Trickster Tales

Stories of the boundary-breaking trickster, fool and creator at once, whose rule-breaking remakes the world.

Core Themes

• Intelligence over strength, appetite over virtue — the trickster wins by cunning and suffers by appetite.
• Creation through accident: the world's goods — fire, stories, death itself — often arrive by trickery.

Notable Examples

• Loki among the Norse, Anansi the spider of West Africa, Coyote of the American West, Hermes of Greece.
• Raven of the Pacific Northwest, Eshu of the Yoruba, and the fool-sages of the Chinese tales.

Related Concepts & Sources

Trickster, Divine Trickery, Global