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Prester John was said to have been an Eastern Christian monarch who ruled over a fantastical Empire in the Far East, containing both marvels and treasure. Originating in the twelfth century, this legend captivated the mind of Europeans well into the Age of Exploration and was still a figure of interest in the eighteenth century. Accordingly, this study takes a necessary Longue durée approach to the reception history of Prester John. Key to this study is an examination of how the reception of Prester John is indicative of wider European conceptions of Eastern alterity. Figures of curiosity, such as Prester John, ‘existed’ in spaces of ignorance (Terra Incognita) that exhibited a different category of knowledge to that of the ‘known’ world, from the European perspective. As Europeans expanded their knowledge of the World, through travel and exploration, figures of curiosity were pushed further to the margins of geographical ignorance. This study examines how this epistemological conception of Prester John allowed him to be reimagined from being an Asian Crusader king to the Emperor of Ethiopia, and continue to be involved in western debates about the religious orthodoxy of Oriental Christianity from the Crusades into the Reformation. Consequently, this study calls for a new approach to myth and its push-pull relationship to scientific knowledge formation.

The town of Glastonbury in Somerset has, from the medieval period onwards, accumulated a large number of myths and legends around itself. Historical and archaeological accounts of Glastonbury's past have generally dismissed the historicity of these legends. However, there is a significant body of alternative texts which draw upon the same documentary and material evidence, but reach very different conclusions. The purpose of this thesis is to undertake a detailed examination and comparison of these academic and alternative literary traditions, specifically in relation to the history of Glastonbury, in order to investigate what their conflicting views reveal about their respective natures, and the relationship between them. It also considers what these conflicts suggest about the relationship between the writers of the alternative texts and mainstream society as a whole, and why it is at Glastonbury in particular that such a phenomenon has arisen. The approach adopted involves comparing and contrasting the purposes and methods of the academic and alternative traditions, together with the evidence that they draw upon and the conclusions that they reach. It takes into account both the arguments explicitly put forward within the texts themselves, and also the intertextual effect of other existing literature, which influences not only how authors develop the arguments within their texts, but also how readers interpret them. As such, this thesis provides a detailed case study which supplements existing research on the relationship between academic and alternative history and archaeology in general, and the alternative movement at Glastonbury in particular. The conclusions of this thesis are that alternative accounts of Glastonbury's past act as a form of literary heterotopia, which sets itself up in opposition to the accounts provided by mainstream academic scholarship. However, it is also argued that, rather than being regarded as simple opposites, academic and alternative texts should instead be viewed as lying along a spectrum, with the position of each individual text depending upon the purposes and methods of its author. As such, they reflect the alternative movement's desire to challenge the mainstream, seeking to both imitate and overthrow it at the same time. It is further suggested that it is the ambiguous nature of Glastonbury's historical and archaeological record which has provided a fertile environment in which both the legends, and these conflicting interpretations of the past, have been able to flourish. These conclusions are consistent with the findings of previous researchers, but this thesis provides a detailed analysis of textual evidence specific to Glastonbury's history in support of their more general conclusions. It also offers a number of suggestions regarding some of the underlying social forces and processes which have given rise to the alternative movement at Glastonbury.

