From all cultures down through the ages have come stories that seek to explain how the world as we know it began, and how it will end; the sources of human conflict; the unseen forces as well as the unwritten rules that govern human behaviour and destiny. There are stories from many parts of the world about such recurring themes as a long sleep, a descent into an underworld, the quest for the unreachable, and the ultimate: search for the Holy Grail. Such archetypal stories arose from the same creative energy that produces all great literature. This book is a resevoir of such stories drwn from many different cultures.