The St. Johns herald., 1890-10-09
The Fate of a Myth.

had no standing save that ot mytE for many years. But to be discred ited by critics and experts in folk lore is never fatal to a myth. It is only ot late that the Swiss Govern ment has turned coldly practical and realistic and become iconoclas- tic toward its world-knoWn legend the legend of William Tell. The game is hardly worth the candle. Though no man of the name of Gessler ever ruled in Kussenach, and though for nearly three hun dred years following the alleged ex- ploits of William Tell history is profoundly silent as respects such a man, Tell is placed in the latter part of the thirteenth century, and his name, much less his exploits, never appears in any writing or in common speech until the latter part of the fifteenth century. These facts have been known for some hundreds of years-at least two hundred-and they are quite suffi- cient to discredit the leaend as a part of Swiss history. The most reliable and most minute of the medieval chroniclers was contem- porarp with the Swiss revolution, and no mention is made of Tell in his chronicles. Yet two hundred odd years after the battle of Nor garten man was burned at the stake in the canton of Uri for pub fishing hls belief that the William Tell legend was Danish in it's ori- gin. This martyr was probably nearer the truth than his persecu- tors. The Danish Tell was known as Palnatoki, who was one of the body-guard of King Harold Blue Tooth and an expert archer. Being a boastful person, the king required him to shoot an apple from the head of his son. Having taken three ar rows from hls quiver he cleft tie apple with one of them, and being asked why he had drawn three ar rows, he replied that had he missed with the first he would have avenged his failure upon the king himself. This was placed in the year $50, five hundred and thirty-two years before William Tell was ever men, tioned by any chronicler. The same story occurs in the legendary lore of every European nation, varying only in scene and petty detail, but always having the same bloody ty- rant and the spare arrows and the same retort: "To slay thee, tyrant' had I slain my son." But the le- gend is much older than historical Europe, and is by many believed to have arrived in Europe much as nearly all fables and legends ar rived-overland from India. The fables of Ksop are much older than the people where they were said to have originated, and nearly all of them may be found in the Birth Stories of India. The Gest@ Ro- manorum, in so far as they are mo- table, are of Indian origin, though they are made t0relate to European scenes. The line dividing history and myth in old time was obscure, The East is the hid of folklore. We have little in the way of legend that Is new. Many of the legends applied to European history have no application, do not enlighten, and do mislead. No great damage is done, it is true, and it was hard ly worth while for the Swiss Gov ernment to dispel, or try to dispel, so harmless an illusion. As soon should we favor an authoritative proclamation dispelling the illnsion of Washington and his little hatch ct. Such fables amuse the simple, and do not offend the wise. The legend of Tell has made many a