Category: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Cornelia Funke

A Griffin’s Feather [Drachenreiter: Die Feder eines Greifs] (Dragon Rider, 2)

Die Feder eines Greifs is the sequel to Drachenreiter / Dragon Rider (1997, Engl. transl. 2004). The main character of the novel is 14-year-old Ben who was also the protagonist of Dragon Rider. In the first book, he was rescued by the dragon Lung / Firedrake as an orphan in London and became his dragon rider. Now Ben has been adopted by the Wiesengrund / Greenbloom family and is living with them in Norway, where they run a sanctuary for mythical (and non-mythical) creatures, MÍMAMEID(...)

literary

YEAR: 2016

COUNTRY: Germany

TAGS: Cambyses Centaur(s) Charybdis Cyclops / Cyclopes Dragons Griffins / Gryphons Medusa Nymphs Ouranos / Uranus Pegasus Phoebe Phoenix (Bird) Scylla Sphinx

Alfred Ledwig, Stanisław Pagaczewski

An Adventure on Rhodes [Przygoda na Rodos]

Based on: Katarzyna Marciniak, Elżbieta Olechowska, Joanna Kłos, Michał Kucharski (eds.), Polish Literature for Children & Young Adults Inspired by Classical Antiquity: A Catalogue, Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, Warsaw: University of Warsaw, 2013, 444 pp.In terms of the plot, this book (an adventure novel with elements of fantasy) can be regarded as a continuation of the trilogy about the adventures of the Wawel Dragon, but the action does not take place in the Middle-Ages but in(...)

literary

YEAR: 1982

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Cetus Dragons Minotaur Perseus Rhodes

Carl Barks, Jymn Magon

Ducktales (Series)

Inspired by Carl Banks’ 1947 Uncle Scrooge comics, Ducktales was created by Disney Studios to tell the adventures of Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck and their three nephews: Huey, Dewey, and Louie. The series begins with Donald Duck being sent to the Navy and entrusting his three nephews to his uncle Scrooge. a billionaire who lives alone in his mansion in Duckburg. Upon being left with his great-nephews, Scrooge McDuck embarks on various adventures with them, occasionally featuring ancient hi(...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1987

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Ancient Temples Aphrodite Argonauts Atlantis Circe Colossus of Rhodes Cupid Dragons Golden Fleece Harpies Homer Jason Odysseus / Ulysses Odyssey Olympus Sirens Vulcan

Tom Anderson, Paul Halas, José Maria Millet Lopez

DuckTales: The Arcadian Urn [Rejsen til Epsilon]

Scrooge McDuck, his three great-nephews (Louie, Huey and Dewey) and Webby Vanderquack, the granddaughter of the triplets’ nanny, attend an auction where McMoney, one of Scrooge’s greatest enemies, sells an Ancient Arcadian vase for millions. Unhappy with how much money his rival has made, Scrooge decides to find Arcadia himself and bring back valuable artefacts. Bringing along his nephew, Donald Duck, and his personal pilot, Launchpad McQuack, Scrooge and the team set off to Gre(...)

literary

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: Denmark

TAGS: Arcadia Dragons Gladiator Games Gladiators Pottery / Vases Virgil

Lisl Weil

Of Witches and Monsters and Wondrous Creatures

In this informational picture book, Weil takes young readers on a tour of mythical creatures from around the world. She opens by explaining the role of mythical creatures as providing answers for the things that happen that cannot be explained. "Some of these creatures were good; some were bad. Some were like animals; some were like people . . . Every country, every different group of people, had their own wicked monsters and wondrous creatures that became a part of the stories that were to(...)

literary

YEAR: 1985

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Ariadne Bacchus Cerberus Cyclops / Cyclopes Dionysus / Dionysos Dragons Dryades Heracles Hercules Minotaur Nymphs Odysseus / Ulysses Pegasus Phoenix (Bird) Sphinx Theseus Unicorn (hippos monokeras)

Katarzyna Nowacka

The King of Witchwood [Król zaczarowanego lasu]

Based on: Katarzyna Marciniak, Elżbieta Olechowska, Joanna Kłos, Michał Kucharski (eds.), Polish Literature for Children & Young Adults Inspired by Classical Antiquity: A Catalogue, Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, Warsaw: University of Warsaw, 2013, 444 pp.The King of Witchwood is the title of one of the short stories included in The Witchwood Tales. Griffin was walking through the woods and eating some forest fruits, but he forgot that they could be dangerous, especially the drago(...)

literary

YEAR: 1996

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Dragons Griffins / Gryphons Midas Narcissus Sirens

Pauline Baynes, Clive Staples (C.S.) Lewis

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia, 1)

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the first of seven-fantasy tales in C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia. The Pevensie children, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are living with Professor Digory Kirke in his large house in the English countryside. They have been evacuated from London in 1940 to escape from the Blitz. The house is run by the strict housekeeper, Mrs. Macready. During a game of hide and seek Lucy discovers a wardrobe in one of the rooms of the house. Finding that(...)

literary

YEAR: 1950

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Bacchus Centaur(s) Dragons Faun Nymphs Pegasus Satyr(s)

Michael Ende , Roswitha Quadflieg

The Neverending Story [Die Unendliche Geschichte]

This novel tells the coming-of-age story of 11 year old Bastian Balthasar Bux, an introvert, timid, slightly overweight and un-sporty boy who is bullied at school. Bastian’s mother has died and his grieving father has lost any interest in him. When Bastian reads a mysterious book called Die Unendliche Geschichte (which he steals from a local book shop), he becomes so absorbed in the story that he is drawn into the parallel world of Phantásien (Fantastica). Fantastica is be(...)

literary

YEAR: 1979

COUNTRY: Germany

TAGS: Centaur(s) Dragons Griffins / Gryphons Pegasus Phoenix (Bird)

Erika White

Unicorns and Friends

Unicorns and Friends is a combination of board book and toy, featuring the adventures of a group of colourful unicorns named Rosy, Blue, Clementine, Razzle-Berry, River, and Sherbet. Though they are a group, they each have distinctive characteristics: some are adventurous (Rosy and Razzle-Berry); Clementine likes sunshine while Blue enjoys evening walks… All love the “very special, magical creatures that are their friends and neighbours.” (p. 1). These creatures include Pol Pe(...)

literary

YEAR: 2019

COUNTRY: Canada

TAGS: Dragons Griffins / Gryphons Hippocampi Pegasus Unicorn (hippos monokeras)

Ndoe

Why There are Many Kingdoms in Moumba

In distant times; the very olden days,Which no man can remember with exactitude,There lived a man and his family in the forest.This man was called Kombo and he had two wives:The first wife, Songou, gave birth to two boys,And the second, Nadamba, gave birth to one boy and many girls.Kombo was happy because he had three sons who would continue his lineage:Gbabio and Lamy were the sons of the first wife, andGarba, was the son of the second.Kombo constructed an estate where he lived with his family.(...)

oral

COUNTRY: Cameroon

TAGS: African Mythologies African Storytelling African Traditions Dragons