Custom and Myth

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Longmans, Green, and Company, 1893 - 312 pages
1885. While best known for his translations of classical literature and as a collector of folk and fairy tales, Lang also wrote poetry, biographies, histories, novels, literary criticisms and even children's books. Lang was one of the first to apply anthropological findings to the study of myth and folklore. His versatility was also shown in his valuable works on folklore and on primitive religion. The earliest of these works was Custom and Myth. Contents: The Method of Folklore; the Bull-Roarer; The Myth of Cronus; Cupid, Psyche, and the Sun-Frog; A Far-Travelled Tale; Apollo and the Mouse; Star Myths; Moly and Mandragora; The Kalevala; The Divining Rod; Hottentot Mythology; Fetichism and the Infinite; The Early History of the Family; and The Art of Savages. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

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About the author (1893)

Andrew Lang was born at Selkirk in Scotland on March 31, 1844. He was a historian, poet, novelist, journalist, translator, and anthropologist, in connection with his work on literary texts. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy, St. Andrews University, and Balliol College, Oxford University, becoming a fellow at Merton College. His poetry includes Ballads and Lyrics of Old France (1872), Ballades in Blue China (1880--81), and Grass of Parnassus (1888--92). His anthropology and his defense of the value of folklore as the basis of religion is expressed in his works Custom and Myth (1884), Myth, Ritual and Religion (1887), and The Making of Religion (1898). He also translated Homer and critiqued James G. Frazer's views of mythology as expressed in The Golden Bough. He was considered a good historian, with a readable narrative style and knowledge of the original sources including his works A History of Scotland (1900-7), James VI and the Gowrie Mystery (1902), and Sir George Mackenzie (1909). He was one of the most important collectors of folk and fairy tales. His collections of Fairy books, including The Blue Fairy Book, preserved and handed down many of the better-known folk tales from the time. He died of angina pectoris on July 20, 1912.

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