By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘The Ebony Horse’ is one of the most exciting and enchanting story from the Arabian Nights, also known as the One Thousand and One Nights. Indeed, the tale is interesting because it even borders on being ‘science fiction’ before the genre existed. It sees a cunning inventor design an ebony horse which is capable of flying. A prince uses the horse to travel to other lands, where he falls in love with a princess.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
The tale of the Three Apples is not quite so familiar to Western readers as, say, the story of Aladdin or Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, but it is a more authentic tale in that it was included in the original medieval collection known as the One Thousand and One Nights (whereas Aladdin and Ali Baba are both ‘orphan tales’, added centuries later). Indeed, this story is present in the oldest known manuscript of the Arabian Nights.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
The One Thousand and One Nights, perhaps better known in the Western world as the Arabian Nights, is a remarkable collection of folk tales and legends from what is commonly known as the Middle East. As with the classical Greek and Roman myths and the Norse legends, these stories are anonymous and have their roots in oral culture, passed down from one generation to the next.
The Arabian Nights were also added to by succeeding generations. Indeed, the three most famous stories from the 1,001 Nights didn’t become part of the Arabian Nights ‘canon’ until the early eighteenth century, as we’ll explore below.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘Aladdin and the Magic Lamp’ is the most famous story from the Arabian Nights collection of stories, also known as the 1,001 Nights. However, the story’s origins are surprising, and in fact for many centuries it wasn’t part of the Arabian Nights at all. But before we come to the question of textual analysis or the story’s complex history, let’s summarise the plot of the story of Aladdin.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
The story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is, after the tale of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp (which we have analysed here), the best-known of the Arabian Nights stories. The words ‘Open, Sesame!’ are famous even to people who have never read the story of the crafty thief and his adventures. But there are a number of curious details about this story which are less well-known.