October 2024
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    This one's a little long, but I can't really TL;DR it- I'm looking for books with seven specific myths from around the world in them, ideally to learn as much about the different mythologies as possible.

    For backstory, years ago, there was a PC Puzzle game called Pandora's Box: In it, you solve puzzles to track down seven "Great Tricksters" from stories all around the world. I'm trying to find books that have the seven stories, ideally with as much detail as possible and other myths with these characters since I know most of the stories don't end where the game stopped them. The myths are:

    Maui sees his brothers fishing, turns into a bird, and eats their catch. To make up for it, he gives them a magic fish hook that reals in a massive fish; the fish eventually becomes the Hawaiian Islands.

    Puck casts a love spell on Titania, then turns a man's head into a donkey's, and the Fae Queen falls in love with the donkey-headed man. (I think this is just Midsummer's Night's Dream, but if it's anywhere else I'd love to know)

    Eris isn't invited to a party on Mount Olympus, so she throws a golden apple with the words "to the fairest" between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. (I've heard this is in Metamorphosis, Fabulae, and Bibliotheca, and expounded on in like every other part of the Trojan cycle? If that's true, which book has the most complete version of this story and/or the ensuing Trojan War?)

    Coyote sees a bunch of geese that he wants to hunt. He stuffs a sack full of sticks, then tells them it's filled with magic songs that they can only dance to if they close their eyes; when their eyes are closed, he stuffs them into his sack to take home and eat.

    Monkey dives into a waterfall and finds great treasure inside, becoming the King of Monkeys in the process. Later, when another monkey dies, he goes into the underworld and erases every monkey's name from Death's book. (I think this is Journey to the West? Or at least part of Sun Wukong's backstory)

    Anansi the Spider invites Turtle over for supper, then demands Turtle washes his hands; by the time the slow animal gets back, Anansi has eaten everything. In retaliation, Turtle invites Anansi over for dinner at the bottom of the lake, and Anansi stuffs his coat with rocks to sink down. When he's forced to take off his coat, he floats back up to the top and goes home hungry.

    Raven knows the Sky Chief is hiding the sun from mankind; he finds Sky Chief's daughter drinking from a river one day, turns into a pine needle, gets drank with the water, and impregnates her. When he is born, he finds the box the sun is in and cries until Sky Chief lets him hold the sun, at which point he turns back into a raven and flies out a window with the sun in his talons.

    by Yours_Voight-Kampff

    3 Comments

    1. *Legends of Maui* by William Westervelt

      *Giving Birth to Thunder, Sleeping with His Daughter: Coyote Builds North America* by Barry Lopez

      *Raven Tales: Stories of the Raven based on the folklore of the Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Inuit, and Athapascan of Alaska* by Dennis Waller

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