History

Astronomy

Mythology

Art

Index

Bibliography

Star Lore around the World

In the beginning, there was a book: Ian Ridpath's brilliantly written Star Tales.

All my life, I have been fascinated with stars and constellations. For a third of my life (the 21 years I spent as a merchant marine sailor) this relationship was a professional one, especially after 1984, when I graduated Marine Academy with a captain's license, which - even in modern times - still required hundreds of hours of training in astronomical navigation.

Although I forgot his name, I am eternally grateful to one astronomy professor (a retired captain) who made navigating the night sky educational and entertaining at the same time, by telling us stories how Boötes, the herdsman pulled the tail of the big bear, Ursa Major, or how Orion, the hunter engaged Taurus, the bull, while his dogs, Canis Major and Canis Minor chased Lepus, the rabbit.

Almost everything I learned about the constellations of the northern hemisphere started with an ancient Greek myth. Half a lifetime later, I tried to pass these stories on to my grandchildren.
Ian Ridpath: Star Tales
So, to refresh my memory, I got Ian Ridpath's "Star Tales" and my love for all these myth was renewed instantly. However, for my Californian grandsons, I had to find something more appealing than a 3000 year-old story from the other side of the world.

The search started with a classic, first published in 1899: Richard Hinckley Allen: Star Names — Their Lore and Meaning. I soon found out that this was the book, everybody else quoted.

Richard H. Allen:
Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning
In his introduction, Allen writes about how his work took on a life of its own, quoting British lexicographer Samuel Johnson: "...that one inquiry only gave occasion to another, that book referred to book, that to search was not always to find, and to find was not always to be informed."

Precisely the same happened to my work. About a hundred books and websites later, I have put together a rather large and growing collection of star lore from around the world, and yet, it barely scratches the surface.

But - however fractional this collection may be - I hope you enjoy these tales as much as I do. On this site, you will find the California Native story of a little coyote that became the eight's star of the Pleiades, the myth of an Australian opossum that becomes the Southern Cross and the tale of two Chinese lovers who were separated by the Milky Way - and much, much more.

By no means did I try to compete with any of the great books written on the subject. In fact, I wrote very little myself. My goal was not to write a new book, but to collect as many sources as possible and build a kind of database of star lore.
The source of every story and every illustration is properly quoted, I honestly believe that I have only used material from public domains. If you hold a copyright to any of the material used and want it to be removed from this site, please contact me at judy-volker@judy-volker.com.

How to navigate this site

While the main goal of this project is a collection of star lore, I expanded a little bit on the subject to gain a deeper understanding of it. As a result, the project was split into five sections and an annex (the bibliography):
History

An illustrated collection of some of the highlights in the history of astronomy.
Astronomy

A brief description of each constellation as it appears in the night sky.
Mythology

The main part of the project. All the myths and legends I could find about each of the constellations.
Art

Throughout the centuries, artists have given us their interpretation of the constellations and the lore behind it.
Index

A listing of all names of stars and other objects from different cultures covered in this study.
Bibliography

A detailed listing of all sources used in this project.

You can start your journey at any of the four sections. The links above take you to each section's start page, which will lead to a number of specific sites.

Or you can use the matrix below and select any constellation. This whole project is still a work in progress. So far, only the constellations with icons underneath are covered extensively.

(To provide at least some information for the time being, the names of the constellations are linked to their respective Wikipedia sites).
Clicking a constellation's name will take you to that constellation's Wikipedia site.
Clicking the astronomy icon under a constellation's name will take you to that constellation's astronomy site.
Clicking the mythology icon under a constellation's name will take you to that constellation's mythology site.
Clicking the index icon under a constellation's name will take you to a listing of names of stars and other objects.

88 IAU Constellations

Andromeda

Andromeda

Antlia

Air Pump

Apus

Bird-of-Paradise

Aquarius

Water-Carrier

Aquila

Eagle

Ara

Altar

Aries

Ram

Auriga

Charioteer
Boötes

Herdsman
Caelum

Chisel
Camelopardalis

Giraffe
Cancer

Crab

Canes Venatici

Hunting Dogs
Canis Major

Greater Dog

Canis Minor

Lesser Dog

Capricornus

Sea Goat

Carina

Ship's Keel
Cassiopeia

Cassiopeia

Centaurus

Centaur

Cepheus

Cepheus
Cetus

Whale
Chamaeleon

Chamaeleon
Circinus

Drafting Compass
Columba

Dove
Coma Berenices

Berenice's Hair
Corona Australis

Southern Crown
Corona Borealis

Norhern Crown
Corvus

Raven
Crater

Goblet
Crux

Southern Cross

Cygnus

Swan
Delphinus

Dolphin

Dorado

Swordfish
Draco

Dragon
Equuleus

Foal
Eridanus

River Eridanus

Fornax

Furnace
Gemini

Twins

Grus

Crane
Hercules

Hercules
Horologium

Pendulum Clock
Hydra

Sea Serpent

Hydrus

Water Snake
Indus

The Indian
Lacerta

Lizard
Leo

Lion

Leo Minor

Smaller Lion
Lepus

Hare
Libra

Scales

Lupus

Wolf
Lynx

Lynx
Lyra

Lyre

Mensa

Table Mountain

Microscopium

Microscope
Monoceros

Unicorn
Musca

Fly
Norma

Carpenter's Level
Octans

Octant
Ophiuchus

Serpent Bearer
Orion

Orion

Pavo

Peacock
Pegasus

Pegasus
Perseus

Perseus
Phoenix

Phoenix
Pictor

Easel
Pisces

Fishes

Piscis Austrinus

Southern Fish
Puppis

Poop Deck
Pyxis

Mariner's Compass
Reticulum

Eyepiece Graticule
Sagitta

Arrow
Sagittarius

Archer

Scorpius

Scorpion

Sculptor

Sculptor
Scutum

Shield

Serpens

Snake
Sextans

Sextant
Taurus

Bull

Telescopium

Telescope
Triangulum

Triangle
Triangulum Australe

Southern Triangle
Tucana

Toucan
Ursa Major

Great Bear

Ursa Minor

Little Bear

Vela

Sails
Virgo

Virgin

Volans

Flying Fish
Vulpecula

Fox

Galaxies, Nebulae and Star Clusters

Milky Way

Magellanic Clouds

Coalsack_Nebula

Pleiades

Asterisms

Great Diamond

Spring Triangle

Summer Triangle

Winter Hexagon

Winter Triangle

As mentioned above, this is still a work in progress, but I hope you enjoy browsing my little collection of
Star Lore around the World

History

Astronomy

Mythology

Art

Bibliography

Back to Solar System Page

Back to Space Page

Back to English Main Page

Back to Start Page