The makers of commercial popular culture often incorporate folklore into their works. Although their definition of folklore is generally restricted to pre-modern narratives and beliefs that form only a small part of what folklore is, their works relate to traditional content in a more expansive way. This dissertation examines a contemporary television genre that not only incorporates traditional content but, I argue, functions as folklore in its own right by negotiating truth and belief, constructing social Others, and, at the meta-level, constituting an archive. Since the 1990s, serial narratives in which everyday people investigate and solve supernatural disturbances in a procedural format have become a mainstay of North American television and streaming media. Such programs, including The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, have generally lacked a cohesive genre designation. I argue for “supernatural procedural” as the genre’s preferred term and trace its history from predecessors in Victorian-era occult detective fiction to early forms in 1970s television, through solidification in the 1990s into its current permutations. I outline conventions that include, among others, realistic worldbuilding, a blend of episodic and serial storytelling, and, notably, a tendency to engage with folklore. Employing an approach blending folkloristics and popular culture studies, I argue that specific characteristics of the supernatural procedural allow series to function as televisual folklore: folklore not just adapted by, but actually occurring within the television medium. This emphasis contributes to newer avenues in folklore studies, which has only recently begun seriously analyzing television, and popular culture studies, where folkloristic perspectives are often overlooked.This work considers the abovementioned series at length alongside subsequent programs like Supernatural and Grimm, using supporting analysis from Lucifer, Evil, SurrealEstate, and Wellington Paranormal, among others. Chapter 1 defines the genre’s parameters and discusses the scholarly relationship between folklore and popular culture. Chapter 2 considers how rhetorics of truth, reflexivity, and shifting dynamics of belief, skepticism, and knowledge have consequences for the shape reality takes both on and offscreen, negotiating both the boundaries of the storyworld and attitudes toward supernatural traditions. Chapter 3 explores how supernatural procedurals engage with and contribute to traditionalized narratives of violence by repeating monstrous stereotypes for cultural Others and structural formulas derived from police procedurals, the fantasy genre, fairy tales, and legends. Chapter 4 discusses how the parallel actions of knowledge production, documentation, and research by series’ authors, characters, and fans replicate outdated attitudes about folklore and mirror collection endeavors in the early stages of folkloristics. Each chapter examines how televisual constructs interweave with folkloric concerns and explores how supernatural procedurals respond to their contemporary contexts, touching on issues from police violence and conspiracy theories to fears about digital technology. By interweaving analysis of the series themselves with consideration of the traditional content that informs them, the transmedia works released in tandem with their production, and their translation after airing into works like comics and fan wikis, I demonstrate how supernatural procedurals, like folklore more broadly, act as flexible content that regularly crosses boundaries of media and authorship.

This research examines the historic narratives of the Hancock House Historic Site, The Jennie Wade House Museum, and the Shriver House Museum, analyzing the historical accuracy of each. Each site has used historic human bloodstains and other elements of material culture, authentic and fabricated, to facilitate and support their historic narratives. The traditional Hancock House narrative, as well as the current Jennie Wade House narrative, are each sensationalized and riddled with myth and legend. The Shriver House represents a well-researched and interpreted narrative, that tastefully uses historic human bloodstains as an element of their interpretation. The evolution of each site and their interpretations represent historic trends in American public memory. In addition, this research examines the relationship of each site within the overall movement of dark tourism and argues that historic human bloodstains serve as an attractive element for some visitors as they present a tangible link to human past.

This dissertation is a study of the migratory supernatural legend ML 4080 “The Mermaid Legend” The story is first attested at the end of the eighteenth century, and hundreds of versions of the legend have been collected throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. I explore a number of related questions concerning this legend: its development and dissemination throughout this geographic area, the meanings it conveys for its traditional audiences and performers, and its afterlife in contemporary media and literature. The first chapter provides an overview of all the known versions of The Mermaid Legend, demographic information about storytellers and collectors, its typical forms, and the motifs or subtypes which are subject to geographic variation. I argue that the legend originated in Ireland or Gaelic Scotland and spread from Gaelic Scotland to Shetland and Orkney, and from there to the rest of the Norse world. My second chapter explores the relationship between The Mermaid Legend and other Irish and Scottish traditions about seals and mermaids. I conclude that they represent a stable body of belief concerning such beings, and relate to broader concerns about the relationship between humans and their environment. In my third chapter, I explore medieval and early modern Irish literary depictions of seals and mermaids. The fourth chapter explores the question of the possible functions and meanings of the legend, at both the collective and individual level. I include two individual case studies of versions of the legend recorded from storytellers with large repetoires and sufficient biographical information: Éamonn a Búrc of Carna, County Galway, and Peig Sayers of Dún Chaoin, County Kerry. In the fifth and final chapter, I explore a number of films and literary works by Irish creators which retell or draw inspiration from this legend. I explore both the relationship between these creators and oral tradition, as well as the ways in which the legend is adapted to address contemporary issues and debates about transnationalism, gender, the environment, and more.

This dissertation traces the different ways in which German general Erwin Rommel has been perceived and portrayed in Great Britain and the United States. Two visions of Rommel have emerged over time: one, the “Desert Fox,” a romanticized image emphasizing military virtues such as honor and leadership; two, the “Hitler favorite,” a stereotypical depiction of him as a devotee of Hitler. This study explores the ways that the “Desert Fox” and “Hitler favorite” visions clashed in public narratives, and how those visions reflected meanings that people have imputed to the events of the Second World War. At the core of these contradicting portrayals and perceptions is a recurring theme: champions and critics of the “Desert Fox” based their assessments on their understanding of Nazi Germany, specifically the responsibility that the German military had for enabling the criminality of Hitler’s regime. Those who drew sharp distinctions between Nazi villains and professional German soldiers tended to have positive views of Rommel, whereas those who rejected such a hard differentiation typically judged Rommel unworthy of remembrance. The clashing visions of “Desert Fox” and “Hitler favorite” were authentic expressions of how the British and US publics attempted to grapple with the question of what degree men such as Rommel, and more generally Germans during World War II, should share accountability for Nazi atrocities.

