A Letter from the Editor's Desk

The Reading Room

Finnish Myth and Lore: The Song of Sampo

by Dr. Ari Berk

“There may be no greater storehouse of ancient European myth and legend than the Finnish national epic, The Kalevala, and the hundreds of songs and spells that have been collected from Finnish oral tradition since the nineteenth century.”

Russian Fairy Tales, Part I: An Overview

by Helen Pilinovsky

“The content of Russian fairy tales differs from those of Western Europe in a number of important ways. Though they all render the details of magical quests and adventures, the fairy tales of Russia are dictated by an inherent utopianism, an ideal of a better world.”

The Sacred and Profane of Spanish Carnaval

by Alan Weisman

“These people have returned for one of the Old World's most authentic vestiges of a rite that once solemnized the passing of winter into the potent fertility of spring. In Laza, the event is known by its Galician name, entroido: introduction, entry.”

Silver or Gold

A Story by Emma Bull

“‘You are a witch,’ said the King of Stones, gently mocking. ‘You read symbols and make them, and craft them into nets to catch truth in. Here are symbols—choose between them. Pick the truer. Pick the better. Silver, or gold?’”

The Gallery: Mythic Art

The Fiber Art of Yuli Sömme

by Cracknell and Windling

“Felt-making is one of the oldest of human arts, pre-dating the spinning of thread and the weaving cloth. Modern fiber artists like Yuli Sömme are learning and adapting this ancient craft.”

The Coffeehouse: Poetry

Rose Red & Snow White

by Kim Antieau

Two Polar Bear Poems

by Ari Berk

Winter Haiku

by Charles de Lint

The Bear's Daughter

by Theodora Goss

Reindeer Presence

by Mario Milosevic

Winter is no time &
Family Stories

by Jane Yolen