hology,
of cold and storm. There are epics in three cycles which embody some
stories almost identical with those of the Greeks. There are, however,
two striking differences between their legends and those of other
countries: one is, that sorcery, witchcraft, spells, exorcisms and
incantations abound; the other is that nearly all tales have folk-music
accompanying them. Fairy stories are abundant and charming, and much
like those of Norway and Sweden. Read from Myths and Fairy Tales of
Russia, by Jeremiah Curtin, and Russian Folk Tales by R. Nisbet Bain.

VIII--GERMAN FOLK-LORE

In many respects the folk-tales of Germany are more interesting than
those of any other country. They do not deal with the great, simple
myths, except as they have been transformed into certain fairy tales,
but are centered largely on more recent stories. There are tales of the
Middle Ages, of knights, besieged castles, huntsmen and hermits; there
are Rhine legends, with princesses and giants; there are mining tales of
dwarfs and goblins, and stories of water fairies and forest elves.
Notice the resemblance to the stories of other lands in some of Grimm's
fairy tales. See how closely Peter Klaus is like our own story of Rip
Van Winkle. Read Stories of the Rhine Gold, by Anna A. Chapin, and the
best known stories from Grimm, especially Rumpelztiltskin, Hansel and
Gretel and Snow White and Rose Red.

IX--FOLK-LORE OF ENGLAND

All parts of England are rich in folk-tales, festival customs and
legends, and various shires have preserved in book form those which are
peculiar to them. In rhymes and jingles, nicknames, proverbs, riddles
and nursery tales we find traces of very early tradition. Frazer's
Golden Bough speaks of May Day customs, Maypole dances, keeping St.
John's Eve and Midsummer Day, as survivals of religious festivals of
great importance. The hero stories, especially those of King Arthur and
his knights, are unusually well developed and beautiful. English fairies
are most human and charming. Shakespeare is rich in allusion to them;
read on this point Shakespeare's Puck and His Folk Lore, by William
Bell, and parts of Midsummer Night's Dream.

In Andrew Lang's Blue Fairy Book all the delightful old fairy stories
are preserved; read Beauty and the Beast, Little Red Ridinghood,
Cinderella, and Jack the Giant Killer. Notice how several of these
stories are considered by some students as nature myths.

Read Kipling's Puck o' Pook's H