Csenge Virág Zalka is a professional storyteller and researcher from Budapest, Hungary. Her interests focus on role-playing games as a form of storytelling, historical fiction, oral traditions and popular culture.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Greetings, Dreamer

Part I: Physical Powers-Also Known as the Classics

Superhuman Strength

János and Rózsa

Alderblock

Invulnerability

Isfandiyar

The Fellow with the Goat Skin

Flight

The Winged Prince

People Who Could Fly

Heightened Senses

Green Péter

The Tale of Sir James Ramsay of Bamff

Finn MacCool and the Giants

Three Critical Men

Speed

Princess Szélike

The Giant's Ankle (or, Betcha You Didn't Know This About Achilles)

Invisibility

The Gold­Spitting Prince

The Tengu's Magic Cloak

King Laurin's Rose Garden

Color Changing

The Queen of Many Colors

Healing Factor, Healing Others, or Not Healing at All

The Prince with the Two Hearts

Anne Jefferies and the Fairies

Growth, Elasticity and Body Shaping

Longshanks, Girth and Keen

A Is for Agility and Archers

Ekalavya, the Archer

Camilla

Eye Beams (Yes, Really)

The Un¿nished Story of Princess Greenleaf

Sonic Blast

The Robber Called Nightingale

Poison Secretion

The Poison Maiden

Part II: It's All in Your Head-Mind Games, Mental Prowess, and the Power of Knowledge

Precognition, Also Known as Fortune-Telling, Future Sight, Clairvoyance and Other Fancy Words

Aicha, the Demon-Hunter

Astral Projection and Other Out­of­Body Experiences

Quiet Girl Becomes a Goddess

The Dream House

Telepathy

János Carnation­Hair

Michael Scott

Telekinesis

The Man Who Had No Story

In¿nite Knowledge

The Serpent Wife

Illusion

The Rooster Beam

Technomancy

The Ebony Horse

Animal Speech

The ­Gold-­Spinners

Part III: At the Mercy of the Elements-Powers of Water, Fire, Earth and Weather (and Ice)

Fire Manipulation

The Daughter of the Sun

Pietro Baillardo

Water Powers

Fergus Mac Léti

The Tide Jewels

Earth Manipulation

The Son of the Hunter

Weather Manipulation

Garabonciások

Ice and Snow

Snow Daughter and Fire Son

Part IV: Transitional Powers-From One State to Another

When Drawings Come to Life

The Legend of King Vikramaditya

Painted Dragons

Teleportation

The Three Soldiers

The Magic Book

Phasing

The Taoist Priest of Lao­shan

Shifters, Changers and Individuals of Multiple Shapes

Human Shifting

Pomona and Vertumnus

Animal Shifting

Sigmund and Sinfjötli

Boots and the Beasts

The Weretiger

Nanaue, the Shark­Man

Plant Shifting

The Elder Tree Witch

Inorganic Shifting

Kampó Táltos

Multi-­Shifting

Mestra

The Mad Pranks of Robin Goodfellow

Honorable Mentions

Appendix: Tales by Powers

Further Readings

Index