In this dissertation, I draw on folkloristics, feminist and queer scholarship, and narrative theory to propose an interdisciplinary understanding of the Gothic literary aesthetic that hinges on its folkloric debt, particularly its debt to faerie legends and fairy tales. I am interested in how folk narrative intertexts are used in nineteenth-century British literature to produce what we know as “the Gothic.” Notoriously difficult to define precisely, scholars have long settled for linking the Gothic to particular plots and motifs—in contrast, I argue that it is largely the connecting of a text to an unsettling, unexplainable folk past that produces the aesthetic/mode/feel that we now refer to as Gothic. It is no coincidence that the nineteenth-century rise of interest in folklore study and collection corresponds almost exactly to the creation of the first Gothic texts. The thoughtful use of folk narrative—so frequently the voice of the marginalized and forgotten—allows for an engagement with both history and the unknown, a questioning and subversion of constructed societal expectations (particularly with regard to gender and sexuality), and a probing of the deepest, darkest complexities of our selves.

Since before recorded history, werewolves have captivated human imagination. Simultaneously, they represent our deepest fears as well as our desire to connect with our primal ancestry. Today, werewolves are portrayed negatively, associated with violence, cruelty, cannibalism, and general malevolence. However, in ages past, legends depicted them not as monsters, but as a range of neutral to benevolent individuals, such as traveling companions, guardians, and knights. The robust legacy of the werewolf spans from prehistory, through ancient Greece and Rome, to the Middle Ages, into the Early Modern period, and finally into present-day popular culture. Over the ages, the view of the werewolf has become distorted. Media treatment of werewolves is associated with inferior writing, lacking in thought, depth, and meaning. Werewolves as characters or creatures are now generally seen as single-minded and one-dimensional, and they want nothing more than to kill, devour, and possibly violate humans. Hollywood depictions have resulted in the destruction of the true meanings behind werewolf legends that fascinated and terrified humans for so many ages. If these negative trends were reversed, perhaps entertainment might not only discover again some of the true meanings behind the werewolf myth, but also take the first steps toward reversing negative portrayals of wolves themselves, which humans have, for eons, wrongfully stigmatized and portrayed as evil, resulting in wolves receiving crueler treatment than virtually any other animal. To revive the many questions posed by lycanthropy, entertainment must show respect to the rich history of the legend — and rediscover the benevolent werewolf.

The story of Gilgamesh has been viewed as an example of several different narrative genres. This thesis establishes how scholarship in English published between 1872 and 1967 has described Gilgamesh as a myth, or denied Gilgamesh status as a myth and discusses new the meanings that the context of myth brings to the story. This thesis represents preliminary work on a larger project of exploring present day artistic meaning making efforts that revolve around Gilgamesh.

Gottfried Keller’s Sieben Legenden (1872) are, on the surface, a collection of moral fables appealing to a system of Christian ethics that is in accord with Church dogmatics. However, such a reading discounts how the origin of the texts spans various periods of Keller’s own life experiences, education and political activities. This project exposes the political elements involved in Keller’s strategic re-use of religious materials drawn from the Golden Legend, various prophetic books of the Bible, hagiography, and the German mystic Angelus Silesius in the Legenden and explores how he uses this cycle of short stories to question Church ethics, family morals and the political impulses of the nineteenth century -- both in his native Switzerland and in Germany --, including Swiss religious struggles and the founding of the German Empire in 1870. It is my contention that Keller’s political life prompted his writing of the Legenden and influenced the timing of their publication, and that critics' attempts to limit his use of religious diction to a response to Feuerbach greatly underestimate the popular resonance of religious tropes and figures as commentaries on political situations and ideologies. His careful juxtapositions of source materials from the Roman-Christian era's martyrologies with High Medieval stories of redemption lead to the famous "Tanzlegendchen," which suggests the absolute bankruptcy of all ideology.

