Resource Post
Jan. 30th, 2007 10:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xaaraMy bookmarks have become hopelessly jumbled, and right now I have a huge folder called "Reference" that I just jam everything into. This is my attempt to rectify that situation, to organize for myself, and maybe to give you links to some sites that I find fascinating. For now, it's just an incomplete annotated list in no particular order, but I plan to come back, reorganize, and add at a point in the near future.
Myths, Legends, & Big Scary Monsters
Encyclopedia Mythica - This one ranks right behind the Oxford English Dictionary as my all-time favorite and most useful site. Gods and demons, legends and fairy tales, you can find it all here. A number of the entries are short and not big on the details, but I find that the basics are enough for most uses. Besides, if I want more in-depth information, I tend to like to consult print sources.
Bullfinch's Mythology - You want Greek stuff and your Hamilton's not handy? Can't remember who exactly didn't like who in the legend of Tristam and Isoude? You find it here. Fantastic resource, all easily laid out and navigable.
Godchecker.com - Your Guide to the Gods - Exactly what it sounds like. Can be a little flippant for my tastes (this is serious stuff, damnit!), but again, when all you want is to skim through the Norse pantheon after that dude with the ravens, it's an excellent starting place.
Mostly Medieval - Don't know how accurate this site is, but when all I want to do is read about monsters and hopefully write a little about them, it's fun to browse. Also, I love Medieval things.
Stories, Tales, & Severed Heads in the Woods
The Internet Classics Archive - Good stuff, brought to you by the boys (and girls) at MIT, which is, y'know, a school in Boston. (NO! I can hear my friend who goes there screaming. No! It's in Cambridge!) Anyway, it's everything from Aesop's Fables to Greek writers I'd never heard of, and sometimes the links can be a little wonky, but everything's there. It just takes a little patience. I find it helps if you mock MIT students in your head for not being able to fix broken links on a website.
Lives of the Saints - Again, usually something I go to a print resource for, but when all I want to do is read some gory stuff about people who got themselves martyred, this is the place for it. And dude, there were a lot of saints. Incidentally, the head in the woods part of this section title? Came from The Life of Saint Edmund, King. Best. Story. Ever.
The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales - I read all of these when I was a kid. Over and over and over. Of course, we all know a few of them, like Little Red Riding Hood, but these are good: rich, bloody, dark, politically incorrect.
Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales and Stories - I love these. They're my favorite stories ever. I'm still in love with them; I suspect I'll always be in love with them. My favorites are The Tinder-Box, The Wild Swans, and The Snowdrop, but the rest are also amazing.
Folktexts: Folklore and Mythology - Every kind of story. Ever. Organized by type, so sometimes you can't find the exact one you're looking for, but I can guarantee you that you'll spend hours just browsing. Or at least tell you that every time I go there, I end up reading for forever.
Americana
The American Folklife Center - Run by the wonderful people over at the Library of Congress who actually get paid (a little) to keep track of this stuff. Unfortunately, very little of what they have is accessible online; the LoC is catching up with the rest of the world, but they're still behind on allowing their archives to be accessible to those of use who don't live in DC and can't get there. Which I can understand, but it's still frustrating to stare at a list of Leadbelly recordings, unable to listen to any of them.
American Memory - Exactly what the title of the site says. It's another LoC site, but very useful in getting a sense of the history of the United States, as told by and through its people. Not that useful when I'm trying to write, but useful in getting a sense of aesthetic and also in finding more information about specific subjects.
Roadside America - All those quirky things you wanted to see on the roadtrip that never quite happened. Like the PEZ museum or the future birthplace of Captain Kirk. Come on, you know you want to.
World Folk Culture
Folk Medicine - So this one time at UCLA, there was this huge card catalog of folk remedies. And then some *cough*slaves*cough* students put it online. And now you can input random search terms like rosemary or voodoo or pigeon and come up with fascinating things. I recommend highly clicking on the links that come up--they go to detailed descriptions of the practices summarized on the results page. Alternatively, go to the advanced search and just browse by region, time period, ethnicity, or whatever else catches your eye.
Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage - Awesome site. Not terribly in-depth, but reliable and interesting information. I especially love the Global Sound page, because I, um, love music. Both places are great resources for finding obscure recordings, too.
Myths, Legends, & Big Scary Monsters
Encyclopedia Mythica - This one ranks right behind the Oxford English Dictionary as my all-time favorite and most useful site. Gods and demons, legends and fairy tales, you can find it all here. A number of the entries are short and not big on the details, but I find that the basics are enough for most uses. Besides, if I want more in-depth information, I tend to like to consult print sources.
Bullfinch's Mythology - You want Greek stuff and your Hamilton's not handy? Can't remember who exactly didn't like who in the legend of Tristam and Isoude? You find it here. Fantastic resource, all easily laid out and navigable.
Godchecker.com - Your Guide to the Gods - Exactly what it sounds like. Can be a little flippant for my tastes (this is serious stuff, damnit!), but again, when all you want is to skim through the Norse pantheon after that dude with the ravens, it's an excellent starting place.
Mostly Medieval - Don't know how accurate this site is, but when all I want to do is read about monsters and hopefully write a little about them, it's fun to browse. Also, I love Medieval things.
Stories, Tales, & Severed Heads in the Woods
The Internet Classics Archive - Good stuff, brought to you by the boys (and girls) at MIT, which is, y'know, a school in Boston. (NO! I can hear my friend who goes there screaming. No! It's in Cambridge!) Anyway, it's everything from Aesop's Fables to Greek writers I'd never heard of, and sometimes the links can be a little wonky, but everything's there. It just takes a little patience. I find it helps if you mock MIT students in your head for not being able to fix broken links on a website.
Lives of the Saints - Again, usually something I go to a print resource for, but when all I want to do is read some gory stuff about people who got themselves martyred, this is the place for it. And dude, there were a lot of saints. Incidentally, the head in the woods part of this section title? Came from The Life of Saint Edmund, King. Best. Story. Ever.
The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales - I read all of these when I was a kid. Over and over and over. Of course, we all know a few of them, like Little Red Riding Hood, but these are good: rich, bloody, dark, politically incorrect.
Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales and Stories - I love these. They're my favorite stories ever. I'm still in love with them; I suspect I'll always be in love with them. My favorites are The Tinder-Box, The Wild Swans, and The Snowdrop, but the rest are also amazing.
Folktexts: Folklore and Mythology - Every kind of story. Ever. Organized by type, so sometimes you can't find the exact one you're looking for, but I can guarantee you that you'll spend hours just browsing. Or at least tell you that every time I go there, I end up reading for forever.
Americana
The American Folklife Center - Run by the wonderful people over at the Library of Congress who actually get paid (a little) to keep track of this stuff. Unfortunately, very little of what they have is accessible online; the LoC is catching up with the rest of the world, but they're still behind on allowing their archives to be accessible to those of use who don't live in DC and can't get there. Which I can understand, but it's still frustrating to stare at a list of Leadbelly recordings, unable to listen to any of them.
American Memory - Exactly what the title of the site says. It's another LoC site, but very useful in getting a sense of the history of the United States, as told by and through its people. Not that useful when I'm trying to write, but useful in getting a sense of aesthetic and also in finding more information about specific subjects.
Roadside America - All those quirky things you wanted to see on the roadtrip that never quite happened. Like the PEZ museum or the future birthplace of Captain Kirk. Come on, you know you want to.
World Folk Culture
Folk Medicine - So this one time at UCLA, there was this huge card catalog of folk remedies. And then some *cough*slaves*cough* students put it online. And now you can input random search terms like rosemary or voodoo or pigeon and come up with fascinating things. I recommend highly clicking on the links that come up--they go to detailed descriptions of the practices summarized on the results page. Alternatively, go to the advanced search and just browse by region, time period, ethnicity, or whatever else catches your eye.
Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage - Awesome site. Not terribly in-depth, but reliable and interesting information. I especially love the Global Sound page, because I, um, love music. Both places are great resources for finding obscure recordings, too.
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Date: 2007-01-31 09:14 am (UTC)