In A Treasury of African Folklore, editor Harold Courlander brings together an extensive and unique collection of lore, recollections, epics, traditions, beliefs, historical chronicles, and poetry from widespread regions of the African continent. Courlander explores the unwritten literature of the Sudan, the West Coast, the Bantu regions, the eastern grasslands, and the north-eastern Horn, taking note of the diversity in history, origin myths, and tales of the Hausa, Kanuri, Ashanti, Zulu, Mensa, and numerous other peoples. These collected works also reflect the widely differing cultures and traditions found in sub-Saharan Africa, the differing concepts of creation and existence, and the social values that have motivated these people in their pursuit of a meaningful life and an understanding of the physical and spiritual attributes of the world around them.