The Somerset reporter., 1889-03-07
SELECTED.
Is William Tell a Myth?

| was curious to see on what ground
the guide-books based their statement,
aud TO learn why we should class the tale
of Tell with such tales as that of .Eneas
of Troy, King Arthur and the Round
Table, or Robin Hood in the green woods
of England The facts | obtained were
scattered through various volumes, aud |
eau only give briefly few OF the prin-
cipsl points, mostly taken from Ger
man book, Tel and GeSSier in Legend
History, by Rochholz:
Chronicles most nearly contemporary
with the time of the supposed life of Tell
do not refer to him,
The earliest chroniclers of the legend
lived nearly two hundred years later.
In many ages and countries are found
legends of famous marksmen shooting at
van ious small objects, rings, tablets. nuts,
fruits, etc.
Not few legends exist of shooting at
objects placed on the heads of persons :;
A Persian poet in ll7j wrote legend
of king who put an apple on the head
of favorite slave, shot at it, and split
the apple. The slave was made i'll by
the fight.
Among European legends, one is found
in Westphaila; u father, named Egel, was
compelled by prince to shoot an apple
from his sons head. He took three ar
rows ont OF his culver, afterward CON
Tossing that, r ne hss! !njaseaf his son.
he meant to kill the prince,
In Denmark, writer in the year 200
relates that in 9l2, a man named Toxic
was compelled by King Harold, the Blue
Toothed, to shoot an apple from his son 5
head, and that he also, had be harmed his
child meant to shoot the king
A king of Norway, OF the Pious, OBJ
tanned promise from heather marks
man that he would be baptized into the
Christian faith, If the king would CON
tend with him shooting and win the
match The king shot at chesstigure or
tablet on the head of boy and hit be-
tween the tablet and the head but grazed
the head. On the entreaties of the boy s
mother and sister, the marksman fore
bore to shoot again, and confessed him
self conquered. Another Harold COM
manded man to shoot at a nut on his
brothers head. Years after, the king
was pointed out in battle by this man to
anothe marksman who shot him dead.
All these were before the time of the
Swiss Tell
Later. tine legenu app.are in IIeistoiu.
The leader OF an instruction against
Christian |. in 1472 fled and concealed
himself in a swamp. The barking of
his dog betrayed his hiding place. He
was taken prisoner, but promised his
freedom on the condition that he shot an
apple from the head of his son. He put
one arrow on the bow-string and took
another between his teeth, confessing af-
forwards that If he failed in his first shot
he meant to kill the king. An old picture
shows the marksman with the bow ready
to shoot and the arrow between bis
teath the boy standing and the dog be-
tween the father and the boy.
The legend and name of Tell seem to
have originated in Sweden or the islands
Whereabouts, and to have come into
Switzerland with the earliest settlers OF
that country, who were wanderers out OF
Sweden. Tollus or Tellus (relD was a
giant who lived on an island, Osel, be-
longing to Sweden. He used to amuse
himself with throwing stones about.
W hen he died. he told his people to bury
him in his garden and if war came he
would rise and help them. One day,
some children who had heard this tale
stood on his grave and fought and
and then called: "Tollus, arise. War is
on thy gravel" Tollus put his head out,
but was so angry at seeing only children
that he never appeared again. A simi-
lar legend is told of William Tell; that he
was once disturbed in his sleep under the
Axenberg by herdsman who was seek
ing for lost COW, and that he was in
dignant at the disturbance. In the le-
eend of the Swedish Tollus there is no
mention of shooting at an apple, but this
part of the legend is current among their
Finnish neighbors. -Sdrah Loring Bailey,
in J1Db1rU VILE Ilrake.