North African Folktales

(Paperback, New edition)

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Description

The folktales of Northern Africa are a heady mix of nomadic sources and Arab stories of romance and ingenuity. Historically Northern Africa was strongly affected by events and empires around the Mediterranean, from the exploits of the Phoenicians and their power centre Carthage, Alexander the Great, the ebb and flow of the Roman Empire and the Byzantine era in the early middle ages. The nomadic tribes of Libya and the ancient empire of Aksum are little understood today but their roots sit long behind the rise of Christianity and later the dominance of Islam. For this book of folktales the Berbers of Algiers, Libya and Morocco yield some stories, but many more come from the Arab influenced era with romances and poems which bring similarities to the Persian stories of the same period, with titles such as The Jealous King, The Lovers of Antequera, The Tower of Gold and The Ogre and the Beautiful Woman.

Author Bio

Jackson is General Editor of The World's Greatest Myths and Legends series, with titles including 'Myths of Babylon', 'Indian Myth', 'Egyptian Myth', 'Norse Myth' and 'Polynesian Island Myth'. He is editor of 'Myths and Legends' and foreword writer for 'Celtic Myths and Tales'. Other related work includes articles on the Philosophy of Time, 'Macbeth, A Gothic Chaos' and William Blake's use of mythology in his visionary literature.