The creatures and gods of ancient and traditional myth have been included in young adult and middle grade children’s literature for as long as those literary designations have existed. Often allusions and metaphors draw a reader’s attention to think of a Greek god, a Norse myth or a monster from Homer’s Odyssey. Within the last several years, particularly between 2005 and 2010, a significant number of young adult and middle grade children’s novels have presented the gods and creatures of various cultures’ traditional myths in modern realistic settings, raising the question of how myth and its characters are presented in these novels. These mythic figures interact with young protagonists and exist within a reality that is familiar to the reader, taking on ideological present-day meanings. This study is a description of the analysis of the resulting ways and positions characters of traditional or new myth and mythic tensions are presented within this publishing trend.Content analysis of the shared motifs and themes within a sample of 40 young adult and middle grade children’s novels, the inclusions and re-presentations of these mythic figures extends the realms within which myth is traditionally understood. Myth is expanded in terms of these novels’ use of time and place and its categorizations as fantasy or reality. The realms of myth are also broadened by the ideological implications the novels are steeped in; whether they include messages about nationalism, environmental conservation, the privileging of the myths of one culture or the interaction among myths of multiple cultures. The realm of myth is also extended in terms of the varied relationships explored among the mythic figures and human characters and whether the gods are positioned as absentee parents to the young protagonists, as friends or as antagonists. Although few young adult and middle grade novels within my sample depict the mythic figures of popular contemporary religions, the inclusion of angels in young adult paranormal romance novels does explore the myth and tensions of heterosexual romantic love.Myth and children’s novels are weighted in ideology that offer paradigms and interpretations of how the reader may choose to perceive the world. Young readers’ discussions and contemplations of the themes and motifs within early twenty-first century young adult and middle grade novels that include characters of traditional or new myth in modern settings may encourage examinations of the expanded realms of myth; to see the way that understandings of time, reality, nationalism, other cultures, etc. shape perceptions of the world and of what myth is. Whether within the realm of belief, fantasy, science or reality, myth thrives; with new myths being created and traditional ones being acquired and given new weight and meaning, helping readers to make sense of their worlds, their experiences and their potential positions in society.

Firmly rooted in personal experience and individual memory, food symbolizes multiple aspects of one's life, identity, and community. However, food contamination events and food contamination hoaxes present challenges to this sense of identity and community. When food contamination events occur, United States news media is in a position to address their audiences' health concerns through discourses on identity, in terms of social role, group identity, and socially constructed identity markers. Through detailed examinations of television news transcripts, this paper attempts to locate food contamination narratives within issues of gender, class, regionalism, and nationalism. Specifically, this thesis studies food contamination discourse surrounding three events: Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butters contamination with salmonella in 2007, the E. coli contamination of bagged spinach in 2006 and a 2005 contamination hoax involving Wendys chili. An analysis of the words and phrases loaded with connotations and visual descriptions are particularly important to this thesis, because they are vital to the construction and distribution of relatable and troubling stories about food. Although “Food Contamination Narrative in US News Media” uses semiotic and content analysis to study news media, this thesis also relies on cultural and folkloristic theory to uncover social constructions of identity. This thesis suggests that food contamination narratives, as constructed through broadcast news rhetoric, may effect an individual's perception of themselves and their relationship to the larger national body.

En esta tesis me prepongo a estudiar el desarrollo de la leyenda de Joaquín Murrieta, un bandido hispano quien ganó fama durante la fiebre del oro en California. Sigo las transformaciones de esta leyenda cronológicamente, desde la muerte del Joaquín en 1853 hasta el presente. En cada período en que surge la leyenda, la relaciono con las condiciones sociales, políticas, y económicas de la época. De este modo, puedo examinar cómo la historia y las tensiones raciales entre angloamericanos e hispanos han influido la manera en que autores y artistas han representado a Joaquín. In this dissertation, I propose to study the development of the legend of Joaquin Murrieta, a Hispanic bandit who became famous during the Gold Rush in California. I follow the transformations of this legend chronologically, from Joaquin’s death in 1853 to the present. In each time period in which the legend appears, I relate it to social, political, and economic conditions of that period. In this way, I can examine how history and racial tensions between Anglo-Americans and Hispanics have influenced the way in which authors and artists have represented Joaquin.

