Bøker av K. Langloh Parker

More Australian Legendary Tales was first published in 1898. The 23 tales are supplemented by a glossary, collected by Ms Langloh Parker from the original Aboriginal language and are set in a 'no-time' where animal spirits, supernatural beings and humans interact, often alluding to ideas of creation. Once again it was illustrated by Tommy McRae, the first published Aboriginal artist.I myself have had opportunities of knowing well members, of nine tribes, though that which I know best is the Euahlayi-speaking one, of which the Noongahburrahs are a branch... Some of the Blacks who have helped to build up this series belong to the Murrumbidgee, Darling, Barwon, Paroo, Warrego, Narran, Culgoa and Castlereagh rivers; the Braidwood, Yass, Narrabri, and other districts of New South Wales; to the Balonne, Maranoa, Condamine, Barcoo, Mulligan rivers, and the Gulf country in Queensland. But I have confined myself as far as possible to the Noongahburrah names, thinking it would create confusion if I used those of each dialect - several different names, for example, for one bird or beast. To such as were told in song I have tried to retain something of the rhythmical rendering. I have no doubt a skilled writer could have mosaicked these legendary scraps with flowery language into a beautiful work of art, but I have preferred to let the Blacks as far as possible tell their legends in their own way, only adding such explanations as seemed necessary to make them clear to the English reader.From the author's preface

Australian Legendary Tales: Folk-lore of the Noongahburrahs as Told to the Piccaninnies was first published in 1896. The 30 tales are supplemented by a glossary and the first tale transliterated from the original language and are set in a 'no-time' where animal spirits, supernatural beings and humans interact, often alluding to ideas of creation.Langloh Parker is probably right in her surmise that this is the first attempt to collect the tribal tales of any particular native tribe, or to exploit this special field of distinctively Australian literature in this particular form. Australian children may read here for the first time about Yki the sun, and Baloo the moon, how the gay Galah came to be a bald headed bird, and why Oolab the lizard is coloured a reddish brown and is covered with pikes like bindeah prickles, why Dinewan the emu cannot fly, and how it was that Goomblegubbon the bustard came to lay only two eggs in a season... The legend of Wirreenun, the rain-making magician, is one that can hardly fail to appeal to all who know what an Australian drought is; and those who would like to know what the blacks thought of Cookoo-burrah the laughing-jackass, or Gooloo the magpie, or Moodai the possum, or any of the other familiar denizens of the bush, may be confidently recommended to these delightful pages. Mrs Langloh Parker has told all these stories with a full appreciation of their value as folk-lore as well as of their interest as legendary tales. She has striven, and not unsuccessfully, to do in this way for Australian folk-lore what Longfellow did in "Hiawatha" for the North American tribes, and Mr. Andrew Lang's introduction has some warm words of commendation for the interest of the volume from his special point of view. The book has a further claim to attention in that it is the first ever illustrated by an aboriginal artist (Tommy McCrae)... - Sydney Morning Herald, 1896

The book "" Australian Legendary Tales: folk-lore of the Noongahburrahs as told to the Piccaninnies "" has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies and hence the text is clear and readable.

Collected in Australian Legendary Tales are 30 stories shared by the Noongahburrah people and recorded by the author. A fascinating collection featuring stories that explain local landmarks, animal habits, and even the creation of animals themselves, this book represents one of the first collections of First Australian culture recorded after colonisation.This edition features the complete original text along with an introduction by Andrew Lang as well as the original illustrations by Aboriginal artist Tommy McRae.