Guile and Mischief: Tricksters in Literature

AbeBooks: Tricksters - so often featured in a wide variety of literature - are intriguing because they can be good or evil, or both. In many tales, the trickster is cast as the hero who uses their wits and guile to out fox the stronger and faster foe. A classic example would be Odysseus, the ancient Greek who used cunning and trickery to fool his enemies and conquer Troy with his wooden horse. Another example comes in Watership Down where Richard Adams describes rabbit folklore centered on El-ahrairah – a clever rabbit devoted to trickery who infuriates his enemies but repeatedly saves his warren.