Book I, Canto XII of the Faerie Queene may be read as a microcosm of Redcrosse knight's entire journey. Spenser's idea that mankind is too weak to do good, ready to err, and will only escape the grasps of Satan through Grace has been the major theme of the action of the previous cantos; the lesson is reinforced by a re-presentation as the conclusion of the poem. Canto XII comprises four thematic sections defined by events that recall the stages of Redcrosse's journey of error. In the first, Redcrosse proves to still be infected by pride as he allows his errors to remain hidden from King Adam. Redcrosse is accused of these errors in the second section and acknowledges them in the third division. In the concluding section Una's love frees Redcrosse of the consequences of these errors. Each section corresponds to the progression of Redcrosse's adventures in the previous eleven cantos, the four divisions therein repeating the central theme of Spenser's pedagogical portrait: man has need of a lesson in "Holinesse" because of his natural proclivity to error. The king of Eden is the audience for Spenser's re-presentation because, as the progenitor of the human race, Adam needs to read the tale of Redcrosse and see that the nature of man is to err again and again. Not only does the king watch Redcrosse repeat his error, the king himself errs. Even after the destruction of the dragon, Redcrosse cannot conquer his own willful flaws and even in (earthly) Eden, the king cannot discern the deceptions of Archimago and Duessa. Only Una's plain speech and sincere love can undo these deceptions and bring forgiveness to Redcrosse, preventing him from receiving the just consequences of his errors. Thus Spenser concludes his Legende of Holiness with a potent microcosmic picture of man: doomed to perpetual error, a saint is a man who errs but receives favor because he is greatly loved by another, in spite of his failure. I argue that Spenser's poem invokes the Biblical narrative of redemption and that Spenser writes (and re-writes) Redcrosse's error so that the lesson of holiness may be learned, and, perhaps by Grace, even remembered.

Cruising, a ten million plus passenger, multi-billion dollar, world-wide industry, is one of tourism's fastest growing sectors. With many new ships entering the market each year, ships must capture the public imagination in order to compete. Over the years the ships that have done this have become legends. This study investigates the qualities necessary for a passenger ship to be identified as a legendary ship and asks how companies make their ships stand out as legends. This study proposes that legendary ships, "grand hotels of the sea," are extensions of other hospitality and tourism legends. Using the Grounded Theory Approach, in which the theory emerges from data, notable ships and their properties were identified from the literature. Integration of categories, factors, and their constituent properties under a Constant Comparative Method created a model of the legendary ship. A Delphi Panel tested and confirmed these properties as well as the study's initial model. It also produced a pool of legendary ships and additional properties. The results were further validated by the passenger shipping public using a world-wide electronic survey. Respondents rated intangible properties such as "External Appearance," "Internal Layout," "Quality of Service and Cuisine," "Funnel Design and Shape," "Repeat Passenger Patronage," "Legacy," "History," "Media Attention," "Speed," "Marine Technology," and "Route;" and the tangible properties of "Facilities, Fittings, and Furnishings," "Size," "Speed," "Marine Technology," and "Non Marine Technology," on their importance and named up to ten ships they considered legendary. Factor analysis was used to divide the properties into four composite factors - "Attractiveness," "Significance," "Power," and "Competitive Advantage." Cluster analysis of the ships produced four legend classifications - "Grand Legends," "Legends," "Demi Legends," and "Personal/Local Legends." Results confirmed the thesis that legendary status is based on superiority across a combination of factors. Those with more intangible properties were found to be stronger, with "Attractiveness," and "Significance" being the strongest. Significantly, no modern cruise ships placed in the top three legend classifications; except Queen Mary 2, built, marketed, and viewed as an ocean liner; indicating that the public views ocean liners and cruise ships as distinct entities.

Mama Day, Praisesong for the Widow, and Song of Solomon, novels by three African-American women, present characters who go on journeys of self-discovery. Cocoa, George, Avey, and Milkman all face geographical boundaries and self-imposed boundaries of knowledge that inhibit their comprehension and appreciation of their heritage. Their journeys are the process of crossing over these boundaries of geography, legend, and language in order for them to incorporate their family and cultural heritage into the actions of their present day lives. The success of their journeys lies in their continuation of the knowledge they discover and its integration into their future.

Careful study of the oral traditions of American Indians can reveal the multi-complexity of their character, their past, their social structures, and their knowledge of the natural world. However, it is important to keep in mind that it is only one part of their culture; thus, it is only one tool in many that can be used to uncover the People's past and gain an understanding of them. It is the tool that will be used in this thesis. I will attempt to glean a bit of an understanding of their experiences, as well as their past and present culture and character by examining a number of narratives taken from different tribes of Native Americans grouped geographically. Because myths and legends are connected to certain places—as were the lives of the people who first told them it is important to know some facts about the various tribal nations where these stories originated and about their ecosystems. For this reason, in each of the chapters involving specific geographic regions I will begin with a brief description of the natural environment in which they lived. Geographic areas included in this thesis will be Eastern Woodlands, Great Lakes, Plains, Southwest, and Pacific Northwest regions. In the process, I will explore the value of their close connection with Nature to our modern culture's environmental concerns, make some comparisons to Euro- American folk tales, and to Judeo-Christian "mythology." Finally, I will discuss the value of including minority cultures' mythologies and narratives in our Nation's school curriculums.

