Songs of Gods, Songs of Humans: The Epic Tradition of the Ainu

by Donald L. Philippi

Book Overview

As an especially beautiful and pure example of the archaic epic styles that were once current among the hunting and fishing peoples of northern Asia, the Ainu epic folklore is of immense literary value. This collection and English translation by Donald Philippi contains thirty-three representative selections from a number of epic genres including mythic epics, culture hero epics, women's epics, and heroic epics. This is the first time, outside...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691608814
• ISBN13: 9780691608815
• Release Date: March 2015
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 436 Pages
• Weight: 1.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.0" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Fascinating Look At a Vanishing Mythology

I was lucky enough to find this for $12 in a small rural used bookstore and was exposed to one of the richest collections of mythology I've ever seen. The Ainu myths were transmitted by storytellers claiming to be posessed by the entities telling the stories, so most were collected in a first person format where the god/hero/monster istelf is telling you the story. The stories are dripping with beautiful details, like the water and fire fans that the elemental godesses fight with, the evil river dragons, or the social customs of the Ainu that are mentioned in passing and taken for granted. Gary Snyder provides a well-written introduction, though as usual he puts a little too much stock in the 'deeper truth' of the myths. If you can find this at a sane price and value glimpses of the ancient world, I recommend it heartily.