Legends That Every Child Should Know

Legends That Every Child
Should Know

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Know
by Hamilton Wright Mabie #3 in our series by Hamilton Wright Mabie
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Title: Legends That Every Child Should Know
Author: Hamilton Wright Mabie
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EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW ***

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[Illustration: GUY EARL OF WARWICK]
LEGENDS THAT EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW
A SELECTION OF THE GREAT LEGENDS OF ALL TIMES FOR
YOUNG PEOPLE
EDITED BY HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE
ILLUSTRATED AND DECORATED BY BLANCHE OSTERTAG

INTRODUCTION
If we knew how the words in our language were made and what they
have meant to successive generations of the men and women who have
used them, we should have a new and very interesting kind of history to
read. For words, like all other creations of man, were not deliberately
manufactured to meet a need, as are the various parts of a bicycle or of
an automobile; but grew gradually and slowly out of experiences which
compelled their production. For it is one of the evidences of the
brotherhood of men that, either by the pressure of necessity or of the
instinct to describe to others what has happened to ourself and so make
common property of personal experience, no interesting or influential
or significant thing can befall a man that is not accompanied by a desire
to communicate it to others.
The word legend has a very interesting history, which sheds light not

only on its origin but on early habits of thought and customs. It is
derived from the Latin verb _legere_, which means "to read." As
legends are often passed down by word of mouth and are not reduced to
writing until they have been known for centuries by great numbers of
people, it seems difficult at first glance to see any connection between
the Latin word and its English descendant. In Russia and other
countries, where large populations live remote from cities and are
practically without books and newspapers, countless stories are told by
peasant mothers to their children, by reciters or semi-professional
story-tellers, which have since been put into print. For a good many
hundred years, probably, the vast majority of legends were not read;
they were heard.
When we understand, however, what the habits of people were in the
early Christian centuries and what the early legends were about, the
original meaning of the word is not only clear but throws light on the
history of this fascinating form of literature. The early legends, as a rule,
had to do with religious people or with places which had religious
associations; they were largely concerned with the saints and were
freely used in churches for the instruction of the people. In all churches
selections from some book or books are used as part of the service;
readings from the Old and New Testament are included in the worship
of all churches in Christendom. In the earliest times not only were
Lessons from the Old Testament and the Gospels and Epistles of the
New Testament read, but letters of bishops and selections from other
writings which were regarded as profitable for religious instruction.
Later stories of the saints and passages from the numerous lives which
appeared were read at different services and contributed greatly to their
interest. The first legends in Christian countries were incidents from the
lives of the saints and were included in the selections made from
various writings for public worship; these selections were called
legends. The history of the word makes clear, therefore, the origin and
early history of the class of stories which we call legends.
The use of the stories