Stories of Legendary Heroes (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Stories of Legendary Heroes

Such feasts as these were among the greatest pleasures of our ancestors. The men who received the gifts were always those who had been brave in battle, those who had risked their lives to defend their lord or to win trea sures for their people. As the years passed, the gleemen began to sing songs of their courageous deeds. By and by, most Of the names were forgotten, and the brave acts were all told as if they had been the work of some one hero. They grew bigger and bigger whenever they were sung. If a man had killed a bear, the song was likely to have it that he had overcome a giant. If he had killed a serpent, the serpent was sure to appear in the song as a dragon, then as a fire-breathing dragon; and so the stories increased.

Thus it was that the story of Beowulf grew. When the people who lived about the North Sea came over to England, they still sang the old hero songs. A little while ago, a thousand years or more, some one put these songs together and gave us the poem Beowulf as we now have it.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Stories of Legendary Heroes

If you had landed on the shores of the North Sea fourteen or fifteen centuries ago, the sea guard would have come galloping down to the beach on his horse. He would have shaken his mighty spear and demanded, "Who are you? Where do you come from? Are you false spies come to search out our country?" Do you mean peace or war? If you had shown him that you were friends, he would have said, Come to the hall where my lord abides. I will guide you, and my men shall watch over your vessel until your return.

Just imagine that you are walking up the road after the sea guard. You wear coats of mail, of course, made of rings closely interwoven. You have spears and bucklers and helmets and swords and battle-axes. They ring and clink and flash in the sunshine, as you march up the rough pathway. At last you come to a long building, where the lord of the land makes his home. As the guard leads you in, you see shields leaning against the walls and spears clustered in the corners. You see a row of stone hearths running up the middle of the hall. On the hearths are blazing fires, where great joints of meat are roasting. Along the sides of the hall are little alcoves, where the thanes, or followers of the lord, sleep. The guard leads you to the farther end of the room, where there is a raised platform, and presents you to his lord.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.