Folktales of Northeast India

The editor, in compiling a selection of popular folktales of North East India, in a single volume, aims for exploring the folklore of North East India. This compilation is perhaps the first attempt at bringing into single volume popular folktales of North East India. Eleven folktales have been selected from each region so as to get the folklore of each region equally represented. The folklore of each region has a distinct characteristic peculiar to the region from which it has evolved. The folktales of Arunachal Pradesh are rich in texture and content and reflect the honesty and simple heartedness of the people. The folklore of Assam is rich and varied and its vast store of folktales shows that the people of Assam have a genuine talent for narrative. The folktales are full of dramatic situations. The folktales of Manipur are old and outspoken, because the people are themselves hearty and simple souls, headstrong and uncouth at times, but always immensely human. The folktales of Meghalaya kindle the imagination of the poet and in the folklore can be traced the concepts of the creations of the sun, the eclipse and the moon, the relationship between man, Gods and animals and the glorification of love. The folklore of Mizoram savours of mysticism, though not much importance is attached to Gods or divine beings. A grave and learned air characterizes the folklore of Nagaland and a gloomy mysticism pervades most of folktales. The folktales of Tripura have evolved out of the worship of the deities. Though there is no written record of their antiquity, they bear the stamp of an origin of considerable antiquity.