Tales of the Narts: Ancient Myths and Legends of the Ossetians

Description

The Nart sagas are to the Caucasus what Greek mythology is to Western civilization. Tales of the Narts presents a wide selection of fascinating tales preserved as a living tradition among the peoples of Ossetia in southern Russia, a region where ethnic identities have been maintained for thousands of years in the face of major cultural upheavals. A

John Colarusso is professor of anthropology and modern languages and linguistics at McMaster University and one of the world's most distinguished scholars of comparative linguistics. He is the author of The Northwest Caucasian Languages: A Phonological Survey and A Grammar of the Kabardian Language. He is also the editor of Nart Sagas: Ancient Myths and Legends from the Circassians and Abkhazians (Princeton). Tamerlan Salbiev is professor of English at North Ossetian State University and an expert of Old English.

"Though extraordinarily rich and deeply memorable, Ossetian folklore is barely known to the Western world outside a few specialist circles. This book offers a beautiful, compelling introduction to the Narts--dynamic tales of bygone heroes and demigods that Ossetians share with other northern Caucasian peoples. May's masterful translation into English makes for gripping reading throughout. Colarusso and Salbiev perform a service to world literature by making these traditions widely accessible."--Choice