Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws (Adrienne Mayor)

Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws: And Other Classical Myths, Historical Oddities, and Scientific Curiosities
Adrienne Mayor
Princeton University Press
Nonfiction, Folklore/History
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: For all the copious amount of studies dedicated to history, there are still plenty of things that have fallen through the cracks, things that are either dismissed as falsehoods or misinterpretations or simply lack sufficient interest to tempt researchers. Author Adrienne Mayor shines a light into some of these overlooked nooks and crannies, unearthing a treasure trove of oddities and wonders and peculiar moments and factoids, from the often-forgotten roles of Native Americans and enslaved Africans in early American fossil hunting to possible explanations for persistent reports of "flying snakes" in Middle Eastern deserts, from tales of ancient poisons to "mad honey", even to the long histories of such peculiar human recreations as tourism, mountain climbing, and faking fossils.

REVIEW: There's a tendency to dismiss previous generations and cultures as lessers: less sophisticated, less able to discern truth from fiction or reality from illusion, less intelligent or worthy. Previous generations may not have been splitting atoms or launching interplanetary probes or live-streaming their pet cats being spooked by cucumbers, but they had the same basic brain structure as modern humans, and were at least as capable of understanding the world around them, as well as wondering how it worked and where they fit into it. Yet for too long, the idea that Ancient Greeks may have recovered fossils and attempted to reconstruct extinct animals, for instance, was dismissed out of hand. Other references fell by the wayside as being too inconsequential or vague to be worth pursuing, such as the possible identity of those "flying snakes" in places where true gliding snakes couldn't live, or the truth hidden in traveler's tales of tiny orange "birds" highly prized for their toxicity. Author Mayor digs into these little factoid nuggets with varying degrees of depth and success, from the ancient world to more recent times, touching on topics such as the domestication of ferrets (the chosen pet for rodent control before cats spread from Ancient Egypt), the classical personalities of the winds, tales of ancient "giants", the mysterious origin of the mammoth foot examined by famed naturalist Cuvier, early anti-vaxxers, and more. There are some odd omissions and numerous places where I wish there were more information presented, and some of the essays just seem of drift or end without seeming to make much of a point or reaching a conclusion. And there were places where it felt like she'd lost track of the main theme of the book, which was supposed to be classical and historical oddities and not waxing nostalgic about pets. Also - and this is not the fault of the author - the audiobook was supposed to have a PDF file I could download with images from the printed edition, but searching Libby has yielded no such addendum (I've seen them on other audiobooks, so I don't know what's going on with this one; I even checked with my tablet and my PC).
If someone is looking for in-depth explorations of the subjects mentioned here, then this book is only going to serve as a starting point; an extensive bibliography cites Mayor's sources for further investigation. If someone is just looking for a quick glimpse of unusual, often overlooked or forgotten or dismissed bits of history and folklore, then this is just what they're after. I wavered a bit, but wound up landing on the side of the full fourth star for the breadth of unusual topics covered, even if the depth could be lacking (sometimes frustratingly so).

You Might Also Enjoy:
Mythic Creatures (Richard Ellis, Laurel Kendall, and Mark A. Norell) - My Review
The United States of Cryptids (J. W. Ocker) - My Review
The Evolution of the Dragon (G. Elliot Smith) - My Review

An Illustrated Guide to Welsh Monsters and Mythical Beasts (C C J Ellis)

An Illustrated Guide to Welsh Monsters and Mythical Beasts
C C J Ellis
C C J Ellis, publisher
Nonfiction, Art/Folklore
****+ (Good/Great)
Author Book Page
DESCRIPTION: Drawing the deep mythic roots of Welsh culture, artist C C J Ellis describes numerous beasts and beings, from dragons to Fair Folk and everything in, around, and between.

REVIEW: In the interest of full disclosure, I follow the artist on Patreon and contributed to the Kickstarter campaign for this book. This review was not specifically requested.
This is, as promised, a beautifully illustrated guide to creatures of Welsh folklore, the traditions that gave rise to King Arthur and which are currently threatened, as so many traditions are threatened, by a world that seems content to blur, twist, and forget its mythic roots. She offers pronunciation guides with the non-phonetic Welsh names and brief descriptions, with a few examples of lore and legend.
Where it lost a half-star (and nearly a full star) was in the editing. Some of the descriptions read awkwardly at the sentence level, and there are some probably unintentional incomplete sentences where a period was used instead of a comma. (There was also at least one homophone error.) In one instance at least the write-up seemed to contradict itself. It was just enough of an issue to distract me, and therefore just enough to merit mention. Overall, though, I'm quite pleased with my purchase. It is slated for wider release and publication come October (as of this review), and is worth investigating for anyone interested in a starter book on uniquely Welsh mythic beasts... or who just enjoys good fantasy art.

You Might Also Enjoy:
Fabulous Beasts (Malcolm Ashman) - My Review
Myth and Magic: The Art of John Howe (John Howe) - My Review
Dracopedia: The Bestiary (William O'Connor) - My Review

Dragons (Peter Hogarth with Val Clery)

Dragons
Peter Hogarth with Val Clery
Viking
Nonfiction, Folklore/Mythology
***+ (Okay/Good)

DESCRIPTION: From the epic struggle of Tiamat and Marduk in early Mesopotamia, through the mythic roots of China, even in pre-Columbian America and distant New Zealand, all the way up to modern times, dragons have coiled, slithered, and flown through the worlds of human myth and legend. This book explores the dragon as it appears in numerous stories and guises in nearly all cultures.

