Most Famous Storytellers

The majority of myth was first told long before people thought to record the names of the storytellers. Paleolithic hunters and Neolithic farmers passed myths down within their community without noting the names of the tellers. The Greeks and Romans had storytellers such as Aesop and Homer, who told their stories aloud to groups centuries before the video camera was invented. Native Americans still regularly tell stories aloud to one another, but again, names of the tellers are not widely known in popular culture.

While the individual storytellers are usually not known, myths from many cultures are present in today’s social consciousness. As shown in the example below, Disney’s version of Hercules, released in 1997, uses catchy songs and relatable characterizations to interest children in the ancient story. The song included here is the opening song of the movie and depicts five muses telling the Greek version of Earth’s creation story. This is a modern way of involving the next generation in mythology and passing on the information.

Some professional storytellers have adopted the myths of their ancestry and included them in their program. For example, Emily Hennessey has a Swedish background and enjoys telling Scandinavian folktales and Norse mythology as part of her performances (Emily Hennessey: Storyteller, n. d.). This is the way the original oral storytellers of every culture intended their stories be kept alive.  

Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve is a member of the Rosebud Sioux Native American tribe. She is an author, storyteller, and teacher who was greatly influenced by both of her grandmothers telling stories during her childhood. Her paternal grandmother in particular was “an avid storyteller. Both the traditional legends and [her] animated style of narration left a vivid impression on the author’s young mind” (Voices from the Gaps, 2009, p. 2). Both grandmothers inspired Sneve to make a career out of passing down the traditional folklore and myths of her culture to the next generation, just as she experienced. Sneve wrote more than fifteen books, many geared toward younger age groups, because she noticed a need for children’s literature about Native Americans that was not stereotypical or offensive. Not many videos are available of Sneve telling stories, but I have included an excerpt from an interview where she explains more about dispelling stereotypes in her writing.

Another example of cultural myths being altered to fit into the modern consciousness is the musical Spamalot. Based on various Monty Python movies, Spamalot portrays the Knights of the Round Table, Sir Lancelot, and the Lady of the Lake (among many other characters prevalent in Arthurian myth) in an over-the-top comical and silly way. It takes advantage of the fact that people learn and retain better through song, and that comedy is relatable and memorable. This cartoonish and entertaining musical is passing along Arthurian myth to a new generation that might not have the time or inclination to read about it.