A compilation of humour, jokes, anecdotes and sayings taken from the many emails the editor has received over the years. An ideal gift and stocking filler - 33% of the net profit will be donated by the publisher to charities.

The First Book of Internet Jokes

Humor & Entertainment

Humor

Abela Pub

A unique collection of Viking stories, myths and legends blown into Midgard from Valhalla - compiled especially for storytellers.

Tiivistelma

Literature & Fiction

Paul James McDaid

John Halsted

Mythology & Folk Tales

The Indiana Jones of the 11th Century! Finalist - ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award A VIKING EPIC! Action, Adventure and Romance from Norway, across the Steppe and along the Silk Route into China's notorious Taklamakan desert! Experience friendship, dignity, honour, love, betrayal and greed against the backdrop of a hostile environment which gives no quarter - just what one expects from a Viking. Synopsis: As the Viking age is brought to an end in 1066 with ignominious defeat at the battle of Stamford Bridge, a rag-tag group of Vikings conclude the quiet life is not for them and they decide to go-a-Viking one last time. They retrace a journey of their youth across the European Steppe and down the mighty Dniepr River to Byzantium. However a chance discovery in a Kiev library leads them to venture even further afield - to Astrakhan, across the Caspian sea, up the mighty Oxus river, through Parthia and Bactria and along the ancient Silk Route into Asia and Tian Xia (China). Engaged in a battle not of their choosing, they inflict fatalities on the sinister and evil Black Scorpions who want to exact their revenge. Pursued, they flee by night across the Roof of the World and meet the remnants of the "lost" European tribe of Asia, the Hepthalites, who offer them protection in their city, hidden in the Tien Shan - the Celestial Mountains. A place where romance is kindled and love unexpectedly blossoms. During their winter sojourn in the Hidden City they gather more clues, and in the spring continue with their quest, on into the Taklamakan desert. The desert so called by locals because those who venture in seldom venture out. More danger and peril lies in wait for this rag-tag Viking crew as they travel along the Silk Route - the world's first super-highway. At the eastern end of their journey they meet the Lang Ren, the Wolf people of Lou Lan, outcasts thieves and criminals living in an abandoned city in the desert. A city without water. A city about to die. A city in which the final clue to their quest is uncovered. What fate awaits this rejected element of Asian society? Can this motley crew intercede on their behalf? Will the fundamental cultural differences between the Vikings, Jews and Moslems in the group cause them to self destruct, or will the adversities they face cause them to overcome these differences and become a unified fighting unit? A beautifully bound 420 page hardback with historical companion, place name lexicon, character descriptions and maps.

Legend of the Last Vikings: Taklamakan

Halsted, John D.

Genre Fiction

It is a widely held belief, especially amongst the peoples of English-speaking nations, that the Irish have the gift of the gab. Samuel Lover's Irish Stories and Legends shows the utter truthfulness of this conviction. After a recitation by Samuel Lover of a few tales at a dinner party, he was subsequently convinced to publish two of them in the Dublin Literary Gazette. The favourable reception of these tales resulted in Irish Stories and Legends, an exquisite and exceptional volume of Irish folklore. Prepared and collated with very few changes, Samuel Lover wanted to stay true to the original stories, so that the written story would enchant readers as though it were being presented in the vernacular. So curl up with this unique piece of Irish folklore, not seen in print for over one hundred and seventy years, and let the Gift of the Irish enchant and captivate you. Samuel Lover (1797-1868) was an Irish novelist, a songwriter, and a painter of portraits. So famous was this son of Ireland that a memorial to him stands in St Patrick's Cathedral, in Dublin. Less well-known is the fact that he was the also the grandfather of Victor Herbert, a famous Broadway composer. Renowned for his clever twist of phrase, Samuel Lover once said, "When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen". We're grateful that he never stopped "itching"! Later in life, Samuel moved to London and joined with Dickens in founding Bentley's Magazine. Dickens was the magazine's first editor, and Oliver Twist its first serial. Lover certainly kept illustrious company. The memorial in St Patrick's Cathedral summarises Lover's achievements thusly: Poet, painter, novelist and composer, who, in the exercise of a genius as distinguished in its versatility as in its power, by his pen and pencil illustrated so happily the characteristics of the peasantry of his country that his name will ever be honourably identified with Ireland. A percentage of the sale of this book will be donated towards the education of underprivileged youth in Ireland.

