Mythopedia: A Brief Compendium of Natural History Lore

In this captivating volume, folklorist Mayor (The First Fossil Hunters) guides readers through the emerging field of geomythology, which revisits ancient myths for what they reveal of natural history. She examines 53 tales from around the world, showing how they evolved from premodern peoples’ need to make sense of natural occurrences, usually ones that were unprecedented and inexplicable, like meteor strikes, disappearing lakes, and frogs and fish falling from the skies. These myths, she writes, provide insight into the ways people have been trying to make rational, proto-scientific sense of the natural world for thousands of years, but also preserve memories of violent catastrophes. These include the volcanic eruption of Budj Bim in Southern Australia a little over 36,000 years ago —Aboriginal tales of the event “convey perceptive observations and understanding of natural evidence” that have “help[ed] scientists to understand... geological events in Australia’s remote past.” In between tales of flaming bodies of water and singing sand dunes, Mayor also includes contemporary geomyths like the Chicago Rat Hole, an impression shaped like a rat’s body in a city sidewalk that drew Chicagoans bearing tokens (pennies, flowers, candles, cheese) in early 2024, which help to illustrate that “the human impulse to find meaning... in an extraordinary event... is a strong, timeless, and evolutionarily valuable tendency.” Written with wit and erudition, this delights. (Oct.)