Classic Jam Hits

#230 – The mythology of the bear, and Byron gets apocalyptic – Human Voices Wake Us

An episode from 5/18/26: Tonight I read about the bear in folklore and mythology from two books everybody should have on their shelves: the Taschen Book of Symbols and the Penguin Dictionary of Symbols. Browsing through either puts you in contact with our best stories and, with the Taschen book, some of our best artwork.Next, I read Lord Byron’s (1788-1824) apocalyptic poem Darkness from 1816. You can read more about the volcanic eruption that inspired poem, and produced the “year without summer,” here.Finally, I read a few passages on revelation and the religious experience from the rabbi, theologian and civil rights activist Abraham Joshua Heshel’s (1907-1962) God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism.The best way to support the podcast is by leaving a review on Apple or Spotify, sharing it with others, or sending me a note on what you think. You can also order any of my books: Time and the River: From Columbine to the Invention of Fire, Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. I've also edited a handful of books in the S4N Pocket Poems series. I also have a YouTube channel where I share poems and excerpts from these books, mostly as YouTube shorts.Email me at humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com.
  1. #230 – The mythology of the bear, and Byron gets apocalyptic
  2. #229 : Mother Earth and myths of mining and agriculture
  3. #228 – What Ted Bundy did on July 14, 1974
  4. #227 – The Great Fire of London and the destruction of Jerusalem
  5. #226: The Vitality and terror of cities
  6. #225 – The invention of the wheel, and the power of storytelling
  7. #224: Let's talk about William Blake
  8. #223 – How to write two novels at the same time, with Charles Dickens
  9. #222: Seamus Heaney – 10 Essential Poems
  10. #221: Volcanoes, Plagues & the Childhood of a Kabbalist

Going through my computer the other day, I found the .pdfs of these classic book sets, and thought to post them here for whoever wants them: Frazer’s The Golden Bough, The Mythology of All Races, and Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. [An update in 2021, I’ve now added a translation of the eleventh-century Irish Lebor Gabála Érenn] Whatever their limitations now, they are still great resources. I can’t remember where I found them, but it’s probably still difficult to cobble all of these sets together on one page. So I can at least offer that: 

***

Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, edited by James B. Pritchard: Volume 1 | Volume 2

***

The Golden Bough, by James. G. Frazer:

The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings (Part 1)
The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings (Part 2)
Taboo and the Perils of the Soul
The Dying God
Adonis, Attis, Osiris (Part 1)
Adonis, Attis, Osiris (Part 2)
Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild (Part 1)
Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild (Part 2)
The Scapegoat
Balder the Beautiful (Part 1)
Balder the Beautiful (Part 2)
Bibliography and General Index
Aftermath & Supplement

***

The Mythology of All Races, edited by George Herbert Reed

Greek & Roman, by William Sherwood Fox
Eddic, by John Arnott MacCulloch
Celtic and Slavic, by John Arnott MacCulloch and Jan Máchal
Finno-Ugric and Siberian, by Uno Holmberg
Semitic, by Stephen Herbert Langdon
Indian and Iranian, by Arthur Berriedale Keith and Albert Joseph Carnoy
Armenian and African, by Mardiros Harootioon Ananikian and Alice Werner
Chinese and Japanese, by John Calvin Ferguson and Masaharu Anesaki
Oceanic, by Roland Burrage Dixon
North American, by Hartley Burr Alexander
Latin American, by Hartley Burr Alexander
Egyptian and Indo-Chinese, by Wilhelm Max Müller and James George Scott
Complete Index

***

R. A. S. Macalister’s five-volume translation of the c.11th century Irish Lebor Gabála Érenn, published between 1938 and 1956, can be downloaded here. Read about the Lebor Gabála Érenn, or visit the website of its publisher, the Irish Texts Society.

Lebor Gabála Érenn, volume 1
Lebor Gabála Érenn, volume 2
Lebor Gabála Érenn, volume 3
Lebor Gabála Érenn, volume 4
Lebor Gabála Érenn, volume 5

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4 responses

  1. The Shepherd’s Manual | Cota Farms' Blog Avatar
    The Shepherd’s Manual | Cota Farms' Blog

    […] It never occurred to me to do such a thing until I was reading a post from Tim Miller, – Classic Jam Hits – in which he shared some books from his collection that caught my attention. Being a […]

    Liked by 1 person

  2. The Midsummer Festivals of Old Europe (new episode) – Human Voices Wake Us: A Podcast of History, Poetry, Creativity & Myth Avatar
    The Midsummer Festivals of Old Europe (new episode) – Human Voices Wake Us: A Podcast of History, Poetry, Creativity & Myth

    […] The sections I read from all appear in the first volume of Balder the Beautiful, and searching through this .pdf, it should be easy to find any of the stories I chose. The entirety of The Golden Bough can be downloaded here. […]

    Like

  3. The Great Myths #10: The Book of Invasions (Celtic) – Tim Miller Avatar
    The Great Myths #10: The Book of Invasions (Celtic) – Tim Miller

    […] The summary I read comes from James MacKillop’s Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. The 5-volume English translation of the entire Lebor Gabála Érenn (published by the Irish Texts Society) can be purchased in hardcover here; however, each volume is now available for download as .pdfs, here. […]

    Like

  4. The Midsummer Fire Festivals of Old Europe – Tim Miller Avatar
    The Midsummer Fire Festivals of Old Europe – Tim Miller

    […] The sections I read from all appear in the first volume of Balder the Beautiful, and searching through this .pdf, it should be easy to find any of the stories I chose. The entirety of The Golden Bough can be downloaded here. […]

    Like

#230 – The mythology of the bear, and Byron gets apocalyptic – Human Voices Wake Us

An episode from 5/18/26: Tonight I read about the bear in folklore and mythology from two books everybody should have on their shelves: the Taschen Book of Symbols and the Penguin Dictionary of Symbols. Browsing through either puts you in contact with our best stories and, with the Taschen book, some of our best artwork.Next, I read Lord Byron’s (1788-1824) apocalyptic poem Darkness from 1816. You can read more about the volcanic eruption that inspired poem, and produced the “year without summer,” here.Finally, I read a few passages on revelation and the religious experience from the rabbi, theologian and civil rights activist Abraham Joshua Heshel’s (1907-1962) God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism.The best way to support the podcast is by leaving a review on Apple or Spotify, sharing it with others, or sending me a note on what you think. You can also order any of my books: Time and the River: From Columbine to the Invention of Fire, Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. I've also edited a handful of books in the S4N Pocket Poems series. I also have a YouTube channel where I share poems and excerpts from these books, mostly as YouTube shorts.Email me at humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com.
  1. #230 – The mythology of the bear, and Byron gets apocalyptic
  2. #229 : Mother Earth and myths of mining and agriculture
  3. #228 – What Ted Bundy did on July 14, 1974
  4. #227 – The Great Fire of London and the destruction of Jerusalem
  5. #226: The Vitality and terror of cities
  6. #225 – The invention of the wheel, and the power of storytelling
  7. #224: Let's talk about William Blake
  8. #223 – How to write two novels at the same time, with Charles Dickens
  9. #222: Seamus Heaney – 10 Essential Poems
  10. #221: Volcanoes, Plagues & the Childhood of a Kabbalist

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