Legends and Stories of Ireland

Politics & Social Sciences

Lover, Samuel

Social Sciences

It is not widely known that the Caucasus corridor, geographic home to the nation of Georgia, was a well travelled arm of the famous Silk Route that linked Asia and Europe. Silk, merchandise, and stories were traded through this region for countless generations. On one hand, Georgia shared a religious and political connection with Byzantium (Christendom), and on the other a constant cultural discourse with Persia and Turkey (Islam). In later years, links to Russia further enriched the cultural traditions of this crossroad of civilisations. It is therefore not surprising that the nation of Georgia overflows with folklore. We invite you to enjoy Georgian Folktales, a short collection of thirty-eight traditional stories from Georgia, Mingrelia and Guria translated by Marjorie Wardrop in 1894. Princes, kings, viziers, wicked stepmothers, princesses, fools, speaking serpents, and simple folk who make good abound in the pages of this delightful volume. The twenty-eight Mingrelian proverbs are a bonus and provide additional insight into the culture of the region. Many of the themes in these stories are also reflected in European folklore, giving credence to the claim that folklore originated in Asia eons ago and was transported to Europe by the Gypsy and Roma folk. Indeed, some of these stories closely parallel those published in Abela Publishing's Gypsy Folk Tales and Roumanian Folk Tales. A percentage of the sale from this book will be donated to scholarships for the underpriviledged in Georgia.

Georgian Folk Tales

Wardrop, Marjory

Specimens of Bushman Folk-lore was published by Dr. WHI Bleek only after he'd overcome many great difficulties (and great they were in late 1800s South Africa). So complete is this volume that Dr. Bleek even provides explanations on how to make the many click sounds that are endemic to the Bushman language. Good luck wrapping your tongue around them! This 260 page volume contains 84 stories about Bushman myths and legends, including interpretations of the natural world, animal fables, the story of the first man, and customs, superstitions, and more. There are stories about girls and frogs, hyenas that seek revenge, the wind, and the making of arrows. There are also stories about the origin of the stars Sirius and Canopus, the treatment of bones, prayers to the moon, and a man who mistakenly ordered his wife to cut off his ears. Of special interest is the story of one Bushman's first ride on the train from Mowbray to Cape Town, which describes his treatment at the hands of the local police and the imposition of the white man's laws upon him and his people. The old adage "Everything changes, everything stays the same," comes to mind. So curl up with this treasure of ancient Africa, this documentation of a changing world, and engross yourself in a culture that has no place for MP3 players, video games, or television. A percentage of every book sold will help fund the education of an underprivileged person in South Africa. Rock art and archaeological evidence indicates that the San Bushmen once occupied countries as far north as Libya, Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia, with some evidence of occupation in Kenya. Over time, environmental conditions and the negroid races pushed the Bushmen further and further south-today, they can now only be found in the countries of Southern Africa. Even now, the Bushmen's traditional way of life is further threatened by government regulations and policies that seek to restrict their nomadic tradition and "encourage" them to assume a more pastoral lifestyle.

Specimens of Bushman Folk-lore

In this volume you will find 27 uniquely Slavonic and Cossack stories like "The Story Of Unlucky Daniel", "The Vampire And St Michael", "The Tsar And The Angel", "The Story Of Ivan And The Daughter Of The Sun" and more not heard in the west for many a year. This volume of stories has been selected from a Slavonic dialect extraordinarily rich in folk-tales. The language is Ruthenian, or the language of the Cossacks. This was the first translation ever made from Ruthenian into English. There are peculiar and original elements in these stories not to be found in the folk-lore of other European peoples, The comparative isolation of the Cossacks, and their remoteness from the great theaters of historical events, has seen favorable conditions for the safe preservation of old myths and the easy development of new ones. Ruthenian is a language intermediate between Russian and Polish, but independent of both. Its territory embraces, that vast area which lies between the Carpathian Mountains and the Sea of Azov, with Lemberg and Kiev for its chief intellectual centers. Until independence the language was rigorously repressed by the Soviet Government, and has since been a foundation from which modern Ukrainian has been developed. It possesses a noble literature, numerous folk-songs and a copious collection of justly admired folk-tales, many of them of great antiquity, which are regarded, both in Russia and Poland, as quite unique of their kind. 33% of the net profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charity. YESTERDAY'S BOOKS for TODAY'S CHARITIES

Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales

TOWARDS the close of 1845 Sir George Grey was unexpectedly requested to administer the affairs of New Zealand. On arrival he found the Maori tribes engaged in hostilities with the Queen's troops, against whom they had contended with considerable success. He quickly realised he could neither successfully govern, nor hope to conciliate, with a people whose language, manners, customs and religion he was quite unacquainted. He decided that he should be acquainted with the language of the New Zealanders in order to redress their grievances. With no published Maori dictionary, nor books to study its construction, he found this to be a most difficult task. To his surprise he found that the Maori chiefs, in their speeches or in their letters, frequently quoted fragments of ancient poems or proverbs, or made allusions which rested on an ancient system of mythology. This gave him further impetus to learn the language of the country. For more than eight years he devoted a great part of his available time to collecting these ancient myths, poems and legends, working in his spare moments in every part of the country. Once, when he had amassed a large amount of materials to aid him in his studies, the Government House was destroyed by fire, and with it were burnt the materials he had so painstakingly collected, and thus he was left to recommence his difficult task. The ultimate result, however, was the collection of a large mass of materials. He felt unwilling that the result of his labours should be lost to those whose duty it may be thereafter to deal with the natives of New Zealand; and he undertook to published his extensive collection of ancient traditional poems, religious chants and songs of the Maori race. It is in this volume that Sir George Grey first presented "to the European reader" in 1854 the first written record and translation of the principal portions of ancient Maori mythology and of some of their most interesting legends.

Polynesian Mythology & Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealanders

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

The Yoruba people are descendants from a variety of West African communities. They are united by Geography, History, Religion and most importantly their Language. Many years ago, before the advent of the West African slave trade, the Yoruba people inhabited an area which stretched, along the coast of West Africa, all the way inward and down to Angola in South West Africa. Today this is not the case. The legends and fairy stories in this book belong to the Yoruba. They relate the adventures of men and animals, and try to explain the mysteries of Nature-Why Women have Long Hair, How the Leopard got his Spots, the Three Magicians, the Boa- Constrictor, How the Elephant got his Trunk and more. These stories grew from the imagination of the people. We read these folk-tales for their quaintness and humour, for their sympathy with Nature, and because we find in them the ideas and ideals, not just of one man, but of a race of people. IN modern times we have begun paying close attention to folklore - old tales, not invented by one man, but belonging to the whole people; not written down, but told by parents to their children, and so handed on for hundreds of years. The legends express primitive notions of right and wrong. As a rule, the wicked are punished and the good rewarded; and that, we feel, is as it should be. We may weep at the death of rascally Tortoise, but we may also feel that he somehow has deserved his fate! A percentage of the net sale from this book will be donated to Edgbarrow School in Crowthorne, Berkshire to augment fundraising for their Ghana Project.

Yoruba Legends

From childhood we listen to tales of ghosts, banshees, haunted castles and mischievous sprites. But it is not until you immerse yourself in Gaelic literature that you realise what a heritage awaits, for Celtic folklore overflows with vivid stories that fire the imagination. This is a wonderful, enchanting collection of 12 Celtic and magical tales from Ella Young. Children aged 7-12 years old will be enchanted by the magical, mysterious stories. Tales of the Earth Shapers, Eric-Fine of Lugh, Inisfail, the classic Children of Lir, the Spear of Victory and more. So don't be surprised if when you think you have finished reciting a tale from this book that you feel a tug at your sleeve and have a request for another; and the child within you will be only too happy to read on. So take some time out and travel back to yesteryear, to a period before television and radio, a time when families would gather around a crackling and spitting hearth and granddad or grandma or an uncle or auntie would delight and captivate the gathering with stories passed on to them from their parents and grandparents from time immemorial.

Celtic Wonder Tales

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