Mayan Folktales

Mayan Folktales PDF Author: James D. Sexton
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Get Book Here

Book Description
This collection of folklore offers a rich and lively panorama of Mayan mythic heritage. Here are everyday tales of village life; legends of witches, shamans, spiritualists, tricksters, and devils; fables of naguales, or persons who can change into animal forms; ribald stories of love and life; cautionary tales of strange and menacing neighbors and of the danger lurking within the human heart. These legends narrate origin and creation stories, explain the natural world, and reinforce cultural beliefs and values such as honesty, industriousness, sharing, fairness, and cleverness. Whether tragic or comic, fantastic or earthy, whimsical or profound, these tales capture the mystery, fragility, and power of the Mayan world.

Mayan Folktales

Mayan Folktales PDF Author: James D. Sexton
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Get Book Here

Book Description
This collection of folklore offers a rich and lively panorama of Mayan mythic heritage. Here are everyday tales of village life; legends of witches, shamans, spiritualists, tricksters, and devils; fables of naguales, or persons who can change into animal forms; ribald stories of love and life; cautionary tales of strange and menacing neighbors and of the danger lurking within the human heart. These legends narrate origin and creation stories, explain the natural world, and reinforce cultural beliefs and values such as honesty, industriousness, sharing, fairness, and cleverness. Whether tragic or comic, fantastic or earthy, whimsical or profound, these tales capture the mystery, fragility, and power of the Mayan world.

The Chocolate Tree

The Chocolate Tree PDF Author: Linda Lowery
Publisher: First Avenue Editions
ISBN: 1580138519
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 52

Get Book Here

Book Description
The god Kukulkan decides to give the Mayan people the gift of chocolate, the favorite food of the gods, but when Kukulkan 's brother Night Jaguar tells the other gods what he has done Kukulkan is banned from paradise forever.

Tales of the Plumed Serpent

Tales of the Plumed Serpent PDF Author: Diana Ferguson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 168

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Fascinated by the history and cultures of three highly developed ancient societies--the Mayans, followed by the Aztecs in Mesoamerica and the Incas farther south--Ferguson examines their artifacts and those of the Spanish conquistadors, in relation to the traditions preserved today by their many descendants...Part anthropological study, part history and part folklore... distills a huge amount of information to present a clear, uncluttered and rich resource."--"Publishers Weekly." "Fun, inspiring, educational, and all in all, a great read."--"The New Times."

The Dog Who Spoke and More Mayan Folktales

The Dog Who Spoke and More Mayan Folktales PDF Author: James D. Sexton
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806186402
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 282

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the delightful Mayan folktale The Dog Who Spoke, we learn what happens when a dog’s master magically transforms into a dog-man who reasons like a man but acts like a dog. This and the other Mayan folktales in this bilingual collection brim with the enchanting creativity of rural Guatemala’s oral culture. In addition to stories about ghosts and humans turning into animals, the volume also offers humorous yarns. Hailing from the Lake Atitlán region in the Guatemalan highlands, these tales reflect the dynamics of, and conflicts between, Guatemala’s Indian, Ladino, and white cultures. The animals, humans, and supernatural forces that figure in these stories represent Mayan cultural values, social mores, and history. James D. Sexton and Fredy Rodríguez-Mejía allow the thirty-three stories to speak for themselves—first in the original Spanish and then in English translations that maintain the meaning and rural inflection of the originals. Available in print for the first time, with a glossary of Indian and Spanish terms, these Guatemalan folktales represent generations of transmitted oral culture that is fast disappearing and deserves a wider audience.

Maya Mythology: Myths and Folklore of the Mayan Civilization

Maya Mythology: Myths and Folklore of the Mayan Civilization PDF Author: Sebastian Berg
Publisher: Creek Ridge Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 82

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Mayan people were natural storytellers, and their imagination knew no bounds. They took the traditional Mesoamerican versions of creation and the gods of the universe and molded them into their own, adding and shaping their unique version of mythology and folktales. This left us with a significant pantheon of gods and goddesses, each with a memorable and captivating story. The Mayans had an image of the universe and their place in it, and they told stories of gods and heroes that rival Greek Mythology.

The Popol Vuh

The Popol Vuh PDF Author: Lewis Spence
Publisher: New York : AMS Press
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 80

Get Book Here

Book Description


Mayan Folktales, Cuentos folklóricos mayas

Mayan Folktales, Cuentos folklóricos mayas PDF Author: Susan A. Thompson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313090815
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 227

Get Book Here

Book Description
Discover the traditional stories of the Mayan people of Mexico and Central and South America, and learn about Mayan culture. In this collection you'll find such tales as Uncle Rabbit, Uncle Coyote, How the Serpent was Born, The Moon, The Screamer of the Night, and more than 25 other tales ranging from trickster tales and tales of ghosts and witches to moral tales and tales of the underworld, presented in Spanish and English. A brief history, color photographs of the land, people, and traditional arts, and recipes accompany the tales, placing them within a cultural context. Grades K-12.

The Mayan Folktale

The Mayan Folktale PDF Author: Fernando Peñalosa
Publisher: Yax Te' Press
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 136

Get Book Here

Book Description


Maya Folktales from the Alta Verapaz

Maya Folktales from the Alta Verapaz PDF Author: Elin C. Danien
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 1934536636
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 113

Get Book Here

Book Description
The dozen tales in this book were collected from Guatemalan informants early in the twentieth century recorded in the words of the storytellers. They come down to us unfiltered by anthropologists, writers, or professional folklorists. The tales make up a fascinating collection that informs in significant and creative ways how the Maya view their world and how they were engaged with the greater world around them in insightful and often humorous ways. They offer transformations, ogres, anthropomorphic animals, mountains and caves, and supernatural explanations for natural phenomena, along with the origins of modes of dress and behavior, medical rituals, and tales that carry folk interpretations of the Popul Vuh, the ancient Maya creation myth. Elin C. Danien's introductory essay includes biographical information about the collectors, suggestions of pre-Columbian roots for the tales, and a history of the previous restricted publication. Her explanations of cultural behavior enhance the human qualities of the actors without transgressing the storytellers. The early date of these tales makes the book extremely unusual and fresh.

Aztec and Maya Myths

Aztec and Maya Myths PDF Author: Karl Taube
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 9780292781306
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 84

Get Book Here

Book Description
The myths of the Aztec and Maya derive from a shared Mesoamerican cultural tradition. This is very much a living tradition, and many of the motifs and gods mentioned in early sources are still evoked in the lore of contemporary Mexico and Guatemala. Professor Taube discusses the different sources for Aztec and Maya myths. The Aztec empire began less than 200 years before the Spanish conquest, and our knowledge of their mythology derives primarily from native colonial documents and manuscripts commissioned by the Spanish. The Maya mythology is far older, and our knowledge of it comes mainly from native manuscripts of the Classic period, over 600 years before the Spanish conquest. Drawing on these sources as well as nineteenth- and twentieth-century excavations and research, including the interpretation of the codices and the decipherment of Maya hieroglyphic writing, the author discusses, among other things, the Popol Vuh myths of the Maya, the flood myth of Northern Yucatan, and the Aztec creation myths.