Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth [Paperback]

Carol Rose (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 2001

"Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! have nothing on Rose, at home in a thicket of menacing creatures."—Choice

We have always conjured up creatures never seen in nature, from flying horses and two-headed birds to fire-breathing dragons and enormous killer skunks, as well as fantastic distortions of our own image, from giants to nubile maidens. In these pages you will meet extraordinary beings from Hindu and Navajo religions, Scandinavian tales, Russian folklore, Lithuanian stories, Irish oral history, American tall tales, and Aztec myth. Just some of the monstrous entourage: • Baku, a benevolent Japanese monster with the body of a horse, the head of a lion, and the legs of a tiger, who helps people by devouring their nightmares. • Kurma, the giant tortoise of Hindu myth, whose upper shell forms the heavens and lower part the earth. • Missipissy, the feared fish serpent of North America's Great Lakes region. This illustrated encyclopedia not only identifies and describes individual beasts in their cultural context but also groups them together across cultures and discusses common mythological strands and conceits. 60 b/w illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

There are three criteria for inclusion in this near-comprehensive reference work on a relatively narrow aspect of folklore: the creature cannot be divine, it must be a supernatural being from mythology, legend, folklore, or classic literature, and it may be a cryptozoological or symbolic being, such as a heraldic beast. Although various other sources treat giants, monsters, and mystery animals, none seems to cover them all at once, and this work's inclusion of the symbolic element appears to be unique. Entries give basic descriptions of each creature as well as its activities, region, culture, and historical period, and each entry is both cross-referenced and referenced to a selected bibliography. Appendixes categorize beings under country or region as well as such headings as "Beings Associated with Catastrophe." While works as modern as J.R.R. Tolkien's are cited, the Harry Potter series is not, though several monsters described here are present in J.K. Rowling's books. Perhaps Rose (Spirits, Fairies, Gnomes, and Goblins) does not consider Potter classic literature, but for a current reference work, this may soon prove a serious oversight. Recommended for public and school libraries where similar references are used.DKatherine K. Kaigler-Koenig, Ellis Sch., Pittsburgh, PA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! have nothing on Rose, at home in a thicket of menacing creatures. -- Choice

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (November 17, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393322114
• ISBN-13: 978-0393322118
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 1.1 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,735 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #20 in Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > History
  • #26 in Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > Literature
  • #26 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Reference

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 65 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Really fun text August 16, 2002

By Dorothy Lamb

Format:Paperback

Books of this type are nothing new. There are probably dozens of encyclopedia-style texts out there dealing with magical creatures and mythical beings, but this one is easily one of the more enjoyable volumes I've had the pleasure of reading. As has been pointed out in another review, this is not a book for those who are longing for visuals over text. This is not one of Froud's Fairy books or one of the Gnome texts. As fun as those books are, there is a heavy if not predominate focus on their original illustrations. Carol Rose's book is focused instead on textual descriptions and summaries. There are plenty of great illustrations in the book, mostly woodcuts from Rose's own private collection, but these are not the key focus of the book. But I highly recommend this to anyone who wants a good, searchable reference guide to creatures of myth and magic.

59 of 66 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantabulous! January 2, 2002

By John J Clements

Format:Paperback

Carol Rose has done it again! The companion to her much-acclaimed Spirits, Faeries, Gnomes, and Goblins: an Encyclopedia of the Little People, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons provides the same thorough lexicon of the fantastic. More of less everything her previous book left out (ie. the large mythical creatures) that I complained about in my review of the said book, this book covers. Got a question on Qanekelak? Wondering about Wendigo? Tired of asking about Asipatra? Just plain curious about the Cockatrice? Well this well-documented book provides all the answers to the questions you might ask (and even answers to wuestions you might NOT have asked).

Not only does it include the traditional monsters, Griffins, Dragons, Ettins, etc. but it also includes folklore monsters from the American Old West (Fearsome Critters). Also, some of the more popularized monsters like Werewolves and vampires are carefully restrained within the pages of this book.

Anyone who's had bad experiences with so-called encyclopedias of beasts-that-aren't, need not fear this book. It is not, repeat, NOT a re-telling of old folktales. This book states the physical description of each creature, in a clear, concise manner, and goes about with helpful information about it. If your trying to find their countries of origin, simply turn to the back for a thorogh cross-index of all the creatures.

So why does it recieve four-stars from me? The artwork is sub-par. Rather than original pictures, which, I admit, can rapidly become tacky, she has chosen to reprint old drawings and wood-prints from ancient texts and her private collection. Not that I'm against old-school pictures, but I prefer a more modern-touch. Maybe I'm just being picky. Before this book, I had just purchased a Monster Manual, mistakenly believing that it was a serious encyclopedia of monsters. Carol Rose's book certainly throws the Dungeons and Dragons book on their tails in the way of sheer informative value, but falls rather short in the visual department.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book! October 1, 2002

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

This is a well written book, which focuses on just about every monster from ancient history to modern times - and from just about every culture from the Far East to the Americas. On a few of the more odd or unusual entries there is a short synopsis of the specific legend associated with it, or an explanation of the creature's probable origins - for instance, St. Christopher, who is sometimes depicted as a giant with a dog's head got that way because of a spelling error in the early church - he was designated as a "Canine" rather than a "Canaanite". These and other facts are sure to entertain and delight anyone looking into monsters and the like.