REVIEW: Published in 1979, this isn't a bad coffee-table exploration of dragon lore. Hogarth delves into numerous cultures with varying degrees of depth, sometimes spending several pages on one tale or location and other times glossing over huge chunks of time and culture with a passing sentence or two. His sources aren't always clear, though; as he sometimes gets too clever for his own good with the writing, it can be hard to tell where fact and historical resources leave off and personal commentary or opinion begin. This book does, however, have a strong visual appeal, with numerous dragon images (and a few other beasties, particularly griffins) from a broad variety of sources decorating every page. Unfortunately, these images sometimes interrupt the flow of the narrative, and the captions aren't always useful or informative. Overall, it's not a bad exploration of global dragon lore that just barely lost out on a four-star rating. (I admit I almost gave it an extra half-star just for the end papers alone: in the hardcover edition, they feature a dragon-themed illuminated alphabet that I'd love to get as a downloadable font, though sadly this book predates such concepts.)

You Might Also Enjoy:
Tales of Great Dragons (J. K. Anderson) - My Review
Dragons - Truth, Myth and Legend (David Passes) - My Review
Dragons: A Natural History (Dr. Karl Shuker) - My Review

The Book of Gryphons (Joe Nigg)

The Book of Gryphons
Joe Nigg
Apple-wood Books
Nonfiction, Mythology/Folklore
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: Since the dawn of civilization, gryphons and their kin have served humans as protectors and monsters, symbols of divinity and foul treasure-hoarding man-eaters. Nigg examines the roots of gryphon lore, tracking them through their heyday in the ancient world and their downfall in the Renaissance, to their re-emergence in modern literature.

REVIEW: I found this during a recent excursion to Half Price Books. I hoped to find an interesting exploration of classical gryphon lore. This book, however, seems somewhat shallow, more of an overview than a detailed examination, with barely 100 pages of material in large-print grey text. Had it been text alone, it might have rated only three, maybe three and a half, stars. The pictures, however, are easily worth a star on their own. Though most of them are black and white, they nevertheless display the many faces of the gryphon (and kin - Nigg connects gryphons to sphinxes, rocs, simurghs, and other fantastic beasts) through several cultures. Most of these images were new to me. The final section on gryphons in modern fiction felt a bit sparse, but this book was published in 1982; had he published more recently, he would've had a whole host of gryphon tales to choose from, as they've seen a remarkable resurgence in popularity in the 21st century. (And he still offered no explanation for why "male" gryphons in traditional European heraldry have spikes, possibly representing light rays, instead of wings... somewhere, there must be a answer, unless it's been lost to antiquity.) On the whole, it makes a decent introduction to the classical gryphon. I'd just hoped for a little more depth and detail in the text.

You Might Also Enjoy:
Here Be Dragons: A Fantastic Bestiary (Ariane Delacampagne and Christian Delacampagne) - My Review
The Black Gryphon (Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon) - My Review

An Essay on Dragons (S. Shana)

An Essay on Dragons
S. Shana
Amazon Digital Services
Fiction, YA? Fantasy/Folklore
* (Terrible)

DESCRIPTION: This brief essay offers an overview of the popular mythological beast, the dragon.
A Kindle-exclusive title.

REVIEW: Possibly the biggest rip-off I've yet downloaded, far less than half of the file actually discusses dragons; the rest consists of page after page of links to the author's other articles and books. The essay itself - written in an unnecessarily large font - barely pretends to scratch the surface of the subject. If this is the extent of the author's knowledge of dragons, they need to move away from coloring books as their source material. (Seriously, I own a dragon coloring book that goes into more depth than this thing.) An exceptionally disappointing waste of five minutes, even as a freebie download.
(EDIT - It seems that this selection has mysteriously vanished from Amazon's archives.  Strange...)

You might also enjoy:
Tales of Great Dragons (J. K. Anderson) - My Review
Step Inside Dragons (Gaby Goldsack, Nick Harris, and Richard Jewitt) - My Review
How to Raise and Keep a Dragon (John Topsell, Joseph Nigg "editor") - My Review

The Folktale Cat (Frank de Caro, editor)

The Folktale Cat
Frank de Caro, editor
Barnes & Noble Books
Nonfiction, Cats/Folklore
*** (Okay)

DESCRIPTION: Since the earliest tales were told, cats have featured in many popular stories from around the world in a variety of roles. The editor compiles several tales, from fanciful fairy tales of transformed princesses to dark legends of demon cats.

REVIEW: A discounted wonder, I read it mostly as research for a story I'm trying to finish. The tales included are similar to those in other cat folklore anthologies, with only a few new-to-me tales. The afterword's brief annotations on the stories offered little in the way of spectacular insights, though the editor does at least credit where each tale came from (at least, the version included; almost every one has numerous variants.) It was reasonably adequate, from both a reader-interest standpoint and a research standpoint, but I was hoping for a little better.