Oral Literature and Traditional Literature Online

Links to texts and translations compiled for a seminar by David Stampe
Last edited Dec. 19 2008.
Additions, corrections, suggestions: stampe at hawaii dot edu

• International: Folk and Fairy Tales of many cultures, in translation, compiled by D. L. Ashliman.

• Hawaiian: Kumulipo, ed. and tr. Martha Warren Beckwith (1951):

  • Beckwith's entire book;

  • the Hawaiian text with interlinearization of Beckwith's transl.;

  • the Hawaiian text and notes;

  • Beckwith's translation only.

• Native American:

  • Stith Thompson's Tales of the North American Indians, in translation (1929).

  • Harry Hoijer's Chiracahua and Mescalero Apache Texts (1938), texts, translations, linguistic apparatus.

  • Aadizookaanag web site, tales in transl. from various tribes .

  • Dakota: McLaughlin's Myths and Legends of the Sioux (1916).

• Mongolian: Buryat Geser Epic, translation. (Broken link.)

• Korean: Folktales in translation. (Broken link.)

• Chinese:

  • Shi Jing, the Book of Odes: character-text with transl. of James Legge (1898).

  • Chinese Text Initiative at U. Virginia, including translations.

• Finnish: Kalevala: full text; verse tr. by John Martin Crawford (1888).

• Ancient Middle East:

  • Akkadian: The Epic of Gilgamesh: translations by Kovacs (1990) and Temple (1991).

  • Sumerian: Catalog of Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian literature at Oxford, including texts and translations of heroic works: Gilgamesh, Lugalbanda, and Enmerkar.

• Hebrew:

  • The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's, many translations.

  • Jewish stories, in English audio only, from the NPR station KCRW, Santa Monica, CA. (Sound files no longer online.)

  • Jewish songs: Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino: database of texts with transl., audio. (Broken link.)

• Arabic: A Thousand Nights and a Night: transl. by Richard Burton. selections, transl. Richard Burton or Andrew Lang.

• Indian:

  • Rigveda: transl. by Ralph Griffith (1896).

  • Bhagavad Gita: transl. by Edwin Arnold (1909).

  • Ramayana: transl. by Ralph Griffith (1870-1874); abridged transl. by Ramesh Dutt (1899).

  • Mahabharata: transl. by Kisari Mohan Ganguli (1883-1896); abridged transl. by Ramesh Dutt (1899).

• Persian:

  • The Epic of Kings (1010 A.C.E.) of Ferdowsi: transl. by Helen Zimmern.

  • Rubaiyyat of Omar Khayyam (c. 1048-1122): verse translations by Fitzgerald and Whinfield.

  • Gulistan (1258 A.C.E) of Sa'di, unattributed translation.

• Slavic:

  • Serbian:

    • web site of Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature, Harvard, with Serbian epic songs [video requires QuickTime plugin], plus a history of oral lit. studies at Harvard from Francis Child to Albert Lord.

    • Epic songs, intro. Mark D. Lew, translations by Helen Rootham (1920) of 9 epic songs on the battle of Kosovo.

  • Russian: The Igor Tale text, ed. Jakobson (1964); introduction, transl., and commentary by Haney & Dahl (1992).

• Greek:

  • Homer: Iliad: text at Perseus ed. A.T. Murray (1924), with interactive grammatical and lexical tools, and linked prose translations by Gilbert Murray and Samuel Butler.

  • Homer: Odyssey: text at Perseus ed. A. T. Murray (1919), with interactive grammatical and lexical tools, and linked prose translations by Gilbert Murray and Samuel Butler.

  • The Homeric Hymns: text at Perseus ed. Evelyn-White (1914), with interactive grammatical and lexical tools, and his linked prose translation.

  • The Battle of Frogs and Mice: prose transl. Evelyn-White.

  • Hesiod:

    • Theogony: text at Perseus ed. Evelyn-White (1914), with interactive grammatical and lexical tools, and his linked prose translation.

  • Smyrneaus: The Fall of Troy: transl.

  • Apollonius Rhodius: Argonautica: transl. by Seaton (1912).

  • Aesop: Fables: transl. by Townsend.

• Celtic:

  • Welsh:

    • Y Gododdin, 7th c. heroic poem attrib. to Aneirin: transl. by Joseph Clancy.

    • The Four Branches of the Mabinogion, 11th c., transl. Charlotte Guest;
      unabridged

      • Pwyll son of Dyved,

      • Branwen daughter of Llyr,

      • Math son of Mathonwy,

      • Manawyddan son of Llyr.

      • plus The dream of Macsen Wledig, Lludd and Llefelys, The Dream of Rhonabwy, How Culhwch won Olwen, The Tale of Taliesin, Owein, Gereint and Enid, Peredur Son of Evrawg.

    • Dafydd ap Gwilym, lyrics (texts, translations).

    • Arthuriana (Britain and beyond): links.

  • Irish:

    • Táin Bó Cúalnge (The Cattle-Raid of Cooley) transl. by Dunn (1914).

    • Destruction of Da Derga's Hostal, c. 1100: transl. by Stokes.