This study was designed to identify recurring themes in Civil War legends that are told in reference to antebellum homes in regions of Southwest Virginia. Existing literature indicates that collecting these legends is an important task because doing so helps others to better understand the community of legend-tellers. Previous research has also indicated that legends form a type of American mythology with reveals the way the legend-tellers perceive the specific subject they describe in the legends. Eight historic homes were visited in six southwestern counties of Virginia. Qualitative data were collected from a purposive sample of 12 participants who lived in these houses, previously lived in an historic house, or worked in an historic house museum. Each house was chosen as a site of inquiry because it has some significance for those interested in the Civil War or because it represents typical houses in similar southwestern Virginian communities during the Civil War era. In-depth interviews were the sole means of data collection and provided detailed and unlimited legends used to identify themes. The data were collected analyzed using a multiple case study approach. The findings from this study indicate that Civil War legends are being told in reference to antebellum homes in Southwest Virginia. Additionally, the tellers of the legends have common thoughts about the Civil War. The three major conclusions made in this study are (1) northern soldiers were aggressors during the Civil War; (2) southerners were strong during the Civil War; and (3) ghosts and ghostly activity serve as reminders of the Civil War. By continuing to share these legends, the tellers indicate their own perspectives of the Civil War as well as the perspectives of those who originate the legends. The legend-tellers also provide insight into the culture of today's southwestern Virginians as well as the Civil War era southwestern Virginians.

The story of the arhat Phra Malai and his visits to heaven and hell is often described as one of the most pervasive and influential themes in Thai Buddhism. The story exists in numerous and varied poetic and prose forms and is also depicted in painting and sculpture. However, the story has never been studied comprehensively in terms of the various contexts within which the different versions are recited. In this dissertation I have traced the background and development of the earliest known Thai version of this story from its Sri Lankan roots to its florescence in the northern Thai kingdom of Lan Na. I have suggested that the Lan Na version of Phra Malai, which is recited annually as a preface to the Vessantara Jataka, was introduced as a promotional text to encourage participation in the Vessantara Jataka festival. The recitation of this Jataka, I propose, was promoted as a means of preserving the Buddhist teachings, which according to an earlier prediction, would disappear in the 2000th year of Buddhism. I have also compared this early version of the story with two later versions from central Thailand. One of these is the highly literary Kham Luang, or royal version, which appears to have been written as a work of merit-making. The other is the popular colloquial Klon Suat or chanted version, which has provided edification, entertainment, and personal merit-making opportunities in for sermons, weddings, and funerals. Finally, I have translated and annotated the Kham Luang, which has not yet appeared in translation in a Western language. My study has demonstrated that the Phra Malai theme has been used in quite different contexts for different purposes. This flexibility as well as the story's recontextualization of Buddhist teachings into an accessible format account for its pervasiveness over the centuries.

During the later Han and Six Dynasties era, the lives of Han Emperor Wu (r. 141-87 B.C.) and the members of his court inspired a vast body of legend. The narrative remnants of the legend, amounting to over 150 episodes, are now found mostly in six texts: Han Wudi gushi, Dongfang Shuo biezhuan, Han Wudi neizhuan, Han Wudi waizhuan, Shizhouji, and Han Wudi bieguo dongmingji. These texts are crucial for understanding the development of fiction in China, because they differ from the dominant zhiguai genre (records of diverse anomalies) in that they are unified compositions representing several prose genres. Their unknown authors, without entirely abandoning historiographic models, were already capable of treating very complex issues in more extended non-historical narratives, including allegory. The towering but controversial figure of Emperor Wu provided them with a convenient focus for their concerns, and his ritual activities provided the compositional framework. Two ritual structures are integral to the composition of these narratives. One centers on the quest for physical renewal or immortality and the other on certain divination practices. In tracing the development of the Emperor Wu legend, this study focuses chiefly on two broad sets of literary and intellectual concerns. First, it investigates the numerous textual problems in the six primary texts to establish their dates of origin, and it demonstrates the increasing sophistication of Chinese writers of the Six Dynasties. Second, it constructs an historical context for the texts, examining how changes in the depiction of the renewal and divination processes reflect larger changes in Chinese religious beliefs, and how each text addresses specific literati concerns of its time and debate about the role and significance of Dongfang Shuo. Appended are annotated translations of all the primary texts and additional fragments preserved in zhiguai collections.