Girls, Goddesses and Giants: Tales of Heroines from Around the World Read online

  There are various versions of this story about women defending their city. I chose to adapt the one which seemed most likely and realistic to me, which is from an ancient travel guide explaining why Argos had a statue of a woman with books and a helmet: Pausanias, Guide To Greece Volume I: Central Greece (Penguin Classics, 1971).

  Durga and the Demon

  I first discovered the Hindu myth of Durga and her ten arms in Indian Mythology by Veronica Ions (Paul Hamlyn, 1967), then researched many other versions to create the list of ten weapons and the variety of Mahisha’s shapes which seemed most vivid and exciting to me. I’m still not sure what the lotus flower or conch shell are for, though!

  Kopecho and the Two Suns

  This is my expanded retelling of a tale which appears in Yupa Folktales by Johannes Wilbert (Latin American Center, 1974). Many old stories tell how the earth was cold and dark, and how some clever trickster found the sun to warm and light us, but I like the idea of too many suns being just as bad as no sun. I’m not sure how Kopecho managed to turn into a frog at the end though. I could have made up a bit of plausible magic to explain it, but old stories don’t always have to make complete sense!

  Mbango and the Whirlpool

  This is a theme which appears in stories all over the world: the downtrodden heroine is helpful and polite, and is repaid with riches, but the rude girl gets a very different reward. Most of these stories don’t have pig dung in them, though, which was why I chose this one! From An Anthology of Myths, Legends and Folktales from Cameroon by Emmanuel Matateyou (Edwin Mellen Press 1997).

  Hervor and the Cursed Sword

  I first came across Hervor in the Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines by Patricia Monaghan (Greenwood Press 2010), then tracked down more of her story online (including the Saga of Hervor and King Heidrek the Wise on http://www.northvegr.org) to create my own adaptation. But I do wonder if she made up that story about the ghosts, just to make herself seem braver. What do you think?

  Visiting Baba Yaga

  I found this classic witch story in Old Peter’s Russian Tales by Arthur Ransome (Jane Nissen Books, 2003) and I’ve told it so often that I’ve probably changed it a bit. In folklore, throwing a small object behind you to create a magical obstacle is a common way to escape from a villain, and this is my favourite version of that kind of chase.

  Aliquipiso and the Cliffs

  There are many strong heroines in Native American tradition, but once I’d read this story, in John Long’s Pale Moon, Tales of American Indians (ICS Books, 1995), I couldn’t forget Aliquipiso’s courage and especially her very sad end.

  Tokoyo and the Skin Rope

  I originally found this story (in Richard Gordon Smith’s Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan, A&C Black, 1918) when I was researching how long people can dive underwater for one of my adventure novels. I have to admit I’ve made the monster’s death a bit gorier than the original, but Tokoyo’s skills and bravery are the same!

  The Giant’s Heart

  I based this story on the final part of a long tale in JF Campbell’s Popular Tales of the West Highlands Volume 1 (first published in 1860 by Edmonston and Douglas) and combined it with some elements of a very similar story in Italo Calvino’s Italian Folktales (Penguin Books, 1982). I included this story even though the girl doesn’t escape all on her own, because I like the way the boy and girl work as a team: his sword and kindness, her cleverness and courage.

  Lari Don’s magical collection of folk tales about winter from all around the world. Find out how spiders invented tinsel, what happened when the spring girl beat the hag of winter, why eagle feathers made snow, and how a hero with hairy trousers used ice to kill a dragon.

  BLOOMSBURY

  A stunning collection of folk tales and legends from all over Europe. Magical to farcical, tender to terrifying, this selection of often unusual and little known stories from each state of the European Union is a joy to read.

  BLOOMSBURY

  Copyright © 2013 A&C Black

  Text copyright © 2013 Lari Don

  Illustrations copyright © 2013 Francesca Greenwood

  This electronic edition published in July 2013 by Bloomsbury Publishing

  Published 2013 by A & C Black

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  London, WC1B 3DP

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  The right of Lari Don and Francesca Greenwood to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work respectively has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved

  You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  A CIP catalogue for this book is available from the British Library.

  eISBN: 978-1-4081-9298-6

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