    • Aislinge Óenguso (The Dream of Óengus), c. 700-800: text; transl.

    • Boyhood Deeds of Cu Chulainn, transl.

    • Cath Maige Tuired (The Second Battle of Mag Tuired): transl. Gray.

    • Heroic Romances of Ireland: translations by Leahy (1905-06).

• Latin and Romance:

  • Latin:

    • Virgil: Aeneid, text at Perseus, ed. Greenough (1900), with translations by Dryden and Greenough.

    • Ovid: Metamorphoses, text at Perseus ed. Magnus (1892), with translations by More and Golding.

    • Carmina Burana, goliardic songs from the Benediktbeurn MS (12th c.): Latin text.

    • Archipoeta (Archpoet, c. 1130-1167): carmina (songs) in Latin, esp. Confessio (Confession), with a verse transl. by John Addington Symonds.

  • French:

    • Chanson de Roland: Old Fr. text and verse tr. by Ch. Scott Moncrief (1919).

    • Les Lais de Marie de France, (c. 1170): text; verse transl. by Judith P. Shoaf (1995).

    • Chretien de Troyes, fl. 1175, Arthurian romances (Erec and Enide, Lancelot, Cliges, Yvain), tr. W. W. Comfort.

    • Provençal: Troubadour lyrics, texts, some w. transl. and midi.

    • François Villon, b. 1431, works ed. Dufournet; works w. Japanese transl..

    • Anthologie de la poésie française: texts, 13th to the 20th c.

  • Italian:

    • Dante Alighieri (1265-1321): Il Commedia (The Divine Comedy), c. 1310, Italian text; translations by Longfellow and Cary; searching, bookmarking, etc.

    • Boccaccio (1313-1395): Decameron, 1351, text, ed. Branca (1992), transl. by Rigg (1921) or Florio (1620).

  • Spanish:

    • Jarchas (lyrics) c. 1000-1250, Spanish texts.

    • Cantar del mio Cid, c. 1100, transl. Rose & Bacon (1919).

    • Don Quixote de la Mancha, text (1615) of Miguel de Cervantes, transl. by John Ormsby.

    • Ladino: see under Hebrew.

• Germanic:

  • Norse:

    • Poetic Edda: text; transl. by Thorpe.

    • Prose Edda: transl. by Anderson (1897).

    • Skaldic Poetry:

      • Þórsdrápa (Thor's Song) of Eilífr Goðrúnarsonn (c. 1000), text and transl., intro. to verse structure, meter, and figures of speech (kennings).

      • Den Norsk-Islandske Skjaldedigtning, ed. F. Jónsson (1908), corpus of skaldic verse w. Mod. Icel. and Dan. transls.

    • Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum, early 13th c.: transl. of books 1-9 by Elton (1905). Click here for the original version of Shakespeare's Hamlet.

  • German:

    • Anthology of Medieval German Literature, by Albert K. Wimmer, history (in English) with selected texts and translations (in Mod. German).

    • Old High German: Hildebrandslied, an epic fragment c. 800: text and transl.

    • Old Saxon: Heliand (The Savior), alliterative epic, c. 850: text.

    • Middle High German:

      • Nibelungenlied, c. 1190: text and transl.

      • Romance:

        • Hartman von Aue, d. 1210, Der arme Heinrich: text;
          verse translation/paraphrase Henry the Leper by Dante Gabriel Rossetti;

        • Gottfried von Straßburg, c. 1210: Tristan: text;

        • Wolfram von Eschenbach, d. 1220: Parzival: text;
          Parzival-Projekt for an online critical edition.

      • Minnesang: anonymous 12th c. lyrics; Der von Kürenberg, c. 1180; Spervogel, c. 1185; Walther von der Vogelweide, d. 1230; Süezkint der Jude von Trimperg, c. 1280; Konrad von Würzburg, d. 1287.

      • German songs from the Carmina Burana: texts.

    • New High German: Grimm's Fairy Tales: texts with translations by D. L. Ashliman (1998-2004); translations by Margaret Hunt (1884).

    • Yiddish: see under Hebrew.

  • English:

    • Old English:

      • Beowulf: text, ed. Klaeber (1922); verse transl. by Gummere (1910).

      • Exeter Book: texts of Old English lyrics (Wanderer, Seafarer, etc.).

    • Middle English:

      • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: text, ed. Tolkien & Gordon, 2nd ed. (1967); translations, verse by Jessie Weston, prose by W. A. Neilson.

      • Piers the Plowman by William Langland (c. 1330-1387), with A and B texts, translated excerpts, etc.

      • Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400): The Canterbury Tales, text and linked transl, searching, bookmarking, etc.

      • Middle English Plays, intro, texts, essays, etc.

      • Everyman, an anonymous late Middle English play c. 1485.

      • Middle English Lyrics and Ballads, with Modern English glosses.

      • The Harley Lyrics: texts.

    • Modern English:

      • Child Ballads: complete texts and variants; also Lesley Nelson's site with selected texts and midi tunes.

      • William Shakespeare (1564-1616): plays and sonnets, searching, bookmarking, etc.

      • Nursery Rhymes: Mother Goose Pages.

      • Blues Lyrics: web site.