage, it invites readers to consider the complex relationships between imaginary beasts and the humans that created them." --Sarah Peverley, Professor of English Literature, University of Liverpool, UK

"Juliette Wood offers a vivid, mesmerizing, and highly readable survey of the monsters and magical creatures that have informed cultural imaginaries from ancient civilizations and medieval bestiaries to contemporary computer games and fantasy literature." --Kirsten Møllegaard, Associate Professor of English, University of Hawai'i at Hilo, USA

"Because of its sheer range in space, time and coverage, Fantastic Creatures in Mythology and Folklore will be the definitive work on its subject for the foreseeable future." --Ronald E. Hutton, Professor of History, University of Bristol, UK

About the Author

Juliette Wood is Associate Lecturer at Cardiff University, UK. She is the author of numerous books, including Legends of Chivalry: Medieval Myth (2000) and The Eternal Chalice: the Enduring Myth of the Holy Grail (2008).